LIBRARY 

JNIVERSITY  OF 
CALIFORNIA 
SANTA  CRUZ 


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ENGRAVED  ay  J, 5 ART/UN. 


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THE   LIFE 


OF 


JOHN    RANDOLPH 


OF   KOANOKE. 


BY 

HUGH  A.  GARLAND. 


COMPLETE   IN   ONE   VOLUMB. 


THIRTEENTH  EDITION. 


NEW  YORK : 
D.    APPLETON  AND   COMPANY, 

549   &  551  BROADWAY. 
1874. 


ENTERED,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1850,  by 

D.  APPLETON  &  COMPANY, 
in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  for  the  Southern  District  of  New-York. 


E 


THE   LIFE 


JOHN    RANDOLPH 


OF   BOANOKE. 


BY 

HUGH   A.    GARLAND 


VOL.  I. 


THIRTEENTH  EDITION. 


XEW   YORK: 
D.    APPLETON    &    COMPANY, 

549    &%651    BROADWAY. 

1874. 


ENTERED,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1S50,  by 

D.  APPLETON  &  COMPANY, 
the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  for  the  Southern  District  of  New-York. 


PREFACE. 

THE  author  of  this  book  lias  had,  perhaps,  as  good  an  oppor 
tunity  as  any  other  man,  who  was  not  a  contemporary  and 
intimate  friend,  to  form  a  just  estimate  of  Mr.  Kandolph's 
character,  and  also  to  collect  valuable  and  copious  materials 
for  his  biography.  He  was  educated  in  Mr.  Kandolph's 
district,  was  familiar  with  all  the  local  associations  of  that 
devoted  son  of  the  Old  Dominion,  often  saw  him  among 
his  beloved  constituents,  and  heard  him  under  most  favor- 
able circumstances  both  on  the  hustings  and  in  the  Virginia 
Convention.  The  writer  was  then  but  a  youth,  full  of  all 
the  eager  interest  and  curiosity  that  would  naturally  be 
excited  by  so  extraordinary  a  man.  Since  Mr.  Randolph's 
death,  it  has  been  his  good  fortune  to  have  been  thrown  into 
the  circle  of  his  most  intimate  and  confidential  friends,  some 
of  whom  the  writer  feels  justified  in  saying  he  also  may  claim 
as  his  friends.  While  the  thought  of  writing  a  life  of  Mr. 
Eandolph  is  of  recent  date,  the  character  of  the  man  and  the 
incidents  of  his  life  have  been  for  many  years  the  subject  of 
interest  and  of  inquiry,  which  were  abundantly  gratified  by 
those  who  knew  him  and  delighted  to  discourse  on  the 
peculiarities  and  eccentricities  of  their  departed  friend. 

Some  ten  or  twelve  years  before  his  death,  Mr.  Eandolph 


yi  PREFACE. 

made  a  will  liberating  his  slaves ;  a  short  time  before  Ms  de- 
cease, while  under  the  influence  of  utter  debility  and  disease, 
he  made  various  and  conflicting  dispositions  of  his  property. 
Here,  of  course,  was  a  fruitful  theme  for  the  Courts.  Was  Mr. 
Eandolph  capable  of  making  a  will  in  the  latter  part  of  his 
life?  was  the  subject  of  inquiry.  Nearly  every  body  who 
had  known  him,  or  who  had  had  any  dealings  with  him,  from 
the  earliest  period,  were  summoned  to  give  testimony.  Many 
interesting  and  important  facts,  that  would  properly  find  a 
place  in  his  biography,  were  elicited  on  that  occasion.  The 
whole  testimony  was  taken  down  by  an  accurate  stenographer, 
and  the  most  important  parts  afterwards  were  written  out  in 
fall.  These  valuable  materials  were  placed  in  the  hands  of 
the  writer  of  this  memoir.  In  1845,  the  whole  subject  again 
underwent  a  thorough  investigation  before  the  Circuit  Court 
of  Petersburg,  many  additional  witnesses  were  summoned,  and 
much  new  and  important  information  elicited.  The  writer 
was  a  personal  attendant  on  that  Court  during  the  trial. 

To  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Bryan,  who  is  the  niece  of  Mr.  Ean- 
dolph, and  to  Mr.  Bryan  himself,  who  is  the  son  of  his  earli- 
est friend,  we  are  indebted  for  the  interesting  correspondence 
to  be  found  in  the  first  volume  of  this  work.  To  Mrs.  Dudley, 
Judge  Beverly  Tucker,  the  Hon.  John  Taliaferro,  and  Gover- 
nor Tazewell,  who  were  the  youthful  companions  and  school- 
mates of  Mr.  Eandolph,  we  are  indebted  for  the  incidents  of 
his  early  life.  By  far  the  most  interesting  and  important  part 
of  the  work  is  the  copious  and  unreserved  correspondence  of  Mr. 
Eandolph  with  the  late  and  much  lamented  Francis  S.  Key, 
Esq.,  of  Washington,  and  Dr.  John  Brockenbrough,  of  Vir- 
ginia. This  latter  gentleman  was,  par  excellence,  the  friend  of 
his  bosom.  Not  a  thought  or  a  feeling  was  concealed  from  him, 


PREFACE.  vij 

and  from  1811  to  May,  17, 1833  ,but  a  few  days  before  his  death, 
Mr.  Randolph  wrote  constantly,  many  times  daily,  to  this  in- 
valuable friend.  The  entire  correspondence  is  now  in  the 
hands  of  the  writer.  Without  these  materials  and  this  unre- 
served confidence  on  the  part  of  one  who  most  valued  the  re- 
putation of  his  departed  friend,  the  author  would  never  have 
undertaken  the  difficult  task  of  writing  the  life  of  John  Ran- 
dolph.  Yery  many  of  the  letters  have  been  inserted  in  their 
proper  places — and  many  of  the  facts  and  incidents  interwoven 
into  the  narrative,  were  obtained  from  others  which  have  been 
suppressed — the  author's  chief  study  has  been  to  use  discreetly 
the  unbounded  confidence  that  was  reposed  in  his  prudence 
and  judgment.  It  would  be  almost  impossible  to  enumerate 
all  the  persons  to  whom  we  are  indebted  for  many  of  the  in- 
cidents narrated  in  this  biography ;  every  body  knows  some- 
thing of  the  extraordinary  man  who  is  the  subject  of  it;  but 
we  have  given  each  one,  we  trust,  credit  for  his  contribution 
in  its  proper  place.  Many  of  the  anecdotes  and  witticisms 
commonly  attributed  to  Mr.  Eandolph  are  not  found  in  this 
work,  because  there  is  no  authority  for  them.  "All  the  bas- 
tard wit  of  the  country,"  said  he  to  a  friend,  "  has  been  fa- 
thered on  me." 

As  to  the  printed  sources  of  information  connected  with  Mr. 
Randolph's  public  career,  besides  a  valuable  collection  of  pam- 
phlets obtained  from  the  estate  of  the  late  John  Clopton,  the  au- 
thor has  had  free  access  to  the  library  of  Congress,  which,  hav- 
ing been  collected  by  Mr.  Jefferson,  is  very  copious  on  all  sub- 
jects connected  with  the  history  and  politics  of  the  country. 
Besides  these,  Mr.  Ritchie  was  so  kind  as  to  lend  the  only  full 
file  of  the  Enquirer  in  his  possession.  The  reader  needs  not  to 
be  informed  that  the  Richmond  Enquirer  contains  a  full  chroni- 


yiii  PREFACE. 

cle  of  every  thing  that  has  been  said  and  done  in  Virginia* 
worthy  of  being  recorded  in  history,  from  1804  to  the  present 
time. 

Such  were  the  materials  in  possession  of  the  author.  The 
difficulty  was  not  to  obtain — but  to  sift,  digest,  and  arrange 
the  abundant  treasures  in  his  possession.  The  book  was 
commenced  when  the  author  had  leisure  to  write  to  his 
satisfaction ;  it  has  been  finished  in  the  intervals  of  a  labori- 
ous profession,  and  he  feels  that  there  are  many  defects  which 
more  time  and  leisure  would  have  enabled  him  to  correct. 
Many  of  the  chapters  were  written  under  feelings  of  depres- 
sion and  anxiety  while  that  dread  pestilence,  the  cholera,  had 
overshadowed  with  gloom  and  made  desolate  our  devoted  city. 
Whatever  may  be  the  defects  of  the  book,  however,  the  reader 
may  be  assured  that  nothing  will  be  found  in  it  that  the  au- 
thor has  not  good  reason  to  believe  is  true. 

H.  A.  OAKLAND. 

SAINT  Louis,  August,  1860. 


CONTENTS  OF  VOL.  I. 

PAGE 

CHAPTER  I. 

Birthplace     .........          1 

CHAPTER  H. 
Matoax— Genealogy      ........     5 

CHAPTER  III. 
Childhood  ........  8 

CHAPTER  IV. 
Family  Circle  .  .  •          .          •  •  .  .12 

CHAPTER  V. 
Flight  from  Matoax  .  "    .          .          .          .          .16 

CHAPTER  VL 
At  School  .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .          .20 

CHAPTER  VH. 
The  Constitution  in  its  Chrysalis  State  .          ...         26 

CHAPTER 
George  Mason    .... 

CHAPTER  IX. 

Early  Political  Associations  .          » 


x  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  X. 
Thomas  Jefferson  ...  ....    45 

CHAPTER  XI. 
Small  Beginnings — Edmund  Burke — Thomas  Paine  .  .          62 

CHAPTER  XII. 
Youthful  Companions  .  .  .  .  ,  .  .69 

CHAPTER  XIII 
Richard  Randolph  .  .  .  ,  .  61 

CHAPTER  XIV. 
Visit  to  Charleston  and  Georgia  .  .  .  ,  .  .64 

CHAPTER  XV. 
At  Home      .....  ...         69 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

Candidate  for  Congress — History  of  the  Times          .  .  .  .73 

CHAPTER  XVII. 
The  Fauchet  Letter  .......          85 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 
Mr.  Monroe — France—  Mr.  Adams  elected  President  .  .  .95 

CHAPTER  XIX. 
The  X.  Y.  Z.  Business         .  .  .  .  .  .108 

CHAPTER  XX. 

Patrick  Henry  .  .  .  .  ,  .  ,  129 

CHAPTER  XXL 

March  Court— The  Rising  and  the  Setting  Sun  .  .  ,128 

CHAPTER  XXII. 
France  and  the  Administration  142 


CONTENTS.  xi 

PAQH 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 
Scene  in  the  Play-House— Standing  Army          ....  .  157 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 

Make  to  yourself  an  Idol,  and,  in  spite  of  the  Decalogue,  Worship  it  16G 

CHAPTER  XXV. 

The  course  of  True  Love  never  did  run  Smooth  .  .  .        177 

CHAPTER  XXVI. 

Presidental  Election,  1800-1— Midnight  Judges         .  .  185 

CHAPTER  XXVII. 

The  Seventh  and  Eighth  Congresses — Chairman  of  the  Committee  of 

Ways  and  Means— The  Working  Period— The  Yazoo  Business         i90 

CHAPTER  XXVIII. 
Friendship  ........        205 

CHAPTER  XXIX. 

Ninth  Congress— Foreign  Relations— Difficulties  with  France  and  Spain       213 

CHAPTER  XXX. 
Difficulties  with  Great  Britain  .....  229 

CHAPTER  XXXL 
Closing  Scene          ........       242 

CHAPTER  XXXII. 
Aaron  Burr        •  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  252 

CHAPTER  XXXIII. 
Embargo— The  Iliad  of  all  our  Woes        .....        262 

CHAPTER  XXXIV. 
Gunboats  ........  271 

CHAPTER  XXXV. 

James  Madison— Presidental  Election  276 


Xft  CONTENTS. 

PA  a  a 
CHAPTER  XXXVI. 

War  \vith  England        .......  284 

CHAPTER  XXXVII. 
Clay-  Oalhouc  •          .          •          •          •          .          •       303 


CHAPTEE   I 

BIRTHPLACE. 

CAWSONS,  situated  on  a  commanding  promontory,  near  JLe  mouth  of 
Appomatox  river,  was  the  family  seat  of  Colonel  Theodorick  Bland. 
Senior,  of  Prince  George.  After  winding  amidst  its  woody  islands. 
around  the  base  of  tnis  hill,  the  river  spreads  out  into  a  wide  bay  ; 
and,  together  with  the  James,  into  which  it  empties,  makes  towards 
the  north  and  east  a  magnificent  water  prospect,  embracing  in  one  view 
Shirley,  the  seat  of  the  Carters,  Bermuda  Hundred,  with  its  harbor 
and  ships,  City  Point,  and  other  places  of  less  note.  In  the  midst 
of  this  commanding  scene,  the  old  mansion-house  reared  its  ample 
proportions,  and,  with  its  offices  and  extended  wings,  was  not  an  un- 
worthy representative  of  the  baronial  days  in  which  it  was  built — 
when  Virginia  cavaliers,  under  the  title  of  gentlemen,  with  their 
broad  domain  of  virgin  soil,  and  long  retinue  of  servants,  lived  in  a 
style  of  elegance  and  profusion,  not  inferior  to  the  barons  of  Eng- 
land, and  dispensed  a  hospitality  which  more  than  half  a  century  of 
subdivision,  exhaustion,  and  decay,  has  not  entirely  effaced  from  the 
memory  of  their  impoverished  descendants. 

At  Cawsons,  scarcely  a  vestige  now  remains  of  former  magnifi- 
cence. The  old  mansion  was  burnt  down  many  years  ago.  Here 
and  there  a  solitary  out-dwelling,  which  escaped  the  conflagration, 
like  the  old  servants  of  a  decaved  family,  seem  to  speak  in  melan- 
choly pride  of  those  days,  when  it  was  their  glory  to  stand  in  the 
shadow  of  loftier  walls,  and  reflect  back  their  loud  revelry,  when 

"  The  misletoe  hung  in  the  castle  hall, 
The  holly  branch  shone  on  the  old  oak  wall ; 
And  the  baron's  retainers  were  blithe  and  gay, 
And  keeping  their  Christmas  holiday." 


2  LIFP:  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH 

The  serpentine  paths,  the  broad  avenues,  and  smooth  gravel,  the 
mounds,  the  green  turf,  and  the  shrubbery  of  extended  pleasure- 
grounds,  are  all  mingled  with  the  vulgar  sod.  The  noble  outlines  of 
nature  arc  still  there  ;  but  the  handiwork  of  man  has  disappeared. 

In  a  letter  to  his  friend,  F.  S.  Key,  dated  March  20,  1814,  John 
Randolph  says : — "  A  few  days  ago  I  returned  from  a  visit  to  my^ 
birthplace,  the  seat  of  my  ancestors  on  one  side — the  spot  where  my 
dear  and  honored  mother  was  given  in  marriage,  and  where  I  was 
ushered  in  this  world  of  woe.  The  sight  of  the  broad  waters  seemed 
to  renovate  me.  I  was  tos&ed  in  a  boat,  during  a  row  of  three  miles 
across  James  river,  and  sprinkled  with  the  spray  that  dashed  over 
her.  The  days  of  my  boyhood  seemed  to  be  renewed ;  but  at  the 
end  of  my  journey  I  found  desolation  and  stillness  as  of  death — the 
fires  of  hospitality  long  since  quenched  ;  the  parish  church,  associa 
ted  with  my  earliest  and  tendcrest  recollections*  tumbling  to  pieces  : 
not  more  from  natural  decay  than  sacrilegious  violence  !  What  a 
spectacle  does  our  lower  country  present !  Deserted  and  dismantled 
country-houses,  once  the  seats  of  cheerfulness  and  plenty,  and  the  tem- 
ples of  the  Most  High  ruinous  and  desolate,  *  frowning  in  portentous 
silence  upon  the  land.'  The  very  mansions  of  the  dead  have  not  es- 
caped violation.  Shattered  fragments  of  armorial  bearings,  and  epi- 
taphs on  scattered  stone,  attest  the  piety  and  vanity  of  the  past,  and 
the  brutality  of  the  present  age." 

Colonel  Bland  was  an  active  promoter  of  the  Revolution.  When 
Lord  Dunmore,  in  the  spring  of  1775,  under  instructions  from  Eng- 
land, undertook  to  disarm  the  people,  by  secretly  withdrawing  the 
muskets  and  powder  from  the  Magazine  in  Williamsburg,  Colonel 
Bland  was  among  the  first  to  rouse  the  country  to  resistance.  As 
munitions  of  war  were  scarce,  he,  his  son  Theodorick  Bland,  Jun., 
and  his  son-in-law,  John  Randolph,  father  of  the  late  John  of  Roan- 
oke,  sold  forty  negroes,  and  with  the  money  purchased  powder  for 
the  use  of  the  colony.  Endowed  witk  an  ample  fortune  and  a  manly 
character,  having  been  for  a  series  ot  years  in  succession  lieutenant 
of  the  county  of  Prince  George,  clerk  of  the  court,  and  representa- 
tive in  the  House  of  Burgesses,  he  possessed  a  commanding  influ- 
ence among  the  people.  His  house  was  the  centre  of  a  wide  circle  of 
friends  and  relations,  who  had  pledged  their  lives,  fortunes,  and  sa- 
cred honor,  to  the  cause  of  independence.  Though  they  did  not  rise 


BIRTHPLACE.  3 

to  be  master-spirits  in  that  eventful  struggle,  the  Elands,  the  Banis- 
ters, the  Boilings,  and  the  Batons,  were  inferior  to  none  in  zeal,  de- 
votion, and  heroic  sacrifice. 

The  political  spirit  of  the  times  may  be  inferred  from  the  follow- 
ing incident : — The  old  man  growing  weary  of  a  solitary  life  of  wi- 
dowhood, was  advised  by  his  son  to  look  for  a  matrimonial  connec- 
tion in  a  certain  quarter.  After  spying  out  the  land,  he  wrote  to 
his  son :  "  Our  politics  differed  so  much  that  we  parted  by  mutual 
consent ;"  and  in  allusion  to  his  own  choice,  he  says :  *:  the  person  I 
have  thought  of.  is  a  lady  of  great  goodness,  sensible,  and  a  true 
whig." 

Among  those  who  frequented  Cawsons  at  this  time,  and  parcook 
of  its  welcome  and  generous  hospitality,  and  shared  with  its  inmates 
a  proud  defiance  of  the  encroachments  of  England,  was  a  young 
foreigner — though  he  can  scarcely  be  called  a  foreigner  who  speaks 
our  own  mother  tongue,  and  was  bred  up  almost  in  sight  of  the  Amer- 
ican shores. 

St.  George  Tucker  was  born  of  respectable  parents  in  the  island 
of  Bermuda,  where  he  commenced  the  study  of  law,  but  came  to 
Virginia,  before  the  Revolution,  in  order  to  complete  his  academic 
exercises  in  William  and  Mary  College.  His  urbanity,  social  dis- 
position, and  literary  attainments,  introduced  him  into  the  best  com- 
pany and  fashionable  circles  of  the  city.  His  general  good  conduct 
and  deportment  procured  him  the  favor  of  most  of  the  distinguished 
gentlemen  of  that  place.  When  he  had  completed  his  college  courses, 
he  resumed  the  study  of  law,  and  settled  permanently  in  Williams- 
burg  ;  but,  on  the  breaking  out  of  the  disturbances  with  Great  Bri- 
tain, he  took  part  with  his  adopted  country,  laid  aside  his  legal  pur- 
suits, and  engaged  in  other  occupations.  It  doubtless  was  his  inten- 
tion to  have  served  in  the  tented  field ;  but  what  he  might  have  done 
in  the  way  of  military  achievement,  is  left  only  to  conjecture.  That 
he  might  have  rivalled  Kosciusko,  or  Pulaski,  or  De  Kalb,  he  after- 
wards gave  ample  proof  on  the  field  of  Guilford ;  but  the  glittering 
butterfly  of  military  glory  was  destined  to  fade  before  the  more  sub- 
stantial charms  of  female  beauty. 

Though  Cawsons  was  a  pleasant  place,  its  chief  magic  lay  in  the 
Colonel's  youngest  daughter,  Mrs.  Frances  Randolph,  who.  in  her 
'•  unhappy  widowhood."  (to  use  her  own  expressive  language.)  had  for 
2 


4  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

the  most  part  forsaken  her  own  solitary  home,  and  sought  society  and 
consolation  beneath  her  father's  roof.  Mrs.  Randolph  was  possessed 
of  high  mental  qualities  and  extraordinary  beauty.  Though  one 
might  suppose  she  was  endowed  with  little  personal  attraction,  from 
an  expression  of  her  brother,  Colonel  Theodorick  Bland,  Jun.,  who 
was  accustomed  to  call  her,  "  my  tawny  sister."  But  tradition,  con- 
firmed by  the  portraits  extant,  speaks  in  admiration  of  her  uncom- 
mon charms.  The  high,  expanded  forehead;  smooth,  arched  brow, 
and  brilliant  dark  eyes ;  the  well-defined  nose,  and  full,  round,  laugh- 
ing lips,  pregnant  with  wit  and  mirthfulness  ;  the  tall  figure  and  ex- 
panded chest;  the  dark  hair,  winding  in  massy  folds  around  the  neck 
and  bosom ;  an  open,  cheerful  countenance — all  suffused  with  that 
deep,  rich,  oriental  tint  that  never  fades — made  her  the  most  beauti- 
ful, sprightly,  and  attractive  woman  of  her  age. 

Though  clad  in  widow's  garments,  and  on  her  brow  lay  a  pensive 
stillness,  as  of  one  dreaming,  she  was  yet  young  and  beautiful.  By 
her  side,  or  on  her  knee,  as  inseparable  as  her  own  shadow,  was  a 
child— her  youngest  child — a  little  boy,  her  favorite  John,  the  very 
image  of  his  mother.  In  his  dark  eyes  were  reflected  the  sadness  of 
her  own  soul ;  on  his  orphan  brow  was  imprinted  a  kiss,  that  ever  and 
anon  a  tear  washed  away.  So  much  of  subdued  loveliness  could 
not  fail  to  win  the  sympathy  of  old  and  young,  and  to  call  forth 
sighs  of  pity  and  regret. 

St.  George  Tucker,  the  first  time  he  beheld  the  mother  and  her 
child,  was  filled  with  that  mingled  sentiment  which  more  agitates  the 
soul,  and  takes  deeper  hold  on  the  affections,  than  any  single  pas- 
sion. He  soon  found  himself  an  ardent  lover  at  the  feet  of  the 
charming  widow.  A  wife  at  sixteen,  she  was  not  long  to  be  per- 
suaded at  six-and-twenty  to  abandon  her  unhappy  widowhood.  In 
an  old  family  Prayer  Book,  in  her  own  handwriting,  is  found  the 
following  record : 

The  unhappy  widowhood  of  Frances  Randolph  commenced  on  the 
28th  day  of  Oct.,  in  the  year  1775. 

John  Randolph  and  Frances  Bland  were  married  the  9th  of 
March,  1769. 

Richard  Randolph,  their  first  son,  was  born  the  9th  of  March,  1770. 

Theodorick  Bland  Randolph,  their  second  son,  was  born  the  22d 
of  January,  1771. 

John  Randolph,  their  third  son,  was  born  the  2d  of  June,  1773. 


MATOAX— GENEALOGY.  5 

Jane  Randolph,  their  first  daughter,  was  born  Nov.  10th,  1774, 
and  died  on  the  26th  of  Nov.,  1774. 

The  following  additions  to  the  above  record  is  found  in  the  hand- 
writing of  the  late  John  Randolph  of  Roanoke : 

John  Randolph,  Junior,  fourth  son  of  Richard  Randolph,  of 
Curies,  in  the  County  of  Henrico,  was  born  on  the  29th  of  June, 
1742,  0.  S.,— answering  to  the  10th  of  July,  N.  S. 

Frances  Bland,  fifth  and  youngest  daughter  of  Theodorick 
Bland,  of  Cawsons,  in  the  county  of  Prince  G-eorge,  was  born  on  the 
24th  of  Sept.,  1752,  N.  S. 

John  Randolph,  Esq.,  died  at  Matoax,  on  the  28th  of  October; 
1775  ;  and  on  the  23d  of  Sept.,  1778,  his  widow  married  St.  George 
Tucker,  of  Bermuda. 


CHAPTEE    II. 

MATOAX  —  GENEALOGY. 

MATOAX,  the  residence  of  John  and  Frances  Randolph  during  his 
life,  of  Mrs.  Randolph  in  her  widowhood,  and  of  herself  and  Mr. 
Tucker,  her  second  husband,  till  the  time  of  her  death,  was  situ- 
ated onx  Appomatox,  about  two  miles  above  Petersburg,  on  the 
opposite  side  ;  midway  the  falls,  and  on  a  high  bluff,  commanding  a 
wide  prospect  of  the  surrounding  country.  At  the  time  Mr.  Tucker 
was  introduced  there  by  his  elegant  and  accomplished  bride,  it  was 
the  centre  of  a  populous,  wealthy,  and  fashionable  neighborhood. 
To  say  nothing  of  the  town,  there  were  Battersea,  Mayfield,  Burling- 
ton, Mansfield,  Olive  Hill,  Violet  Hill,  Roslin,  all  on  the  same 
river  ;  many  in  sight,  and  none  more  than  two  miles  distant.  These 
were  the  residences  of  gentlemen  of  ample  fortunes,  liberal  educa- 
tion, polished  manners,  refined  hospitality,  and  devoted  patriotism. 
They  have  all  since  passed  into  other  hands  ;  some  have  gone  down 
entirely ;  and  the  wild  pine  and  the  broom  sedge  have  made  such 
steady  encroachments,  that  a  wilderness  has  grown  up  in  the  place 
of  fruitful  fields,  and  more  wild  deer  can  be  caught  within  a  circuit 
of  ten  miles  around  the  second  most  populous  city  in  the  State,  than 
in  a  similar  space  in  the  prairies  of  the  West.  A  statue  of  Niobe, 
in  her  own  capitol — of  Niobe  weeping  for  her  children — would  be  no 


6  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

unfit  emblem  of  Old  Virginia  ;  her  sons  gone,  her  hearths  cold,  her 
fields  desolate. 

The  mansion  house  at  Matoax,  like  that  at  Cawsons,  was  "burnt 
down  many  years  ago.  Nothing  now  remains  but  a  heap  of  ruins. 
When  we  visited  the  spot,  the  factory  boys,  with  their  hounds,  were 
chasing  the  hares  over  those  solitary  hills  where  once  the  proud  sons 
of  a  proud  race  pursued  the  same  light-footed  game.  A  high  hill  to 
the  eastward  of  that  on  which  the  mansion  was,  and  separated  from 
it  by  a  deep  ravine,  is  crowned  by  a  thick  cluster  of  oaks  and  other 
trees.  At  the  foot,  and  tinder  the  shadow  of  those  trees,  are  two 
graves,  covered  with  simple  marble  slabs,  level  with  the  earth, — con- 
taining the  following  inscriptions : 

Johannes  Kandolph,  Arm : 

Ob.    xxviii.    Octo, 

MDCCLXXV, 

•  JEt.  xxxiv. 

Non  opibus  urna,  nee  mens 
virtutibus  absit. 

{Translated.'} 

John  Randolph,  Esq.,  died  Oct.  28th,  1775,  aged  34.  Let  not  a 
tomb  be  wanting  to  his  ashes,  nor  memory  to  his  virtues. 

I.  H.  S. 

Francesco  Tucker  Blandas. 

Conjugio 

Sti  Greorgii  Tucker. 
Quis   desiderio   sit   modus? 

Obiit  xviii.  Januarii, 
MDCCLXXXVIII, 
Mi.  xxxvi. 

(  Translated.} 

Jesus,  Saviour  of  mankind. 

When  shall  we  cease  to  mourn  for  Frances  Bland  Tucker,  wife  of 
St.  George  Tucker?     She  died  18th  January,  1788,  aged  36. 

The  father  and  the  mother  of  the  late  John  Randolph  of  Roa- 
noke  !  It  was  his  wish  to  be  buried  by  their  side.  In  a  letter 
dated  London,  Dec.  19,  1830,  he  says :  K  I  have  personally  but  one 
wish ;  it  is  to  be  buried  by  the  side  of  my  honored  parents  at  old 
Matoax,  and  I  have  taken  measures  to  effectuate  it.  It  is  not  long 


MATOAX-GENEALOGY.  7 

since  tliis  desire  sprung  up  in  niy  heart,  where  all  else  is  withered, 
hard  and  dry." 

*  Matoax  was  a  part  of  the  vast  inheritance  which  descended  from 
Richard  Randolph  of  Curies,  to  his  four  sons,  Richard,  Brett, 
Ryland,  and  John. 

His  will  is  still  extant,  and  bears  date  about  the  time  of  the 
birth  of  his  youngest  son,  John,  and  a  short  time  before  his  own 
death,  1742.  It  makes  disposition  of  not  less  than  forty  thousand 
acres  of  the  choicest  lands  on  the  James,  Appomatox,  and  Roanoke 
rivers.  Most  of  this  vast  estate  was  accumulated  by  his  own  ''  in- 
dustry and  economy,"  as  we  learn  from  a  monument  erected  to  his 
memory  at  Turkey  Island  by  his  third  son,  Ryland.  To  Ms  daugh- 
ters— Mary,  who  married  Archibald  Gary,  of  Ampthill ;  Jane,  who 
married  Anthony  Walke,  of  Princess  Anne ;  and  Elizabeth,  who 
married  Richard  Kidder  Meade — he  left  only  personal  property. 
All  the  lands  were  divided  among  the  four  sons.  Those  on  Appo- 
matox fell  to  John ;  those  on  Roanoke,  jointly  to  John  and  Ryland. 
Ryland  died  without  heir,  and  his  portion  descended  to  his  brother ; 
so  that  John,  at  the  time  of  his  death  in  1775,  was  possessed  of 
large  and  valuable  estates  on  Appomatox  and  Roanoke. 

Richard  Randolph  of  Curies,  was  the  fourth  son  of  Col.  Wm., 
Randolph,  of  Warwickshire,  England,  who  was  the  first  of  the  name 
that  emigrated  to*  Virginia,  and  settled  at  Turkey  Island  He  died 
April  llth,  1711.  That  he  was  of  Warwickshire,  we  learn  from  a 
monument  at  Turkey  Island ;  but  the  late  John  Randolph,  who 
took  great  pride  in  searching  into  the  genealogy  of  his  family,  says 
that  he  was  of  Yorkshire.  Between  the  researches  of  the  Hon. 
John,  and  the  monument  at  Turkey  Island,  we  leave  the  reader  to 
judge.  William  Randolph  was  the  father  of  seven  sons  and  two 
daughters,  who  became  the  progenitors  of  a  widespread  and  numer- 
ous race,  embracing  the  most  wealthy  families,  and  many  of  the  most 
distinguished  names  in  Virginia  history. 

We  will  not  cumber  our  pages  with  their  complicated  and  unintel- 
ligible genealogy.  In  the  course  of  our  narrative,  we  shall  give  such 
portions  as  may  become  necessary  for  its  elucidation.  At  present, 
we  are  only  concerned  with  Richard  Randolph  of  Curies,  the  fourth 
son.  He  married  Jane  Boiling,  who  was  the  daughter  of  John  Boi- 
ling, who  was  the  son  of  Robert  Boiling  and  Jane  Rolfe  his  wife, 


8  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

who  was  the  granddaughter  of  Pocahontas,  the  beautiful  Indian 
princess,  daughter  of  Powhatan,  whose  pathetic  story  is  so  well 
known. 

The  portrait  of  Mrs.  Randolph  (Jane  Boiling)  is  still  extant. 
A  more  marked  and  commanding  countenance  is  rarely  to  be  met 
with.  A  perfect  contrast  to  the  luxurious  ease,  graceful  manners, 
fluent  and  courtly  conversation,  betrayed  by  the  full  round  face,  ruddy 
complexion,  low  projecting  eyes,  smooth  brow,  and  the  delicate  per- 
son and  features  of  her  husband.  If  the  portrait  be  true  to  nature, 
none  of  the  Indian  complexion  can  be  traced  in  her  countenance. 
Her  erect  and  firm  position,  and  square  broad  shoulders,  are  the  only 
indications  of  Indian  descent.  The  face  is  decidedly  handsome; 
while  the  lofty,  expanded,  and  well  marked  forehead,  the  great 
breadth  between  the  eyes,  the  firm  distended  nostril,  compressed  lips, 
and  steady  eye,  display  an  intellect,  a  firmness,  and  moral  qualities, 
truly  heroic  and  commanding.  Worthy  descendant  of  the  daughter 
of  Powhatan. 

Placing  the  two  portraits  side  by  side,  one  cannot  fail  to  trace  in 
the  general  contour  'of  countenance,  and  cranial  development,  a 
striking  resemblance  between  this  lady  and  her  grandson,  the  late 
John  Randolph  of  Roanoke. 


CHAPTEE    III. 

CHILDHOOD. 

A  WISE  poet  and  philosopher  has  said,  "  The  child  is  father  of  the 
man,"  and  that  our  days  are  "  Bound  each  to  each  in  natural  piety." 
Who  has  not  felt  the  force  of  this  truth,  so  beautifully  expressed  ? 
Who  is  not  conscious  that  his  personal  identity  cannot  be  measured 
by  time— that  he  is  the  same  to-day  he  was  yesterday,  and  as  far 
back  as  memory  can  reach  ?  Though  covered  with  years  and  busied 
with  graver  trifles,  who  does  not  feel  that  he  is  the  same  being  that 
once  gambolled  on  the  plain  with  his  school-fellows,  and  sought 
childish  sports  with  cheerful  heart  by  flood  and  field  ?  Life  is  a  con- 
tinuous growth.  The  outspreading  oak  that  shades  the  venerable 
eld  man  at  its  root,  is  but  the  gradual  development  of  the  little  nut 


CHILDHOOD.  9 

that  lay  concealed  in  the  acorn,  which  in  his  childhood  he  carelessly 
planted  there.  Had  it  been  planted  in  a  more  genial  soil,  it  might 
have  attained  a  prouder  growth.  In-  a  Siberian  clime  it  would  have 
been  stunted  and  mean.  Circumstances,  therefore,  do  not  mako^  but 
they  develope  the  man.  To  know  one  thoroughly  as  he  is;  why  he  ia 
thus  and  not  otherwise  ;  the  man  he  is  and  not  another  ;  we  must  go 
back  to  his  childhood.  We  must  go  to  the  salient  point,  to  take  the 
scope  and  direction  of  his  character.  We  must  see  him  surrounded 
by  the  circumstances  that  gave  the  first  impulse  ;  the  influences  that 
first  stamped  their  impress  on  the  plastic  clay ;  we  must  know  by  what 
scenes  he  was  surrounded  ;  was  he  reared  by  the  mountain-side,  the 
running  stream,  or  on  the  ocean's  shore  ?  was  he  in  daily  converse 
with  the  tamer  scenes  of  nature,  or  with  the  grand,  or  the  beautiful  ? 
what  sort  of  people  were  his  father  and  mother,  his  brothers  and 
sisters,  his  playmates,  and  the  men  and  women  that  went  in  and  out 
before  him  ?  what  books  lay  in  his  way  ?  what  lessons  were  taught 
him,  not  in  the  school-house,  but  the  nursery,  and  by  the  domestic 
fireside?  what  were  the  traditions,  opinions,  passions,  prejudices, 
that  constituted  a  part  of  his  heritage  far  more  important  than  lands 
or  merchandise  ? 

Could  we  but  know  these  things  about  the  heroes,  the  statesmen, 
the  orators  and  the  poets,  who  excite  our  wonder  and  admiration, 
and  have  stamped  the  impress  of  their  character  not  only  on  their  own 
age,  but  on  the  world's  history,  how  different  would  be  our  judgment 
in  regard  to  them  !  We  behold  the  outside  alone  ;  we  are  only  made 
acquainted  with  the  histrionic,  the  acted  part  of  their  life.  What 
we  see  is  but  a  masquerade,  a  succession  of  magnified  and  illuminated 
faces  passing  before  the  disk  of  a  magic  lantern.  What  we  wish  to 
see  and  long  to  know  is  far  otherwise.  Each,  like  Mephistopheles, 
has  caught  up  some  garment  best  suited  to  his  nature  or  his  purpose, 
and  strives  to  personate  (persona  originally  meant  an  actor's  mask), 
to  seem  what  he  is  not.  Could  we  but  draw  aside  the  coverings  by 
which  they  strive  to  conceal  their  motives,  how  many  a  sigh  should 
we  hear  escape  from  heroic  bosoms ;  how  many  a  wail  from  the  proud 
and  silent  spirit !  The  wounded  pride  of  authorship  gave  -birth  to 
Manfred  and  Don  Juan.  The  want  of  bread  has  caused  many-  a 
swanlike  strain  to  pour  from  the  lips  of  the  famishing  author. 
than  one  Helen  or  Cleopatra  has  set  the  heroes  of  the  world  in. 


10  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

tion.  Pericles  governed  Athens,  his  wife  Pericle  j ;  the  sou  the 
mother — the  schoolmaster  the  son,  and  he  in  his  turn — but  where 
would  this  end  ?  Oh  the  subtlety  and  complexity  of  human  motives ! 

And  yet  without  some  tolerable  insight  into  these,  history  is  but 
an  empty  cloud-castle,  built  of  mist,  and  shadow,  and  sunbeams. 
There  are  two  kinds  of  history — the  outward  acted  history,  which  is 
false,  and  the  inner,  secret  history  of  causes  and  influences;  this 
alone  is  true  and  worth  knowing,  and  without  it  we  know  nothing  ; 
it  matters  not  how  learned  we  may  be  in  facts  and  dates.  It  is  said 
that  Dr.  Johnson  would  insult  any  man  who  began  to  talk  to  him 
about  the  Punic  wars.  What  does  the  wise  man  care  to  know  about 
battles  or  the  marching  and  counter-marching  of  a  multitude  with 
swords,  and  battle-axes  in  their  hands.  He  wants  to  know  the  condi- 
tion and  circumstances  of  the  people  that  made  war  necessary  j  the 
train  of  secret  causes  that  brought  it  on  ;  the  master-spirits  that  con- 
trolled it,  and  the  motives  that  influenced  them.  He  is  not  dazzled  by 
the  helmet  or  the  martial  dress,  but  lends  a  willing  ear  to  the  mur- 
murings  of  the  mad  Achilles  in  his  tent,  for  it  is  there,  in  those  breath- 
ings of  discontent,  in  those  outpourings  of  a  genuine  living  man,  that 
he  hopes  to  find  some  glimmering  of  the  truth.  A  little  insight  into 
the  private  life  of  the  humblest  Roman  would  be  worth  all  we  know 
of  the  Punic  wars,  its  galleys,  and  battles  of  Cannaa.  A  mere  narra- 
tive of  events  abstracted  from  the  man  who  wrought  them,  is  like  the 
human  body  when  the  life  has  gone  out  of  it — cold,  stiff,  and  cum- 
brous. All  true  history  consists  in  biography.  And  there  can  be  no 
biography  where  the  author  does  not  forget  the  hero,  and  write  of  the 
man.  It  is  not  a  history  of  the  Revolution  that  we  want,  but  the 
Life  of  Washington.  Under  the  influence  of  these  opinions,  we  have 
commenced  the  task  of  writing  the  Life  of  John  Randolph. 

John  Randolph  was  born  at  Cawsons,  the  second  day  of  June, 
1773.  The  fiery,  star  was  in  the  ascendant  at  his  birth,  and  pursued 
him  through  life ;  both  as  a  destroying  element,  and  a  subtle  Pro- 
methean flame  consuming  the  soul.  It  is  a  remarkable  coincidence, 
that  his  birthplace,  the  cherished  home  of  his  childhood,  and  the 
house  in.  which  he  spent  the  first  fifteen  years  of  his  manhood,  Caw- 
sons,  Matoax,  and  Bizzarre,  were  all  in  succession  destroyed  by  fire. 

Shortly  after  the  destruction  of  Bizzarre,  which  was  complete — in- 
volving his  books  and  papers — he  was  asked  by  a  friend  why  he  did 


CHILDHOOD.  II 

not  write  something  to  leave  behind  him.  "  Too  late,  sir,  too  late,'1 
was  the  reply  ;  ';  all  I  ever  wrote  perished  in  the  flames  ;  it  is  too  late 
to  restore  it  now."  He  felt  himself  to  be  a  child  of  destiny  ;  he  had 
a  work  given  him  to  do,  but  some  cross  fate  prevented  ;  he  failed  to 
fulfil  his  destiny,  and  was  wretched.  "  My  whole  name  and  race,"  he 
has  been  known  to  say,  "  lie  under  a  curse.  I  am  sure  I  feel  the 
curse  cleaving  to  me."  He  was  not  two  years  and  a  half  old  when 
his  father  died.  What  could  he  know  of  death  ?  He  only  grieved 
in  sympathy  with  his  mother's  tears.  It  was  not  till  long  after,  that 
he  learned  the  value  of  the  treasure  that  lay  1  juried  beneath  the  mar- 
ble slab  on  the  hill  under  the  old  oak  tree. 

Much  of  the  time  of  her  "  unhappy  widowhood"  was  spent  by 
Mrs.  Randolph  at  Cawsons.  Here  the  little  John  was  always  a 
welcome  guest.  He  was  a  great  favorite  with  the  whole  household, 
especially  with  his  grandfather  and  his  cousin  Anna  Eaton,  about 
ten  years  older  than  himself,  now  the  venerable  Mrs.  Anna  Bland 
Dudley,  of  Franklin,  Tennessee.  He  was  so  delicate,  reserved,  and 
beautiful,  .that  he  attracted  the  notice  of  all  who  frequented  the 
house.  His  skin  was  as  soft  and  delicate  as  a  female.  K  There  is  no 
accounting  for  thinness  of  skins  in  different  animals,  human  or 
brute,"  says  he  in  a  letter  dated  January  31,  1826.  "  Mine  I  be- 
lieve to  be  more  tender  than  many  infants  of  a  month  old.  Indeed, 
I  have  remarked  in  myself,  from  my  earliest  recollection,  a  delicacy 
or  effeminacy  of  complexion,  that,  but  for  a  spice  of  the  devil  in  my 
temper,  would  have  consigned  me  to  the  distaff  or  the  needle."  A 
spice  of  the  devil  in  his  temper  !  Well  might  he  say  that.  Before 
he  was  four  years  old,  Mrs.  Dudley  has  known  him  to  swoon  away  in 
a  fit  of  passion,  and  with  difficulty  could  be  restored :  an  evidence 
of  the  extreme  delicacy  of  his  constitution,  and  the  uncontrollable  ar- 
dor of  a  temper  that  required  a  stronger  frame  to  repress  and  re- 
strain it.  Notwithstanding  his  excitable  nature,  he  was  always  de- 
voted to  his  mother ;  would  hang  fondly  about  her  neck,  and  could 
only  be  soothed  by  her  caresses.  Of  her  Mrs.  Dudley  thus  speaks : 
— "  She  was  a  woman,  not  only  of  superior  personal  attractions,  but 
excelled  all  others  of  her  day  in  strength  of  intellect,  for  which  she 
was  so  justly  celebrated."  This  excellent  and  highly  gifted  lady 
trained  up  her  child  in  the  way  he  should  go.  He  was  allowed  to 
come  in  contact  «?,'ith  nothing  low,  vulgar  or  mean.  Mrs.  Dudley, 


12  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

Governor  Tazewell,  and  the  Hon.  John  Talliaferro,  who  remember 
him  well  in  childhood,  speak  with  admiration  of  his  moral  purity, 
and  entire  exemption  from  all  vicious  habits.  His  mother  early 
taught  him  to  read,  and  impressed  on  his  mind  the  best  lessons.  She 
was  a  member  of  the  Church  of  England,  a  faith  from  which  h&r  son 
never  long  departed.  On  her  bended  knees,  with  him  by  her  side, 
she  repeated  day  after  day  the  prayers  and  collects  of  that  admirable 
litany,  which  were  never  effaced  from  his  tenacious  memory.  Often 
through  life  has  he  been  known,  in  mental  agony,  to  ejaculate  them 
with  an  earnestness  that  called  forth  tears  from  all  who  heard  Lim. 

"  When  I  could  first  remember,"  says  he  to  a  friend,  "  I  slept  in 
the  same  bed  with  my  widowed  mother — each  night,  Wore  putting 
me  to  bed,  I  repeated  on  my  knees  before  her  the  Lord's  Prayer  and 
the'  Apostle's  Creed — each  morning  kneeling  in  the  bed  I  put  up  my 
little  hands  in  prayer  in  the  same  form.  Years  have  since  passed 
away ;  I  have  been  a  skeptic,  a  professed  scoffer,  glorying  in  rny  infi- 
delity, and  vain  of  the  ingenuity  with  which  I  could  defend  it. 
Prayer  never  crossed  my  mind,  but  in  scorn.  I  am  now,  conscious 
that  the  lessons  above  mentioned,  taught  me  by  my  dear  and  revered 
mother,  are  of  more  value  to  me  than  all  that  I  have  learned  from  my 
preceptors  and  compeers.  On  Sunday  I  said  my  catechism,  a  great 
part  of  which  at  the  distance  of  thirty-five  years  I  can  yet  repeat." 


CHAPTER   I"V  . 

,     .   . .   . 

FAMILY  CIRCLE. 

IN  the  autumn  of  1778,  the  family  circle  at  Matoax  consisted  of 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Tucker,  and  her  three  sons,  Richard,  Theodorick,  and 
John  Randolph.  Kichard  was  in  his  ninth  year,  Theodorick  was 
nearly  eight,  and  John  was  in  the  sixth  year  of  his  age.  They  were 
all  sprightly  and  interesting  boys ;  and  cheerfulness  was  once  more 
restored  to  this  happy  family.  A  more  amiable  and  exemplary  step- 
father than  Mr.  Tucker  could  not  be  found.  This  trait  in  his  char- 
acter was  proverbial  among  his  acquaintance  every  where.  "  I  remem- 
ber to  have  heard  a  brother  of  mine,"  says  the  late  Daniel  Call,  K  who 


FAMILY  CIRCLE.  13 

married  a  niece  of  Mrs.  Randolph  of  Curies,  and  was  thus  occasion- 
ally thrown  into  circles,  where  he  sometimes  met  the  Matoax  family, 
once  say,  that  *  Mr.  Tucker  must  be  the  best  father-in-law  in  the 
world,  or  his  step-children  would  not  be  so  fond  of  him.5  "  Up  to 
this  time  the  boys  had  never  been  to  school.  All  of  their  instruction 
had  been  received  at  the  hands  of  their  mother.  Mr.  Tucker  now 
undertook  their  education.  But  it  cannot  be  supposed  that  he  devo- 
ted himself  to  school-keeping  with  the  rigid  discipline  of  a  peda- 
gogue. The  life  of  ease  and  elegance  which  he  is  known  to  ha^  e 
lived,  amidst  literary  pursuits  to  which  he  was  devoted,  and  in  the 
society  of  wealthy  and  fashionable  neighbors,  of  which  he  and  his 
accomplished  lady  were  the  chief  ornament,  would  not  justify  such  a 
conclusion.  His  leisure  was  given  to  their  instruction  ;  and  he  at  all 
times  took  a  lively  interest  in  their  improvement.  In  his  letters  to 
Colonel  Bland,  Jr.,  who  was  stationed  with  a  regiment  at  Charlottes- 
ville  to  guard  the  captured  troops  of  Burgoyne's  army,  he  often  men- 
tions them,  and  always  with  great  solicitude.  In  one  dated  Matoax, 
July  20,  1779,  not  ten  months  after  his  connection  with  the  family, 
he  writes : — "  "What  you  wrote  about  Bob  (Robert  Banister,  a  cousin, 
then  with  his  uncle,  Colonel  Bland)  has  inspired  the  boys  with  the 
spirit  of  emulation,  which  I  hope  will  be  productive  of  some  benefit 
to  them.  I  find  he  serves  as  a  very  good  spur  to  them  when  they  are 
growing  a  little  negligent.  Two  of  them  appear  to  be  blessed  with 
excellent  capacities,  but  I  confess  I  am  afraid  that  the  genius  of  your 
namesake  (Theodorick),  though  possessed  of  great  quickness  and 
acuteness  in  many  respects,  does  not  lie  in  the  literary  line.  *  * 

I  shall  continue  to  give  them  all  the  assistance  that  leisure 
will  permit." 

John  was  too  young  and  too  delicate  to  be  confined.  We  may 
imagine  also  that,  with  so  indulgent  a  teacher  and  so  amiable  a  man. 
having  a  spice  of  the  devil  withal  in  his  own  temper,  he  could  not 
have  learnt  much.  He  was  not  boisterous,  nor  inclined  to  the  athletic 
out-door  sports  of  which  boys  are  so  fond.  He  sought  amusements 
within.  "When  any  of  the  boys  and  girls  from  the  neighborhood 
came  to  Matoax,  he  introduced  the  play  of  "  Ladies  and  Gentlemen," 
in  which  each  one  personated  some  known  or  imagined  character, 
male  or  female,  and  acted,  as  they  supposed  such  persons  would  under 
similar  circumstances  have  acted.  He  was  decidedly  of  a  dramatic 


14:  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLP" 

turn.  And  his  ardent  temper  and  oriental  imagination,  precociously 
developed,  invested  with  an  earnestness  and  a  reality  all  the  sports 
and  pastimes  of  his  childhood.  But  he  was  not  idle. 

There  was  a  certain  closet  to  which  he  stole  away  and  secreted 
himself  whenever  he  could.  It  was  not  redolent — that  closet — of 
cakes  or  the  perfume  of  sweetmeats,  but  the  odor  of  "books, — of  old 
musty  tomes  arranged  along  its  shelves.  With  a  mysterious  awe, — as 
if  about  to  commune  with  mighty  spirits  and  beings  of  another 
world,  as  he  really  was — would  he  close  the  door  upon  himself,  and 
devour,  with  "  more  eagerness  than  gingerbread,"  the  contents  of 
those  old  volumes.  His  mind,  young  as  he  was.  craved  after  ethereal 
food,  and  there  he  found  the  richest  repast. 

The  first  book  that  fell  in  his  way  was  Voltaire's  History  of 
Charles  XII.  of  Sweden.  An  admirable  writer  on  education  has 
said,  that  "whatever  the  young  have  to  read  ought  to  be  objective, 
clear,  simple,  and  precise ;  ought  to  be  the  thing  itself,  and  not  round- 
about dialogues  about  the  thing."  No  book  could  fill  this  description 
more  completely  than  the  above-mentioned  History — full  of  stirring 
incidents,  with  a  style  of  simple  narrative  as  rapid  and  perspicuous 
as  that  master  of  style  could  make  it.  How  his  young  heart  must 
have  burned  within  him  as  he  pursued  the  eventful  career  of  the 
bold,  reckless  and  indomitable  Charles !  Feeling  the  impulses  of  a 
kindred  spirit,  his  sympathy  must  have  been  intense  for  the  wild, 
stout-hearted  Scandinavian.  The  next  book  he  read  was  the  Specta- 
tor ;  but  only  the  narrative  and  dramatic  parts  as  we  might  suppose. 
The  young  mind  can  only  be  interested  in  things,  objects,  and  not  in 
roundabout  dialogues  about  things.  He  delighted  in  Humphrey 
Clinker — Reynard  the  Fox  came  next ;  then  Tales  of  the  Genii  and 
Arabian  Nights.  What  a  field  of  delight  was  opened  here — what  a 
world  of  glory  in  those  old  tales  of  wonder,  the  genuine  poetry  for 
children  !  The  Arabian  Nights  and  Shakspeare  were  his  idols.  He 
had  read  Goldsmith's  Roman  History,  and  an  old  History  of  Brad- 
dock's  War.  When  not  eight  years  old,  he  used  to  sing  an  old  ballad 
of  his  defeat  : 

"  On  the  sixth  day  of  July,  in  the  year  sixty-live, 
At  two  in  the  morning  did  our  forces  arrive  ; 
When  the  French  and  the  Indians  in  ambush  did  lay, 
And  there  was  great  slaughter  of  our  forces  that  day." 


FAMILY  CIRCLE.  15 

But  the  "  Thousand  and  One  Tales"  and  Shakspeare  were  his 
idols  !  All  others  were  in  a  sense  shallow  and  limited — had  bounds 
that  could  be  measured — but  these  were  fathomless,  boundless ; 
opening  up  to  the  rapt  vision  a  world  of  enchantment,  ever  varying, 
ever  new.  He  was  a  poet,  a  born  poet,  nascitur  non  Jit.  He  did 
not  write  poetry ;  but  he  spoke  it,  he  felt  it,  he  lived  it.  His  whole 
life  was  a  poem,  of  the  genuine  epic  sort;  sad,  mournful,  true. 
"  For  poetry,"  says  he,  "  I  have  had  a  decided  taste  from  my  child- 
hood ;  this  taste  I  have  sedulously  cultivated."  Lee  that  eld  closet 
tell !  Only  think  of  the  boy  who  had  read  the  books  we  have  cited, 
and  Don  Quixotte,  Gil  Bias,  Quintus  Curtius,  Plutarch,  Pope's  Ho- 
mer, Kobinson  Crusoe,  Gulliver,  Tom  Jones,  Orlando  Furioso,  and 
Thomson's  Seasons,  before  he  was  eleven  years  of  age  ! 

For  more  than  two  years  the  old  closet  was  to  that  young  genius 
the  cave  of  Aladdin :  and  those  old  tomes  the  magic  lamp  by  whose 
aid  he  could  summon  to  his  presence  the  giants  and  the  genii,  iihe 
dwarfs  and  the  fairies,  the  Calibans  and  the  Mirandas,  and  all  the 
wonderful  creations  of  fancy  and  imagination.  With  the  clear,  open 
sense  and  loving  heart  of  childhood,  he  devoured  those  narrations 
and  tales,  which  as  he  grew  up  became  the  themes  of  reflection,  the 
objects  of  his  aptest  illustrations,  and  the  sources  whence  he  drew  his 
lessons  of  profoundest  wisdom.  "What  a  force  of  illustration,  and 
even  of  argument,  is  found  in  his  beautiful  allusions  to  the  marriage 
of  Sinbad  the  Sailor  to  the  corpse  of  his  wife ;  the  Old  Man  of  the 
Sea ;  and  the  Vision  of  Alnascar  !  .  As  to  Shakspeare,  he  was  so  tho- 
roughly imbued  with  his  spirit,  his  own  genius  so  akin  to  the  Avon 
bard,  that  he  thought  and  spoke  as  Shakspeare  in  his  station  would 
have  thought  and  spoken. 

He  lamented  in  after  life  his  rambling  way  of  reading.  But  it 
could  not  have  been  otherwise.  He  belonged  to  the  irritabile  genus 
— was  a  born  poet,  and  could  not  brook  the  restraint  or  the  gin-horse 
routine  of  a  grammar  school.  "  I  have  been  all  my  life,"  says  he. 
"  the  creature  of  impulse,  the  sport  of  chance,  the  victim  of  my  own 
uncontrolled  and  uncontrollable  sensations ;  of  a  poetic  temperament. 
I  admire  and  pity  all  who  possess  this  temperament "  Poor  fellow  ! 
What  could  mother  or  step-father  do  with  such  a  thin-skinned,  sensi- 
tive, impulsive,  imaginative  boy  1  With  his  fits  of  passion  and  swoon- 
ing, what  could  they  do  ?  Nature  is  her  own  best  guide.  Developo 


1$  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

nature  according  to  her  own  instincts,  and  the  best  has  been  done  that 
the  case  will  admit  of.  So  thought  the  kind  parents  of  this  delicate 
boy.  They  put  no  restraint  upon  him.  Gentleness  and  tender  care 
followed  all  his  footsteps.  He  was  suffered  to  roam  freely  ever  the 
hills  and  by  the  waterfalls  of  Appomatox.  The  quiet  sport  of  angling 
was  his  chief  source  of  amusement.  When  tired,  he  stole  away  into  the 
closet,  and  none  took  heed  of  him.  In  this  happy,  ever-remembered 
dream  of  childhood,  two  years  and  a  half  passed  away.  Christmas, 
in  the  year  seventeen  hundred  and  eighty,  was  destined  to  be  the 
last  Christmas  he  would  ever  spend  at  Matoax  as  his  home — as  his 
home  and  dwelling-place. 


CHAPTEE   Y. 

FLIGHT    FROM    MATOAX. 

THE  new  year  seventeen  hundred  and  eighty-one  commenced  with 
the  invasion  of  Yirginia  by  the  traitor  Arnold.  He  had  been 
intrusted  with  an  expedition  to  that  province,  not  with  the  hope  of 
conquest,  or  with  the  expectation  of  achieving  any  important  mili- 
tary enterprise,  but  solely  for  the  purpose  of  plunder  and  devasta- 
tion. What  the  proud  soldier  scorned  to  do  was  fit  work  for  the 
betrayer  of  his  country.  The  name  of  Arnold,  before  it  became  a 
by-word  of  reproach,  was  a  sound  of  terror,  not  to  armed  men,  but  to 
Ijfenceless  women  and  children.  The  fame  of  his  rapine  and 
murder  in  his  native  State  had  preceded  his  arrival  in  Yirginia. 
On  the  3d  of  January,  it  was  rumored  at  Matoax  that  the  enemy 
were  coming  up  James  river,  and  that  they  were  destined  for  Peters- 
burg or  Bichmond.  Mrs.  Tucker  had  then  been  but  five  days 
mother  to  her  last  child,  the  present  eminent  jurist,  Judge  Henry 
Sfc.  George  Tucker,  of  the  University.  "  The  first  time  I  ever  saw 
that  gentleman,"  said  John  Randolph  once  in  a  speech,  "  we  were 
trying  to  get  out  of  the  way  of  the  British."  The  enemy  that  night 
landed  at  Hood's,  of  which  being  apprised  early  next  morning,  and 
hearing  that  they  had  marched  as  far  as  Eland's  Ordinary,  in  their 


FLIGHT  FROM  MATOAX.  17 

way  to  Petersburg,  Mr.  Tucker  came  to  the  conclusion,  whatever 
might  be  the  consequence,  to  remove  his  family  out  of  the  way  of 
danger,  if  possible.  Hasty  preparations  were  ordered  for  their 
immediate  departure.  What  bustle  and  confusion  that  frosty  morn- 
ing reigned  through  the  halls  at  Matoax — each  hurrying  into  trunks 
or  boxes,  or  loaded  wagons,  such  articles  as  to  them  seemed  most 
valuable,  heaping  imprecations  at  the  same  time  on  that  new  name 
of  dread,  Benedict  Arnold.  Whether  John  stole  into  the  old  closet 
for  the  last  time,  and  took  out  such  volumes  as  pleased  him,  we  are 
not  informed.  Early  next  morning,  the  5th  of  January,  Syphax 
drove  off  with  the  mother  and  her  child ;  Essex  and  the  boys 
brought  up  the  rear ;  and  in  a  few  hours  Matoax,  solitary  and  alone, 
with  all  its  effects,  was  abandoned  to  its  fate.  Mrs.  Tucker  met 
with  a  most  kind  and  hospitable  reception  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Ben. 
Ward,  Jun'r,  at  Wintopoke :  an  ominous  name  in  conjunction  with 
that  of  John  Randolph.  It  was  the  daughter  of  this  gentleman 
to  whom  in  after  years  he  became  so  much  attached.  The  un- 
smooth  current  of  their  loves  (as  all  true  love  is)  greatly  affected  his 
sensitive  nature,  and  had  no  little  influence  on  the  most  important 
events  of  his  life.  Those  children,  when  they  first  met  together 
around  the  fireside  at  Wintopoke,  and  joined  in  the  innocent  plays 
of  childhood,  how  unconscious  were  they  of  the  deep  drama  of  life 
in  which  they  were  destined  to  play  so  sad  a  part !  After  recruiting 
her  health  and  strength  a  few  days,  which  had  been  somewhat  im- 
paired by  fatigue  and  hurry  of  spirits,  Mrs.  Tucker  pursued  her 
journey  to  Bizarre,  a  large  and  valuable  estate  on  both  sides  of  the 
Appomatox,  where  she  and  the  boys  were  destined  to  spend  alone 
the  remainder  of  this  stirring  and  eventful  year.  So  soon  as  his 
family  were  in  a  place  of  safety,  Mr.  Tucker  hastened  back  to  the 
scene  of  action  to  assist  old  Col.  Bland  in  his  escape,  and  to  secure 
such  property,  belonging  to  himself  and  friends,  as  had  not  been 
destroyed  by  the  enemy.  This  done,  he  threw  himself  at  the  head 
of  the  Chesterfield  regiment  of  militia  and  joined  General  Greene, 
then  manoeuvring  before  Cornwallis's  army  on  the  borders  of  North 
Carolina  and  Virginia.  He  was  at  the  battle  of  Guilford,  which 
took  place  the  8th  of  March,  where  he  behaved  very  gallantly. 
When  Gen.  Greene  marched  into  South  Carolina  after  this  engage- 
ment, he  returned  to  Virginia,  spent  a  few  weeks  with  his  family  at 


18  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

Bizarre,  then  joined  General  La  Fayette,  with  whom  he  continued 
till  the  capture  of  Cornwallis,  the  19th  of  October,  at  Yorktown. 

Notwithstanding  his  active  participation  in  the  military  opera- 
tions of  that  period,  his  solicitude  for  the  education  of  the  boys 
was  unabated.  From  Bizarre,  May  the  23d,  he  wrote  to  Colonel 
Bland :  "  Lose  no  opportunity  of  procuring  a  tutor  for  the  boys, 
for  the  exigency  is  greater  than  you  can  imagine."  Again,  from 
Richmond,  July  17th,  he  writes  on  the  same  subject;  and  then 
from  William sburg,  amidst  the  active  preparations  for  that  great 
event  which  was  to  end  the  war,  and  secure  the  independence  of  the 
country.  In  a  letter  dated  Williamsburg,  Sept.  21st,  he  says  : 
"  The  boys  are  still  without,  and  more  than  ever  in  want,  of  a  tutor. 
Walker  Maury  has  written  to  me  lately,  and  given  me  such  a  plan 
of  his  school,  that  unless  you  procure  a  tutor  before  Christmas,  I 
would  at  all  events  advise  sending  them  to  him  immediately  after. 
I  know  his  worth ;  I  know  that  his  abilities  are  equal  to  the  task ; 
and  I  know  that  his  assiduity  will  be  equally  directed  to  improve 
their  morals  and  their  understandings,  as  their  manners.  With  this 
prospect,  I  would  not  advise  the  providing  any  but  a  man  of  superior 
talents  as  a  private  tutor."  The  year  '81  was  full  of  stirring  life  to 
the  men,  but  of  idleness  to  the  boys  ;  yet  we  are  not  to  suppose  that 
because  the  young  Randolphs  had  not  the  benefit  of  a  tutor  to  teach 
them  the  Latin  and  Greek  languages,  they  were  entirely  destitute  of 
instruction :  with,  such  a  mother  as  they  were  blessed,  they  could 
not  grow  up  in  vice  or  idleness.  Her  sprightly  wit,  sound  judgment, 
good  temper,  and  pious  example,  impressed  their  character  more 
favorably  than  all  the  learning  of  the  schools.  Her  precepts  were  law 
to  their  plastic  minds ;  and  they  ever  afterwards  retained  a  lively  recol- 
lection of  their  wisdom  and  truth.  When  riding  over  the  vast  Roa- 
noke  estates  one  day,  she  took  John  up  behind  her,  and,  waving  her 
hand  over  the  broad  acres  spread  before  them,  she  said :  "  Johnny, 
all  this  land  belongs  to  you  and  your  brother  Theodorick ;  it  is  your 
father's  inheritance.  When  you  get  to  be  a  man  you  must  not 
sell  your  land ;  it  is  the  first  step  to  ruin  for  a  boy  to  part 
with  his  father's  home :  be  sure  to  keep  it  as  long  as  you  live. 
Keep  your  land  and  your  land  will  keep  you."  In  relating  this 
anecdote,  Mr.  Randolph  said  it  made  such  an  impression  on  his 
mind  that  it  governed  his  future  life.  Ho  was  confident  it  saved 


FLIGHT  FROM  MATOAX.  19 

him  from  many  errors.  He  never  did  part  from  his  father's  home. 
His  attachment  to  the  soil,  the  old  English  law  of  inheritance,  and  a 
landed  aristocracy  (we  have  no  other  word  to  express  our  meaning), 
constituted  the  most  remarkable  trait  in  his  character.  The  Yir- 
ginia  law  of  descents,  framed  by  Pendleton,  Wythe,  and  Jefferson, 
never  found  favor  in  his  eyes.  While  descanting  on  its  evils,  he  has 
been  heard  to  say,  "  Well  might  old  George  Mason  exclaim,  that  the 
authors  of  that  law  never  had  a  son !"  In  a  letter  addressed  to  a 
friend  at  a  very  late  period  of  life,  he  says :  "  The  old  families  of 
Virginia  will  form  connections  with  low  people,  and  sink  into  the  mass 
of  overseers1  sons  and  daughters ;  and  this  is  the  legitimate,  nay, 
inevitable  conclusion  to  which  Mr.  Jefferson  and  Iiis  levelling  system 
has  brought  us.  They  know  better  in  New- York,  and  they  feel  the 
good  effects  of  not  disturbing  the  rights  of  property.  The  patroon  is 
as  secure  in  his  rents  as  any  man  in  the  community.  The  great 
manor  of  Philipsburg  was  scandalously  confiscated,  and  the  Living- 
stons have  lost  their  influence  by  subdivision.  Every  now  and  then 
our  old  acquaintance,  Burr,  finds  out  some  flaw  in  the  titles  of  the 
usurpers,  and  a  fine  estate  is  restored  to  its  legitimate  owners."  In 
this  passage  the  reader  will  find  "  the  key  words,"  to  use  his  own 
expression,  that  decipher  every  thing  in  the  character  of  John  Ran- 
dolph. 

The  subdivision  or  alienation  of  his  father's  inheritance  was  a 
subject  he  could  not  contemplate.  Like  Logan,  he  was  alone — all 
alone — and  no  one  of  his  father's  house  after  him  to  inherit  his 
father's  home ;  hence  the  apparent  inconsistency  in  the  disposition  of 
his  estates,  the  facility  with  which  he  made  and  unmade  wills — in 
short,  the  monomania  with  which  he  was  charged  on  the  subject  of 
property. 

3 


20  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH, 

CHAPTER    VI. 

AT  SCHOOL. 

AFTER  Christmas  the  boys  were  sent  to  Walker  Maury's  school 
in  Orange  county.  Before  he  was  nine  years  of  age,  John  was 
separated  from  the  brooding  watchfulness  of  a  devoted  mother,  and 
exposed  to  the  dangers,  evil  examples,  and  vices  of  a  public  school. 
Tender  and  lelicate  as  a  female,  he  was  forced  out  on  the  society  of 
ruder  boys,  to  endure  or  to  resist  as  he  might  their  kicks,  cuffs,  and 
bruises.  Early  did  he  begin  among  his  equals  to  learn  that  personal 
merit  is  of  more  avail  than  birth  or  riches ;  and  that  truth,  fortitude, 
and  courage,  are  more  to  be  valued  than  much  learning. 

At  the  school  in  Orange,  the  young  Randolphs  remained  until 
about  the  middle  of  October,  1 782,  when  it  was  broken  up,  and  Mr. 
Maury  removed  to  the  city  of  Williamsburg. 

He  had  been  invited  to  that  place  to  establish  a  Grammar  School 
as  an  appendage  to  William  and  Mary  College,  in  which  there  was 
no  professorship  of  Humanity  existing  at  that  time.  The  School  was 
regulated  most  judiciously ;  and  was  soon  attended  by  more  pupils 
than  any  other  Grammar  School  that  had  been  before  established  or 
has  since  existed  in  Virginia.  More  than  one  hundred,  at  one  time, 
were  in  attendance,  including  boys  from  every  State  in  the  Union, 
from  Georgia  to  Maryland,  both  inclusive.  Such  a  number  of  pupils 
made  it  necessary  that  they  should  be  divided  into  classes.  The 
greater  proportion  of  these  classes  were  consigned  to  assistants,  of 
whom  there  were  four.  Soon  after  Mr.  Maury  was  established  in 
Williamsburg,  the  young  Randolphs  followed  him  there,  and  again 
became  members  of  his  school.  Richard,  the  eldest,  was  placed  in 
the  second  class,  under  the  immediate  direction  of  Mr.  Maury  himself. 
Theodorick  and  John  were  placed  in  the  fourth  class,  which  was  the 
head  class  assigned  to  the  superintendence  of  the  chief  usher,  a  Mr. 
Elliot.  When  the  class  was  so  augmented,  it  was  reading,  and  had 
nearly  finished,  Eutropius.  One  of  the  books  then  used  by  a  class- 
mate, with  a  class-roll  written  on  the  fly-leaf,  is  still  extant.  In  a 
short  time  after  the  young  Randolphs  joined  it,  the  class  had  made 


AT  SCHOOL.  21 

such  progress  that  it  was  transferred  from  the  usher's  department  to 
that  of  the  principal.  It  then  became  the  third  class.  While  John 
Randolph  continued  a  member  of  it,  which  was  more  than  a  year,  it 
was  engaged  in  reading*  Sallust  and  Virgil,  and  had  made  some 
progress  in  learning  the  Greek  and  French  languages,  and  the  ele- 
ments of  Geometry.  Though  he  complained  of  having  learned  but 
little  at  this  school,  his  attainments  for  the  short  time  he  was  con 
nected  with  it  must  have  been  very  considerable.  While  there  he 
learned  to  repeat  the  Westminster  Greek  Grammar  by  heart,  a*  he 
could  the  alphabet. 

It  was  around  the  base  of  Lord  Bottetourt's  statue,  in  the  old 
Capitol,  the  great  clock,  now  removed  to  the  church  in  Williamsburg, 
vibrating  overhead,  that  he  committed  his  lessons  to  memory.  His 
attainment  in  Latin  also  must  have  been  considerable.  The  boys 
were  in  the  habit  of  acting  plays  in  the  original  language  from  Plau- 
tus  and  Terrence.  He  was  always  selected  to  perform  the  female 
parts.  His  feminine  appearance,  and  the  "spice  of  the  devil  in  his 
temper,"  rendered  him  peculiarly  fitted  for  that  purpose,  and.  his 
performance  was  admirable.  One  who  remembers  his  personal 
appearance  at  that  time,  in  speaking  of  him,  lifted  up  both  hands, 
and  exclaimed,  "  he  was  the  most  beautiful  boy  I  ever  beheld  !"  He 
was,  indeed,  the  admiration  of  all  who  saw  him,  was  a  great  favorite 
with  the  ladies,  but  his  proud  temper  and  reserved  manners  prevented 
him  from  forming  any  intimate  associations  with  his  school-fellows. 
Though  a  promiscuous  intercourse  was  repugnant  to  his  feelings,  no 
one  was  capable  of  appreciating  true  merit,  and  of  forming  closer, 
more  unreserved,  warmer,  and  lasting  attachments  than  John  Ran- 
dolph. Shunning  vulgar  society  and  repelling  familiarity,  he  was 
the  more  open  and  devoted  to  those  who  were  honored  with  his  friend- 
ship. He  had  a  natural  instinct  for  discovering  character ;  and  was 
remarkable  in  earliest  youth  for  his  discernment  and  scrutiny  into 
motives. 

Among  the  hundreds  of  boys  with  whom  he  came  in  daily  con- 
tact, he  associated  with,  and  formed  an  attachment  to,  one  class-mate 
alone.  That  class-mate  was  Littleton  Waller  Tazewell.  With  a 
genius  as  brilliant  as  his  own,  a  heart  as  warm,  and  a  person  as  pre- 
possessing, young  Tazewell  was  worthy  of  the  distinction.  A  mutual 
respect  and  friendship  grew  up  between  them,  which  lasted  to  the  end 


22  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

of  Mr.  Randolph's  life  ;  and  the  recollection  of  which  is  still  warmly 
preserved  by  the  noble  survivor.  In  a  manner  peculiar  to  John 
Randolph,  this  early  attachment  was  often  called  to  remembrance, 
and  cherished.  Near  forty  years  afterwards,  when  he  had  heard  a 
lady  sing  some  Scotch  airs,  he  wrote  to  a  friend :  "  Among  others  she 
sang  i  There's  nae  luck  aboot  the  house'  very  well,  and  c  Auld  Lang 
Syne.'  When  she  came  to  the  lines : 

'  We  twa  ha'e  paidlet  in  the  burn, 
Frae  morning  sun  till  dine/ 

I  cast  my  mind's  eye  around  for  such  a  "  trusty  feesc/'  and  could  light 
only  on  Tazewell  (who,  God  be  praised,  is  here),  and  you  may  judge 
how  we  met." 

In  the  spring  of  1784,  after  he  had  been  in  Williamsburg  a  little 
more  than  one  year,  John  Randolph  was  taken  away  from  school. 
His  parents  went  on  a  visit  to  Mr.  Tucker's  friends  in  the  island  of 
Bermuda,  and  as  John's  health  was  very  delicate,  they  took  him  along 
with  them.  When  about  to  take  his  leave,  he  proposed  to  young 
Tazewell  that  they  should  exchange  class-books,  that  each  might  have 
some  testimonial  of  their  mutual  friendship  and  of  its  origin. 

They  accordingly  exchanged  Sallusts.  Not  many  years  since, 
while  he  was  in  Norfolk,  preparing  to  depart  on  his  mission  to  Rus- 
sia, he  showed  Mr.  Tazewell  the  identical  Sallust  he  (Tazewell)  had 
given  him.  On  the  fly-leaf  of  the  book  he  had  written,  at  the  time 
he  received  it,  how,  when,  and  from  whom  he  had  acquired  it.  To 
this  he  had  added  this  hexameter :  "  Crelum  non  animum  mutant 
qui  transmare  currant." 

He  continued  abroad  more  than  eighteen  months,  and  not  having 
the  advantage  of  daily  recitation,  the  Greek  language,  which  he  had 
begun  so  successfully  to  acquire  in  his  promenades  around  Lord 
Bottetourt's  statue,  was  entirely  effaced  from  his  memory ;  and  he 
barely  kept  alive  the  more  extensive  knowledge  he  had  acquired  of 
the  Latin.  Though  these  newly  acquired  elements  of  learning  were . 
readily  abandoned,  and  easily  effaced,  pursuits  more  genial  to  his 
taste  were  followed  with  unabated  vigor.  Poetry  continued  to  be  the 
charm  of  his  life.  While  abroad,  he  read  Chatterton  and  Rowley,  and 
Young  and  Gay.  Percy's  Reliques  and  Chaucer  then  became  his 
great  favorites.  On  his  return  to  Virginia,  in  the  latter  part  of  1 785 


AT  SCHOOL,  23 

we  do  not  learn  that  he  returned  to  Walker  Mauray's  school  in 
Williamsburg ;  on  the  contrary,  we  presume  he  did  not,  for  he  then 
would  have  formed  an  acquaintance  in  early  youth  with  John 
Brockenbrough,  the  most  intimate  friend  of  his  after  life. 

The  letter  from  which  the  above  paragraph  was  taken  continues 
in  this  wise :  "  During  the  time  that  Dr.  Brockenbrough  was  at 
Walter  Mauray's  school  (from  the  spring  of  1784,  to  the  end  of 
1785),  I  was  in  Bermuda;  and  (although  he  was  well  acquainted 
with  both  my  brothers)  our  acquaintance  did  not  begin  until  nearly 
twenty  years  afterwards.  Do  you  know  that  I  am  childish  enough 
to  regret  this  very  sensibly  ?  for,  although  I  cannot  detract  from  the 
esteem  or  regard  in  which  I  hold  him,  or  lessen  the  value  I  set  upon 
his  friendship,  yet,  had  I  known  him  then,  I  think  I  should  enjoy 
'  Auld  Lang  Syne  '  more,  when  I  hear  it  sung,  or  hum  it  to  myself, 
as  I  often  do." 

How  he  spent  the  next  twelve  or  eighteen  months  after  his  re- 
turn from  Bermuda,  we  have  not  been  able  to  learn.  When  we 
see  him  again  it  is  at  Princeton  College,  in  the  autumn  of  1787.  The 
manner  in  which  he  spent  his  time  there  and  at  Columbia  College, 
New- York,  shall  be  given  in  his  own  words. 

"  My  mother  once  expressed  a  wish  to  me,  that  I  might  one  day 
or  other  be  as  great  a  speaker  as  Jerman  Baker  or  Edmund  Ran- 
dolph !  That  gave  the  bent  to  my  disposition.  At  Princeton  Col- 
lege, where  I  spent  a  few  months  (1787),  the  prize  of  elocution  was 
borne  away  by  mouthers  and  ranters.  I  never  would  speak  if  I 
could  possibly  avoid  it,  and  when  I  could  not,  repeated,  without  ges- 
ture,  the  shortest  piece  that  I  had  committed  to  memory.  I  remem- 
ber some  verses  from  Pope,  and  the  first  anonymous  letter  from 
Newberg,  made  up  the  sum  and  substance  of  my  spoutings,  and  I 
can  yet  repeat  much  of  the  first  epistle  (to  Lord  Chatham)  of  the 
former,  and  a  good  deal  of  the  latter.  I  was  then  as  conscious  of  my 
superiority  over  my  competitors  in  delivery  and  elocution,  as  I  am 
now  that  they  are  sunk  in  oblivion ;  and  I  despised  the  award  and 
the  umpires  in  the  bottom  of  my  heart.  I  believe  that  there  is  no- 
where such  foul  play  as  among  professors  and  schoolmasters ;  more 
especially  if  they  are  priests.  I  have  had  a  contempt  for  college 
honors  ever  since. 

My  mother's  death  drew  me  from  Princeton,  (where  I  had  been 


24  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

forced  to  be  idle,  being  put  into  a  noisy  wretched  grammar  school 
for  Dr.  Witherspoon's  emolument :  I  was  ten  times  a  better  scholar 
than  the  master  of  it,)  and  in  June,  1788,  I  was  sent  to  Columbia 
College,  New- York ;  just  then  having  completed  my  fifteenth  year. 
Never  did  higher  literary  ambition  burn  in  human  bosom.  Colum- 
bia College,  New-York,  was  just  rising  out  of  chaos ;  but  there  was 
an  Irishman  named  Cochran,  who  was  our  humanity  professor. 

I  now  (July,  1788)  mastered  the  Eaton  grammar,  and  gave  Coch- 
ran, who  was  a  scholar,  "  and  a  ripe  and  good  one,"  a  half-joe,  out  of 
my  own  pocket,  for  months,  to  give  me  private  lessons.  We  read 
Demosthenes  together,  and  I  used  to  cry  for  indignation  at  the  suc- 
cess of  Philip's  arts  and  arms  over  the  liberties  of  Greece.  But 
some  disgust  induced  my  master  to  remove  to  Nova  Scotia,  where  a 
professor's  chair  was  offered  him,  about  three  months  after  I  joecame 
his  pupil.  Next  to  the  loss  of  my  mother,  and  my  being  sent  to 
Walker  Mauray's  school  (and  one  other  that  I  shall  not  name),  this 
was  the  greatest  misfortune  of  my  life. 

"  Unhappily,  my  poor  brother  Theodorick,  who  was  two  years  older 
than  myself,  had  a  strong  aversion  to  books  and  a  decided  taste  for 
pleasure.  Often  when  I  had  retreated  from  him  and  his  convivial 
associates  to  my  little  study,  has  he  forced  the  lock,  taken  away  my 
book,  and  rendered  further  prosecution  of  my  purpose  impossible. 
From  that  time  forward  I  began  to  neglect  study  (Cochran  left  no 
one  but  Dr.  Johnson,  the  president,  of  any  capacity  behind  him,  and 
he  was  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  from  March,  1789),  read 
only  the  trash  of  the  circulating  library,  and  never  have  read  since, 
except  for  amusement,  unless  for  a  few  weeks  at  Williamsburg  at 
the  close  of  1793  ;  and  all  my  dear  mother's  fond  anticipations  and 
all  my  own  noble  and  generous  aspirations  have  been  quenched ; 
and  if  not  entirely— if  a  single  spark  or  languid  flame  yet  burns — it 
is  owing  to  my  accidental  election  to  Congress  five  and  twenty  yearb 
ago." 

He  was  recalled  from  Princeton  by  the  death  of  his  mother, 
That  sad  event  took  place  the  18th  of  January,  1788.  She  was  but 
thirty-six  years  old  when  she  died.  Cut  off  in  the  bloom  of  youth 
and  beauty,  he  ever  retained  a  most  vivid  and  impassioned  remem- 
brance of  her  person,  her  charms,  and  her  virtues.  He  always  kept 
her  portrait  hanging  before  him  in  his  chamber.  Though  he  was 


AT  SCHOOL.  25 

not  yet  fifteen  years  old,  the  loss  to  him  was  irreparable.  She  knew 
him  ;  she  knew  the  delicacy  of  his  frame,  the  tenderness  of  his  heart, 
the  irritability  of  his  temper  ;  and  she  alone  could  sympathize  with 
him,  Many  years  after  this  event — the  day  after  his  duel  with  Mr. 
Clay — while  reflecting  on  the  narrow  escape  he  had  made  with  his 
life,  and  the  professions  of  men  who  disappear  in  such  an  hour  ot 
trial,  his  mind  naturally  reverted  to  his  dear  mother,  who  understood 
and  never  forsook  him ;  he  wrote  thus  to  a  friend :  "  I  am  a  fatalist. 
I  am  all  but  friendless.  Only  one  human  being  ever  knew  me.  SJie 
only  knew  me."  That  human  being  was  his  mother !  The  lots  to 
him  was  irreparable ;  nor  did  he  ever  cease  to  mourn  over  it.  Rarely 
did  he  come  to  Petersburg  or  its  vicinity,  that  he  did  not  visit  old 
Matoax,  in  its  wasted  solitude,  and  shed  tears  over  the  grave  of  those 
honored  parents,  by  whose  side  it  was  the  last  wish  of  his  heart  to 
be  buried. 

The  spring  of  the  year  1788  was  spent  in  Virginia.  It  does  not 
appear  that  he  was  engaged  in  any  regular  course  of  study.  Much 
of  his  time,  as  was  his  custom  whenever  he  could,  was  devoted  to 
friendship.  He  spent  several  weeks  of  this  vacation  with  young 
Tazewell,  at  his  father's  house,  in  Williamsburg.  While  there,  he 
discoursed  at  large  on  the  various  incidents  he  had  met  with  while 
abroad  in  Bermuda,  and  at  college  in  Princeton,  thus  early  display- 
ing that  faculty  of  observation  and  fluent  narrative  that  in  after 
years  rendered  his  conversation  so  brilliant  and  captivating.  After 
his  departure  on  the  present  occasion,  he  commenced  a  correspond- 
ence, which,  with  short  intervals,  was  kept  up  through  life.  Such 
was  Mr.  Tazewell's  reputation  for  profound  learning  on  all  subjects 
touching  the  laws  and  the  Constitution  of  the  country,  that  Mr. 
Randolph  consulted  him  on  every  important  occasion  as  it  arose  in 
Congress.  Often  in  one  line  would  he  propound  an  inquiry  that  cost 
his  friend  weeks  of  investigation  to  answer.  His  own  early  letters 
displayed  an  inquiring  mind  far  beyond  his  years.  In  his  first  let- 
ter, written  on  his  arrival  in  New- York  (June,  1788),  he  stated  that 
alien  duties  had  been  exacted  by  the  custom-house  there,  not  only 
upon  the  vessel  in  which  he  had  taken  his  passage,  which  was  owned 
in  Virginia,  but  upon  the  passengers  on  board  of  her,  all  of  whom 
were  natives  of  Virginia.  This  statement  was  accompanied  by  many 
reflections,  designed  to  show  the  impolicy  of  such  exactions  on  the 


20  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

part  of  New- York,  and  the  ill  effects  that  would  result  from  persist 
ing  in  such  a  course.  This  incident  took  place  before  the  adoption 
of  the  present  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  and  when  the  sub- 
ject of  it  was  just  fifteen  years  old.  It  is  mentioned  merely  to  show 
"  the  precocious  proclivity"  of  John  Randolph  to  the  investigation  of 
political  subjects. 

Another  letter  addressed  to  the  same  friend,  was  confined  to  an 
account  of  the  first  inauguration  of  General  Washington  as  President 
of  the  United  States,  which  took  place  the  30th  of  April,  1789,  in 
the  city  of  New- York.  John  Randolph  was  an  ,iye  -witness  of  the 
scene.  His  letter  contained  a  narrative  of  many  minute  but  very 
interesting  incidents  that  do  not  appear  in  any  of  our  public  records 
or  histories.  This  narrative,  being  written  at  the  moment  such  inci- 
dents occurred,  by  an  ingenuous  youth,  an  eye-witness  of  the  events, 
had  an  air  of  freshness  and  truthfulness  about  it  that  was  most  cap- 
tivating. As  the  letter  related  to  nothing  but  matters  of  general 
interest,  young  Tazewell  showed  it  to  his  father,  who  was  so  much 
v  leased  with  it,  that  shortly  afterwards  he  requested  his  son  to  read 
it  to  a  party  of  friends  who  were  dining  with  him.  The  late  Colonel 
James  Innis,  the  attorney-general,  was  one  of  the  party.  He  was 
considered,  at  that  time,  the  most  eloquent  speaker,  and  the  best  belles- 
lettres  scholar  in  Virginia.  Colonel  Innis  was  so  much  pleased  with 
the  letter,  that  he  took  it  from  the  hands  of  the  owner,  and  read  it 
over  and  over  again,  pronouncing  it  to  be  a  model  of  such  writing, 
and  recommended  to  the  young  man  to  preserve  it,  and  study  its  style. 


CHAPTER   VII. 

THE  CONSTITUTION  IN  ITS  CHRYSALIS  STATE. 

No  man  with  a  growing  intellect  was  ever  content  with  his  early 
education.  The  boy  turns  a  contemptuous  look  on  the  swaddlings  of 
infancy.  The  wisest  instruction  is  so  inadequate  to  the  wants  of  the 
human  mind,  that  when  one  grows  up  to  manhood  he  looks  back  with 
mortification  on  the  dark  gropings  of  youthful  ignorance,  and  with 


THE  CONSTITUTION  IN  ITS  CHRYSALIS  STATE.  27 

disgust  on  the  time  and  effort  wasted  in  pursuing  barren  paths, 
where  experience  taught  him  no  truth  could  be  found.  John  Ran- 
dolph was  not  singular  in  lamenting  that  he  had  disappointed  the 
fond  anticipations  of  his  friends,  and  mourning  that  "  all  his  noble 
and  generous  aspirations  had  been  quenched."  Had  Theodorick 
and  his  noisy  companions  left  the  ambitious  student  alone  to  his 
books  and  his  closet,  we  should  still  have  heard  the  same  complaint. 
No  attainment  can  satisfy  the  aspirations  of  genius.  But  it  is  true 
he  was  not  without  just  cause  of  discontent.  His  frequent  changes 
of  school,  not  less  than  five  times  in  as  many  years  ;  the  long  inter- 
ruptions thereby  occasioned — by  his  travels  abroad,  the  death  of  his 
mother,  and  the  daily  vexations  of  ill  health  and  of  noisy  companions, 
with  whom  he  was  compelled  to  associate — rendered  it  impossible  for 
him  to  give  that  continuous  and  ardent  devotion  to  study  which  is 
indispensable  to  mental  discipline,  and  the  acquisition  of  learning, 
In  disgust  he  gave  up  the  effort,  and  abandoned  himself  to  the  loose 
habit  of  promiscuous  reading.  His  classical  studies,  so  often  inter- 
rupted, were  finally  closed  before  he  was  sixteen  years  of  age.  "  I 
am  an  ignorant  man,  sir  I"  though  sounding  like  sarcasm  from  his 
lips,  was  uttered  with  sincerity.  Though  the  broad  foundation  of 
solid  learning  was  wanting  to  him,  his  active  and  inquiring  mind 
was  scarcely  conscious  of  the  deficiency.  Nature  had  designed  him 
for  a  statesman ;  he  was  eminently  a  practical  man,  and  drew  his 
lessons  of  wisdom  from  experience  and  observation.  He  was,  while 
yet  a  youth,  in  daily  intercourse  with  statesmen  and  men  of  learning. 
He  enjoyed  great  and  rare  opportunities  for  acquiring  information  on 
those  subjects  towards  which  his  mind  had  "a  precocious  pro- 
clivity." Practical  politics,  and  the  science  of  government,  were  the 
daily  themes  of  the  statesmen  with  whom  he  associated.  He  was  a 
constant  attendant  on  the  sittings  of  the  first  Congress.  He  was  in 
Federal  Hall,  the  4th  of  March,  1789,  when  only  thirteen  members 
of  the  new  Congress  under  our  present  Constitution  appeared  and 
took  their  seats.  Two  only  presented  themselves  from  the  south 
side  of  the  Potomac  ;  Alexander  White,  from  Virginia,  and  Thomas 
Tudor  Tucker,  from  South  Carolina.  Mr.  Tucker  was  the  brother 
of  St.  George  Tucker,  the  father-in-law  of  John  Randolph.  The 
14th  of  March,  Richard  Bland  Lee,  a  cousin  of  John  Randolph, 
Mr.  Madison,  and  John  Page,  from  Virginia,  entered  the  hall,  and 


28  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH 

cheered  the  hearts  of  those  who  had  assembled  from  day  to  day  foi 
more  than  a  week  without  a  quorum,  and  were  beginning  to  despond 
and  doubt  lest  this  new  government  might  prove  a  failure.  The  30th 
of  March,  Col.  Theodorick  Bland,  the  uncle  of  John  Randolph, 
made  his  appearance.  It  was  not  till  the  1st  of  April,  nearly  a 
month  after  the  time  appointed  by  the  Constitution,  that  a  quorum 
was  obtained,  and  the  House  organized  for  business.  Such  was  the 
feeble  and  doubtful  infancy  of  this  great  and  growing  Republic.  "  I  was 
at  Federal  Hall,"  said  Randolph  once  in  a  speech  to  his  constituents  ; 
"  I  saw  Washington,  but  could  not  hear  him  take  the  oath  to  support 
the  Federal  Constitution.  The  Constitution  was  in  its  chrysalis 
state.  I  saw  what  Washington  did  not  see  ;  but  two  other  men  in 
Virginia  saw  it — George  Mason  and  Patrick  Henry — the  poison 
under  its  wrings"  That  this  was  no  vain  boasting  in  a  boy  cf  six- 
teen, the  reader  will  soon  see. 

The  arduous  and  responsible  task  of  organizing  a  new  govern- 
ment devolved  on  the  first  Congress.  In  that  body  were  a  number 
of  men  who  preferred  the  Old  Confederation,  with  some  modifica- 
tions to  give  it  energy ;  and  were  strenuously  opposed  to  a  strong 
centralizing  system,  such  as  they  apprehended  the  new  government 
to  be.  They,  therefore,  looked  with  watchfulness  and  jealousy  on 
every  step  that  was  taken  in  its  organization.  The  most  prominent 
among  those  who  thus  early  opposed  the  assumptions  of  federal 
power,  were  Theodorick  Bland  and  Thomas  Tudor  Tucker,  the  two 
uncles  of  John  Randolph.  Col.  Bland  was  a  great  admirer  and  fol- 
lower of  Patrick  Henry.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Convention  that 
met,  June,  1788,  in  Richmond,  to  ratify  the  new  Constitution.  It  is 
well  known  that  Patrick  Henry  opposed  the  ratification  with  all 
his  eloquence.  The  very  day  in  which  he  shook  the  capitol  with  a 
power  not  inferior  to  that  with  which  he  set  the  ball  of  Revolution 
in  motion,  Col.  Bland,  writing  to  a  friend,  says  :  "  I  see  my  country 
on  the  point  of  embarking  and  launching  into  a  troubled  ocean, 
without  chart  or  compass,  to  direct  her  ;  one  half  of  her  crew  hoist- 
ing sail  for  the  land  of  energy,  and  the  other  looking  with  a  longing 
aspect  on  the  shore  of  liberty."  After  declaring  that  the  Conven- 
tion which  framed  the  Constitution  had  transcended  its  powers; 
Patrick  Henry  exclaimed  :  '  It  is  most  clearly  a  consolidated  gov- 
ernment. I  need  not  take  much  pains  to  show  that  the  principles  of 


THE  CONSTITUTION  IN  ITS  CHRYSALIS  STATE.  29 

tliis  system  are  extremely  pernicious,  impolitic,  and  dangerous.  We 
have  no  detail  of  those  great  considerations  which,  in  my  opinion, 
ought  to  have  abounded  before  we  should  recur  to  a  government  of 
this  kind.  Here  is  a  revolution  as  radical  as  that  which  separated 
us  from  Great  Britain.  It  is  as  radical,  if  in  this  transition  our 
rights  and  privileges  are  endangered,  and  the  sovereignty  of  the 
States  be  relinquished :  and  cannot  we  plainly  see  that  this  is  actu- 
ally the  case  ?  Is  this  tame  relinquishment  of  rights  worthy  of  free- 
men ?  Is  it  worthy  of  that  manly  fortitude  that  ought  to  charac- 
terize republicans?  The  Confederation — this  sane  despised  gov- 
ernment— merits,  in  my  opinion,  the  highest  encomium :  it  carried 
us  through  a  long  and  dangerous  war  ;  it  rendered  us  victorious  in 
that  bloody  conflict  with  a  powerful  nation;  it  has  secured  us  a 
territory  greater  than  any  European  monarch  possesses :  and  shall  a 
government  which  has  been  thus  strong  and  vigorous,  be  accused 
of  imbecility,  and  abandoned  for  want  of  energy?  Consider  what 
you  are  about  to  do  before  you  part  with  this  government."  "  It  is 
now  confessed  that  the  new  government  is  national.  There  is  not  a 
single  federal  feature  in  it.  It  has  been  alleged  within  these  walls, 
during  the  debates,  to  be  national  and  federal,  as  it  suited  the  argu- 
ments of  gentlemen.  But  now  when  we  have  the  definition  of  it,  it 
is  purely  national.  The  honorable  member  was  pleased  to  say,  that 
the  sword  and  purse  included  every  thing  of  consequence.  And 
shall  we  trust  them  out  of  our  hands  without  checks  and  barriers  ? 
The  sword  and  purse  are  essentially  necessary  for  the  government. 
Every  essential  requisite  must  be  in  Congress.  Where  are  the 
purse,  and  sword  of  Virginia  ?  They  must  go  to  Congress.  What  is 
become  of  your  country?  The  Virginian  government  is  but  a 
name.  We  should  be  thought  unwise  indeed  to  keep  two  hundred 
legislators  in  Virginia,  when  the  government  is,  in  fact,  gone  to 
Philadelphia,  or  New- York.  We  are  as  a  State  to  form  no  part  of 
the  government.  Where  are  your  checks?  The  most  essential 
objects  of  government  .are  to  be  administered  by  Congress.  How 
then  can  the  State  governments  be  any  check  upon  them  ?  If  we 
are  to  be  a  republican  government,  it  will  be  consolidated,  not  con- 
federated. This  is  not  imaginary ;  it  is  a  formidable  reality.  If 
consolidation  proves  to  be  as  mischievous  to  this  country  as  it  has 
been  to  other  countries,  what  will  the  poor  inhabitants  of  this 


30  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

country  do?  This  government  will  operate  like  an  ambuscade.  It 
will  destroy  the  State  governments,  and  swallow  the  liberties  of  the 
people,  without  giving  them  previous  notice.  If  gentlemen  are 
willing  to  run  the  hazard,  let  them  run  it ;  but  I  shall  exculpate 
myself  by  my  opposition,  and  monitory  warnings,  within  these  walls. 
Another  gentleman  tells  us  that  no  inconvenience  will  result  from 
the  exercise  of  the  power  of  taxation  by  the  general  government. 
A  change  of  government  will  not  pay  money.  If  from  the  probable 
amount  of  the  import,  you  take  the  enormous  and  extravagant 
expenses,  which  will  certainly  attend  the  support  of  this  great  con- 
solidated government,  I  believe  you  will  find  no  reduction  of  the 
public  burdens  by  this  new  system.  The  splendid  maintenance  cf 
the  President,  and  of  the  members  of  both  Houses  ;  and  the  salaries 
and  fees  for  the  swarm  of  officers  and  dependents  on  the  Govern- 
ment, will  cost  this  continent  immense  sums.  After  satisfying  their 
uncontrolled  demands,  what  can  be  left  for  the  States?  Not  a 
sufficiency  even  to  defray  the  expense  of  their  internal  administra- 
tion. They  must,  therefore,  glide  imperceptibly  and  gradually  out 
of  existence.  This,  Sir,  must  naturally  terminate  in  a  consolidation. 
If  this  will  do  for  other  people,  it  will  never  do  for  me.  I  never 
will  give  up  that  darling  word  requisition ;  my  country  may  give  it 
up  ;  a  majority  may  wrest  it  from  me ;  but  I  never  will  give  it  up 
till  my  grave.  The  power  of  direct  taxation  was  called  by  the 
honorable  gentleman  the  soul  of  the  government :  another  gentle- 
man called  it  the  lungs  of  the  government.  We  all  agree  that  it  is 
the  most  important  part  of  the  body  politic.  If  the  power  of  raising- 
money  be  necessary  for  the  general  government,  it  is  no  less  §o  for 
the  States.  Must  I  give  my  soul — my  lungs  to  Congress  ?  Con- 
gress must  have  our  souls ;  the  State  must  have  our  souls.  These 
two  co-ordinate,  interfering,  unlimited  powers  of  harassing  the  com- 
munity are  unexampled ;  it  is  unprecedented  in  history ;  they  are 
the  visionary  projects  of  modern  politicians.  Tell  me  not  of  imagi- 
nary means,  but  of  reality :  this  political  solecism  will  never  tend  to 
the  benefit  of  the  community.  It  will  be  as  oppressive  in  practice 
as  it  is  absurd  in  theory.  If  you  part  from  this,  which  the  honor- 
able gentleman  tells  you  is  the  soul  of  Congress,  you  will  be  inevica 
bly  ruined.  I  tell  you  they  shall  not  have  the  soul  of  Virginia/' 
After  speaking  of  the  "  awful  squinting  towards  monarchy"  in  the 


THE  CONSTITUTION  IN  ITS  CHRYSALIS  STATE.  33 

executive ;  and  of  the  great  powers  conferred  on  the  judiciary,  Mr. 
Henry  concluded  in  one  of  those  bursts  of  rapt  eloquence,  which 
can  only  be  compared  to  the  eloquence  of  Demosthenes,  when  on  a 
similar  occasion — in  a  last  appeal  to  his  countrymen  to  defend  them- 
selves against  the  invasion  of  Philip — he  called  on  the  spirits  of  thb 
mighty  dead,  those  who  fell  at  Thermopylae,  at  Salamis,  and  at  Ma- 
rathon, to  rise  and  protect  their  country  against  the  arts  and  arms 
of  the  Macedonian  Tyrant. 

"  The  gentleman,  tells  you,'  3aid  Mr.  Henry,  "  of  important 
blessings  which  he  imagines  will  result  to  us,  and  to  mankind  in  gene- 
ral, from  the  adoption  of  this  system.  I  see  the  awful  immensity  of 
the  dangers  with  which  it  is  pregnant.  I  see  it,— I  feel  it.  I  see 
beings  of  a  far  higher  order  anxious  concerning  our  decision.  When 
I  see  beyond  the  horizon  that  bounds  human  eyes,  and  look  at  the 
final  consummation  of  all  human  things,  and  see  those  intelligent 
beings  which  inhabit  the  ethereal  mansions,  reviewing  the  political 
divisions  and  revolutions  which  in  the  progress  of  time  will  happen  in 
America,  and  the  consequent  happiness  or  misery  of  mankind,  I  am  led 
to  believe,  that  much  of  the  account,  on  one  side  or  the  other,  will  de- 
pend on  what  we  now  decide.  Our  own  happiness  alone  is  not  affected 
by  the  event.  All  nations  are  interested  in  the  determination.  We 
have  it  in  our  power  to  secure  the  happiness  of  one  half  of  the  human 
race.  Its  adoption  may  involve  the  misery  of  the  other  hemispheres." 

When  the  vote  was  about  to  be  taken  on  the  ratification,  Patrick 
Henry,  seconded  by  Theodorick  Bland,  moved  a  resolution,  "  That 
previous  to  the  ratification  of  the  new  constitution  of  government 
recommended  by  the  late  Federal  Convention,  a  declaration  of  rights 
asserting  and  securing  from  encroachment  the  great  principles  of 
civil  and  religious  liberty,  and  the  inalienable  rights  of  the  people, 
together  with  amendments  to  the  most  exceptionable  parts  of  the 
said  constitution  of  government,  ought  to  be  referred  by  this  con- 
vention to  the  other  States  in  the  American  confederacy  for  their 
consideration."  This  resolution  was  lost  by  a  majority  of  eight  votes. 
Many  who  voted  for  it  were  members  of  the  first  Congress ;  and 
some  of  'them  were  among  the  most  influential  and  distinguished 
men  in  Virginia.  William  Cabell,  Samuel  Jordan  Cabell,  Benjamin 
Harrison,  John  Tyler,  father  of  the  late  President,  Isaac  Coles, 
Stephen  Thompson  Mason,  Abraham  Twigg,  Patrick  Henry,  Theo- 


32  UFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

dorick  Bland,  William  Grayson,  James  Monroe,  and  George  Masoii 
These  same  persons  voted  against  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution, 
which  was  only  carried  by  a  majority  of  ten.  So  great  was  the  im- 
pression made  on  the  public  mind  by  the  arguments  in  the  Conven- 
tion against  the  evil  tendencies  of  the  Constitution,  that  a  majority 
of  the  Virginia  Legislature  that  met  the  ensuing  October,  to  appoint 
senators,  and  pass  laws  for  electing  members  of  Congress,  was  de- 
cidedly anti-federal ;  that  is,  opposed  to  the  Constitution,  as  it  came 
from  the  hands  of  its  framers,  without  important  modifications. 
Patrick  Henry  was  the  master  spirit  of  that  assembly.  He  was 
offered  a  seat  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States ;  but  he  declined  it, 
as  he  had  previously  declined  a  seat  in  the  Federal  Convention. 
Through  his  influence  the  appointment  of  senator  was  conferred  on 
William  Grayson,  and  on  Richard  Henry  Lee. 

Mr.  Grayson  distinguished  himself  in  the  Virginia  Convention 
by  a  very  elaborate  analysis  of  the  new  Constitution,  pointing 
out  its  defects,  and  illustrating  by  history  its  dangerous  tendencies 
He  gave  utterance  to  a  prediction,  which  many  believe  has  been 
in  the  daily  process  of  fulfilment  from  that  time  to  the  present 
moment.  "  But  my  greatest  objection  is,"  says  he,  speaking  of 
the  Constitution,  "that  it  will,  in  its  operation,  be  found  un- 
equal, grievous,  and  oppressive.  If  it  have  any  efficacy  at  all,  it 
must  be  by  a  faction — a  faction  of  one  part  of  the  Union  against 
the  other.  There  is  a  great  difference  of  circumstances  between  the 
States.  The  interest  of  the  carrying  States  (since  manufacturing 
States)  is  strikingly  different  from  that  of  the  producing  States.  I 
mean  not  to  give  offence  to  any  part  of  America,  but  mankind  are 
governed  by  interest.  The  carrying  States  will  assuredly  unite,  and 
our  situation  will  then  be  wretched  indeed.  Every  measure  will 
have  for  its  object  their  particular  interest.  Let  ill-fated  Ireland  be 
ever  present  to  our  view.  I  hope  that  my  fears  are  groundless,  but 
I  believe  it  as  I  do  my  creed,  that  this  government  will  operate  as 
a  faction  of  seven  States  to  oppress  the  rest  of  the  Union.  But  it 
may  be  said,  that  we  are  represented,  and  cannot  therefore  be  in- 
jured— a  poor  representation  it  will  be !  The  British  would  have- 
been  glad  to  take  America/into  the  Union  like  the  Scotch,  by  giving 
us  a  small  representation.  The  Irish  might  be  indulged  with  the 
same  favor  by  asking  for  it.  (As  they  have  done,  and  with  whai 


THE  CONSTITUTION  IN  ITS  CHRYSALIS  STATE.  33 

result?)  Will  that  lessen  our  misfortunes'?  A  small  representation 
gives  a  pretence  to  injure  and  destroy.  But,  sir,  the  Scotch  Union 
is  introduced  by  an  honorable  gentleman  as  an  argument  in  favor  of 
adoption.  "Would  he  wish  his  country  to  be  on  the  same  foundation 
with  Scotland  ?  They  have  but  45  members  in  the  House  of  Com- 
mons, and  16  in  the  House  of  Lords.  They  go  up  regularly  in  order 
to  be  bribed.  The  smallness.  of  their  number  puts  it  out  of  their 
power  to  carry  any  measure.  And  this  unhappy  \iation  exhibits  the 
only  instance,  perhaps,  in  the  world,  where  corruption  becomes  t 
virtue.  I  devoutly  pray,  that  this  description  of  Scotland  may  not 
be  picturesque  of  the  Southern  States,  in  three  years  from  this  time." 
The  other  senator  from  Virginia  was  Richard  Henry  Lee.  He 
stood  by  Patrick  Henry  from  the  commencement  of  our  revolutionary 
struggles  to  their  end.  He  was  one  of  the  first  delegates  to  the  first 
Congress.  His  name  appears  on  almost  all  the  important  committees 
of  that  body.  He  was  selected  by  the  Virginia  delegation  to  move 
the  declaration  of  independence.  For  his  patriotism,  statesmanship, 
and  oratory,  he  was  regarded  as  the  Cicero  of  his  age.  His  classical 
and  chaste  elocution  possessed  a  tone  of  depth  and  inspiration  that 
charmed  his  auditory.  While  his  great  compatriot  poured  down 
upon  agitated  assemblies  a  cataract  of  mingled  passion  and  logic,  he 
awakened  the  attention,  captivated  the  heart,  and  convinced  the  un- 
derstanding of  his  hearers  by  a  regulated  flow  of  harmonious  lan- 
guage, generous  sentiment,  and  lucid  argument.  "  In  his  personal 
character,  he  was  just,  benevolent,  and  high-spirited,  domestic  in  his 
tastes,  and  too  proud  to  be  ambitious  of  popularity."  This  distin- 
guished patriot  and  statesman  was  strenuously  opposed  to  the  Con- 
stitution as  it  came  from  the  hands  of  its  framers.  He  was  a  member 
of  Congress  to  whom  it  was  referred,  and  by  whom  it  was  expected 
to  be  recommended  to  their  respective  States.  "  When  the  plan  of  a 
Constitution,"  says  Mr.  Madison,  K  proposed  by  the  Convention  came 
before  Congress  for  their  sanction,  a  very  serious  effort  was  made  by 
Richard  Henry  Lee  to  embarrass  it.  It  was  first  contended  that 
Congress  could  not  properly  give  any  positive  countenance  to  a  measure 
which  had  for  its  object  the  subversion  of  the  Constitution  under 
which  they  acted.  This  ground  of  attack  failing,  he  then  urged  the 
expediency  of  sending  out  the  plan  with  amendments,  and  proposed 
a  number  of  them  corresponding  with  the  objections  of  Col  Mason,** 


34:  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

He  then  addressed  a  letter  to  Governor  Edmund  Randolph,  of  Vir- 
ginia, who  as  a  member  of  the  Convention  had  refused  to  sign  the 
Constitution.  After  giving  his  objections  in  detail,  he  says :  «  You  are, 
therefore,  sir,  well  warranted  in  saying,  either  a  monarchy  or  aristoc- 
racy will  be  generated — perhaps  the  most  grievous  system  of  govern- 
ment  will  arise.  It  cannot  be  denied  with  truth,  that  this  new  Con- 
stitution is,  in  its  first  principles,  highly  and  dangerously  oligarchic  ; 
and  it  is  a  point  agreed,  that  a  government  of  the  few,  is,  of  all 
governments,  the  worst." 

"  The  only  check  to  be  found  in  favor  of  the  democratic  principle, 
in  this  system,  is  the  House  of  Representatives ;  which,  I  believe,  may 
justly  be  called  a  mere  shred  or  rag  of  representation  ;  it  being  obvi- 
ous to  the  least  examination,  that  sinallness  of  number,  and  great 
comparative  disparity  of  power,  render  that  house  of  little  effect  to 
promote  good,  or  restrain  bad  government.  But  what  is  the  power 
given  to  this  ill-constructed  body  ?  To  judge  of  what  may  be  for  the 
general  welfare,  seems  a  power  coextensive  with  every  possible  object 
of  human  legislation."  Such  were  the  first  senators  from  Virginia, 
and  of  a  like  complexion  were  a  majority  of  those  returned  to  the 
House  of  Representatives.  For  devoting  himself  so  ardently  to  the 
election  of  men  known  to  be  hostile  to  the  Constitution  as  it  stood, 
Mr.  Henry  was  charged  with  a  design  of  subverting  that  which  he 
could  not  prevent.  It  is  said  that  his  avowed  attachment  to  the  con- 
federation was  mere  hypocrisy;  that  he  secretly  rejoiced  in  its  imbe- 
cility, and  did  not  desire  a  union  of  the  States  under  any  form  of 
government.  He  was  attacked  in  a  most  virulent  and  personal  man- 
ner by  a  writer  who  signed  himself  Decius.  He  charged  Mr.  Henry 
with  a  design  of  forming  Virginia  and  North  Carolina  into  one 
republic,  and  placing  himself  at  the  head  as  their  dictator.  "  Were 
I  to  draw  the  picture  of  a  tyrant  for  this  country,"  says  Decius,  "  it 
should  be  very  different  from  that  which  some  others  have  sketched 
out.  He  should  be  a  man  in  every  instance  calculated  to  soothe  and 
not  to  threaten  the  populace ;  possessing  a  humiliating  and  not  an 
arrogant  turn ;  affecting  an  entire  ignorance  and  poorness  of  capacity, 
and  not  assuming  the  superiorities  of  the  illumined ;  a  man  whose 
capacity  should  be  calculated  to  insinuate  itself  into  the  good  esteem 
of  others  by  degrees,  and  not  to  surprise  them  into  a  compliance  on 
a  sudden  •  whose  plainness  of  manners  and  meanness  of  address  first 


GEORGE  MASON.  35 

should  move  our  compassion,  steal  upon  our  hearts,  betray  our  judg- 
ments, and  finally  run  away  with  the  whole  of  the  human  composi- 
tion." 

This  description  of  the  demagogue  winning  his  way  by  affected 
humility  and  low  cunning  to  the  supreme  command,  was  intended  to 
be  applied  to  Mr.  Henry.  Many  of  his  own  expressions  are  used  in 
drawing  the  portrait,  but  no  man  less  deserved  the  epithet  of  ambi- 
tious. There  can  be  no  doubt  that  he  delighted  to  sway  the  passions 
of  the  multitude,  and  to  influence  the  decision  of  legislative  bodies 
by  the  powers  of  his  eloquence ;  but  that  his  ambition  extended  to 
the  acquisition  of  supreme  executive  command,  there  is  not  the  slight- 
est ground  of  suspicion. 

The  virulence  with  which  he  was  assailed  must  be  attributed  to 
the  high  party  excitement  of  the  times,  which  indiscriminately 
assaulted  the  most  spotless  characters,  and  paid  no  respect  to  exalted 
services  or  venerable  age. 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

GEOKGE   MASON. 

GEORGE  MASON  was  a  wise  man.  He  was  at  once  the  Solon  and  the 
Cato,  the  lawgiver  and  the  stern  patriot  of  the  age  in  which  he  lived. 
At  a  period  when  republics  were  to  be  founded,  and  constitutions 
of  government  ordained  for  growing  empires,  he  was  the  first  to  de- 
fine and  to  guard  with  watchful  care  the  rights  of  the  people — to 
prescribe  limitations  to  the  different  departments  of  government,  and 
to  place  restrictions  on  their  exercise  of  power.  The  Bill  of  Bights, 
and  the  Constitution  of  Virginia,  are  lasting  monuments  to  his  me- 
mory. One  sentence  of  the  former  contains  more  wisdom  and  con- 
centration of  thought,  than  all  former  writings  on  the  subject  of 
government.  The  sentence  is  this  ;  "  that  no  man  or  set  of  men  is 
entitled  to  exclusive  or  separate  emoluments,  or  privileges  from  the 
community,  but  in  consideration  of  public  services  ;  which,  not  being 
descendible,  neither  ought  the  offices  of  magistrate,  legislator,  or 
4 


36  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

judge,  to  be  hereditary."  Here  is  a  volume  of  truth  and  wisdom 
says  an  eminent  writer,  a  lesson  for  the  study  of  nations,  embodied 
in  a  single  sentence,  and  expressed  in  the  plainest  language.  If  a 
deluge  of  despotism  were  to  overspread  the  world,  and  destroy  those 
institutions  under  which  freedom  is  yet  protected,  sweeping  into  ob- 
livion every  vestige  of  their  remembrance  among  men,  could  this  sin- 
gle sentence  of  Mason  be  preserved,  it  would  be  sufficient  to  rekindle 
the  flame  of  liberty,  and  to  revive  the  race  of  freemen.  Though  Mr. 
Mason  did  not  object  to  a  union  of  the  States  for  their  mutual  de- 
fence and  welfare,  he  yet  regarded  the  commonwealth  of  Virginia  as 
his  country,  and  her  government  as  the  only  one  that  could  guarantee 
his  rights  or  protect  his  interests.  So  far  back  as  1763,  Mr.  Madi- 
son, speaking  of  him,  says,  "  his  heterodoxy  lay  chiefly  in  being  too 
little  impressed  with  the  necessity  or  the  proper  means  of  preserving 
the  confederacy."  Virginia  was  a  great  empire  within  herself,  and 
had  every  thing  to  sacrifice  in  surrendering  her  sovereignty  to  a  cen- 
tral government.  On  the  independence  of  the  States  also  rested  his 
only  hope  of  preserving  the  liberties  of  the  people.  He  entered  the 
Federal  Convention,  therefore,  in  1787,  with  a  stern  resolution  never 
to  surrender  the  sovereignty  of  the  States.  Others,  on  the  contrary, 
could  conceive  of  no  other  plan  but  a  consolidated  government,  by 
which  the  States  should  be  reduced  from  political  societies  to  mere 
municipal  corporations.  The  middle  ground  of  compromise  had  not 
yet  been  thought  of.  Mr.  Madison  had  but  a  dim  perception  of  its 
possibility.  Even  he  was  for  a  strong  government.  In  a  letter  ad- 
dressed to  Edmund  Kandolph,  dated  New- York,  April  8th,  1787,  he 
says :  "  I  hold  it  for  a  fundamental  point,  that  an  individual  indepen 
dence  of  the  States  is  utterly  irreconcilable  with  the  idea  of  an  ag 
gregate  sovereignty.  I  think,  at  the  same  time,  that  a  consolidation 
of  the  States  into  one  simple  republic,  is  not  less  unattainable  than 
it  would  be  inexpedient.  Let  it  be  tried,  then,  whether  any  middle 
ground  can  be  taken."  To  the  untiring  exertions  of  Mr.  Madison, 
both  in  the  Federal  Convention  and  in  the  Convention  of  Virginia, 
are  we  indebted  for  the  existence  of  the  Constitution.  But  to  Colo- 
nel Mason  are  we  indebted  for  the  only  democratic  and  federal  fea- 
tures it  contains.  But  for  Madison  we  should  have  been  without  a 
government ;  but  for  Mason,  that  government  would  have  crushed 
the  States,  and  swallowed  up  the  liberties  of  the  people.  To  Mason 


GEORGE  MASOH.  37 

are  we  indebted  for  the  popular  election  of  members  of  the  House  of 
Representatives,  the  election  of  senators  by  the  State  Legislatures, 
and  the  equal  representation  of  the  States  in  the  Senate.  In  the 
first,  there  is  some  guarantee  for  the  rights  of  the  people ;  in  the  se- 
cond, some  protection  to  the  sovereignty  and  independence  of  the 
States.  So  important  were  Mr.  Mason's  services,  that  we  must  de- 
tain the  reader  by  a  few  quotations  from  his  speeches  to  establish 
his  claim  to  the  high  distinction  here  awarded  him.  When  the 
question  of  electing  members  to  the  House  of  Representatives  by 
the  State  Legislatures  instead  of  the  people,  was  before  the  Conven- 
tion, Mr.  Mason  said :  "  Under  the  existing  Confederacy  Dongress  re- 
present the  States,  and  not  the  people  of  the  States ;  their  acts  ope- 
rate on  the  States,  and  not  on  the  individuals.  The  case  will  be 
changed  in  the  new  plan  of  government.  The  people  will  be  repre- 
sented ;  they  ought  therefore  to  choose  the  representatives.  Much," 
he  said,  "  had  been  alleged  against  democratic  elections.  He  ad- 
mitted that  much  might  be  said  ;  but  it  was  to  be  considered  that  no 
government  was  free  from  imperfections  and  evils,  and  that  improper 
elections,  in  many  instances,  were  inseparable  from  republican  gov- 
ernments. But  compare  these  with  the  advantage  of  this  form,  in 
favor  of  the  rights  of  the  people,  in  favor  of  human  nature  1"  Mr. 
Mason  urged  the  necessity  of  retaining  the  election  by  the  people. 
"  Whatever  inconvenience  may  attend  the  democratic  principle,  it 
must  actuats  one  part  of  the  government.  It  is  the  only  security  for 
the  rights  of  the  people." 

When  the  organization  of  the  Senate  was  under  consideration, 
Mr.  Mason  said,  "  he  never  would  agree  to  abolish  the  State  Gov- 
ernments, or  render  them  absolutely  insignificant.  They  were  as 
necessary  as  the  General  Government,  and  he  would  be  equally  care- 
ful to  preserve  them.  He  was  aware  of  the  difficulty  of  drawing  the 
line  between  them,  but  hoped  it  was  not  insurmountable.  It  has 
been  argued  on  all  hands,  that  an  efficient  government  is  necessary ; 
that  to  render  it  such,  it  ought  to  have  the  faculty  of  self-defence  ; 
that  to  render  its  different  branches  effectual,  each  of  them  ought  to 
have  the  same  power  of  self-defence.  He  did  not  wonder  that  such 
an  argument  should  have  prevailed  on  these  points.  He  only  won- 
dered that  there  should  be  any  disagreement  about  the  necessity  of 
allowing  the  State  governments  the  same  self-defence.  If  they  are 


38  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

to  be  preserved,  as  he  conceived  to  be  essential,  they  certainly  ought 
to  have  this  power  ;  and  the  only  mode  left  of  giving  it  to  them,  was 
by  allowing  them  to  appoint  the  second  branch  of  the  National  Le- 
gislature." Dr.  Johnson  said :  "  The  controversy  must  be  endless 
while  gentlemen  differ  in  the  grounds  of  their  arguments ;  those  on 
on»s  side  considering  the  States  as  districts  of  people  composing  one 
political  society ;  those  on  the  other,  considering  them  as  so  many 
political  societies.  The  fact  is,  that  the  States  do  exist  as  political 
societies,  and  a  government  is  to  be  formed  for  them  in  uheir  politi- 
cal capacity,  as  well  as  for  the  individuals  composing  them.  Does  it 
not  seem  to  follow,  that  if  the  States,  as  such,  are  to  exist,  they  must 
be  armed  with  some  power  of  self-defence?  This  is  tlw  idea  of  Co- 
lonel  Mason,  who  appears  to  have  looked  to  tlie  bottom  of  this  matter. 
Besides  the  aristocratic  and  other  interests,  which  ought  to  have  the 
means  of  defending  themselves,  the  States  have  their  interests  as 
such,  and  are  equally  entitled  to  like  means.  On  the  whole  he 
thought,  that,  as  in  some  respects  the  States  are  to  be  considered  in 
their  political  capacity,  and  in  others  as  districts  of  individual  citi- 
zens, the  two  ideas  embraced  on  different  sides,  instead  of  being  op- 
posed to  each  other,  ought  to  be  combined  ;  that  in  one  branch  the 
people  ought  to  be  represented,  in  the  other  the  States." 

Notwithstanding  Col.  Mason  labored  to  modify  the  Constitution 
through  its  various  stages,  as  much  as  he  could  in  favor  of  liberty 
and  the  independence  of  the  States,  he  finally  voted  against  it.  His 
objections  were  radical,  extending  to  every  department  of  govern- 
ment. He  objected  to  the  unlimited  powers  of  taxation,  conferred 
on  a  House  of  Representatives,  which  was  but  the  shadow  of  repre- 
sentation, and  could  nevsr  inspire  confidence  in  the  people.  He  ob- 
jected to  the  marriage,  as  he  called  it,  between  the  President  and  the 
Senate,  and  the  extraordinary  powers  conferred  on  the  latter.  He 
insisted  that  they  would  destroy  any  balance  in  the  government,  and 
would  enable  the  President  and  the  Senate,  by  mutually  supporting 
and  aiding  each  other,  to  accomplish  what  usurpations  they  please 
upon  the  rights  and  liberties  of  the  people.  He  objected  to  the  ju- 
diciary of  the  United  States  being  so  constructed  and  extended  as  to 
absorb  and  destroy  the  judiciaries  of  the  several  States,  thereby  ren- 
dering the  administration  of  laws  tedious,  intricate,  expensive,  and 
unattainable  by  a  great  part  of  the  community.  He  objected  to  the 


GEORGE  MASON.  39 

Executive  because  the  President  of  the  United  States  has  no  consti- 
tutional counsel  (a  thing  unknown  in  any  safe  and  regular  govern- 
ment) ;  he  will  therefore  be  unsupported  by  proper  information  and 
advice ;  and  will  generally  be  directed  by  minions  and  favorites — or 
he  will  become  a  tool  to  the  Senate— or  a  council  of  state  will  grow 
out  of  the  principal  officers  of  the  great  departments — the  worst  and 
most  dangerous  of  all  ingredients  for  such  a  council  in  a  free  coun- 
try ;  for  they  may  be  induced  to  join  in  any  dangerous  and  oppres- 
sive measures  to  shelter  themselves,  and  prevent  an  inquiry  into  their 
own  misconduct  in  office. 

In  a  word,  said  Col.  Mason,  the  Confederation  is  converted  to  one 
general  consolidated  government,  which,  from  my  best  judgment  of 
it,  is  one  of  the  worst  curses  that  can  possibly  befall  a  nation. 

Such  was  George  Mason — the  champion  of  the  States,  and  the 
author  of  the  doctrine  of  State  Rights.  Many  of  the  prophecies  of 
this  profound  statesman  are  recorded  in  the  fulfilments  of  history — 
many  of  the  ill  forebodings  of  the  inspired  orator  are  daily  shaping 
themselves  into  sad  realities.  To  the  indomitable  courage,  Roman 
energy,  and  inspiring  eloquence  of  Mason  and  of  Henry,  we  are  as 
much  indebted  for  our  independence,  as  to  the  sword  of  the  warrior. 
To  their  wisdom  and  sagacity  we  owe  the  preservation  and  the  future 
safety  of  the  ship  of  state,  which,  without  their  forewarning,  would 
have  long  since  been  dashed  to  pieces  against  the  rocks  and  the 
quicksandt  that  lay  concealed  in  its  pathway.  While  the  eyes  of 
many  good  and  wise  men  were  dazzled  with  the  strength  and  bril- 
liancy of  the  young  eagle,  now  pluming  himself  for  a  bold  and  ardu- 
ous flight,  they  with  keener  vision  saw  the  poison  under  his  iving, 
and  sought  to  extract  it,  lest,  in  his  high  career,  he  might  shed  pes- 
tilance  and  death  on  the  country  which  it  was  his  destiny  to  over- 
shadow  and  protect. 


40  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

CHAPTEE    IX. 

EARLY  POLITICAL  ASSOCIATES. 

IN  the  foregoing  chapters  we  may  have  gone  more  into  detail; 
and  dwelt  more  on  collateral  subjects  than  might  appear  consistent 
with  a  work  of  this  kind.  But  it  was  necessary  io  give  the  reader  a 
clue  to  the  political  opinions  of  John  Randolph.  No  one  can  fail  to 
ponder  over  those  chapters,  and  study  the  character  of  those  mon 
we  have  briefly  attempted  to  portray,  and  do  justice  to  the  -subject 
of  this  memoir.  He  was  bred  up  in  the  school  of  Mason  and  of 
Henry.  His  father-in-law,  his  uncles,  his  brother,  and  all  with  whom 
he  associated,  imbibed  the  sentiments  of  those  great  statesmen, 
shared  their  devotion  to  the  principles  and  the  independence  of  the 
Commonwealth  of  Virginia,  and  participated  in  all  their  objections 
to  the  new  government.  Randolph,  as  we  have  seen,  was  a  constant 
attendant  on  the  debates  of  the  first  Congress,  which  had  devolved 
on  it  the  delicate  task  of  organizing  the  government,  and  setting  its 
wheels  in  motion.  A  majority  of  the  members  in  that  body,  from 
Virginia,  belonged  to  the  political  school  of  Mason  and  of  Henry. 
They  owed  their  appointment  to  the  influence  of  those  men  and  the 
alarms  excited  in  the  public  mind  by  their  predictions.  Many  of 
them  were  the  blood  relations  of  John  Randolph,  and  all  of  them 
his  intimate  friends.  With  these  he  associated.  For  the  sage  de- 
lights to  take  ingenuous  youth  by  the  hand,  and  address  to  his  atten- 
tive ear  words  of  truth  and  of  wisdom.  When  Richard  Henry  Lee, 
and  Grayson,  and  Bland,  and  Tucker,  and  Page,  were  seated  around 
the  domestic  fireside,  holding  free  and  familiar  discourse  on  those 
great  questions  involved  in  founding  a  Republic,  we  may  well  con- 
ceive that  their  young  friend  and  kinsman  was  a  welcome  and  an  at- 
tentive listener  to  those  high  themes,  teaching 

"  What  makes  a  nation  happy  and  keeps  it  so, 
What  ruins  kingdoms  and  lays  cities  flat." 

We  may  well  conceive  how  his  bosom  dilated,  and  his  eye  kin- 
dled with  unwonted  fire,  as  they  narrated  the  great  battle  of  giants 
in  the  Convention,  told  of  the  many-sided  wisdom  of  George  Mason. 


EARLY  POLITICAL  ASSOCIATES.  41 

who  in  majestic  unaffected  style  better  taught  the  solid  rules  of  civil 
government  than  all  the  oratory  of  Greece  and  Rome,  and  spoke  of 
the  deep-toned  awful  eloquence  of  Patrick  Henry,  which  rivalled  the 
thunders  that  rolled  over  their  heads,  as  he  uttered  his  words  of 
warning.  From  these  familiar  communings  he  daily  repaired  to 
Federal  Hall,  there  to  hang  upon  the  bar  of  the  House  of  Represen- 
tatives, and  with  keen  vision  see  enacted  before  him  the  fulfilment 
of  the  statesman's  prophecy. 

The  great  subject  of  taxation  was  the  first  to  attract  his  atten. 
tion.  No  sooner  had  Congress  been  organized,  than  they  com. 
menced,  as  he  conceived,  the  work  of  oppression.  The  unlimited 
powers  conferred  on  Congress  to  tax  the  people,  excited  the  alarm 
of  those  who  looked  to  the  independence  of  the  States  as  the  only 
protection  to  liberty.  They  sought  a  modification  of  this  power  in 
the  Convention.  Failing  there,  they  asked  an  amendment  of  the 
Constitution.  But  all  their  efforts  to  place  restrictions  on  this  all- 
absorbing  power  of  government,  were  unavailing.  The  first  exercise 
of  it  justified,  in  their  opinion,  the  worst  suspicions  which  had  been 
excited  as  to  its  dangerous  and  oppressive  tendency.  They  declared 
that  no  duty  or  tax  had  been  imposed,  that  did  not  operate  as  a 
bounty  to  one  section  and  a  burden  on  another.  While  the  import 
and  tonnage  bills  were  under  discussion,  Mr.  Smith  of  South  Carolina 
said,  "  that  the  States  which  adopted  the  Constitution,  expected  its 
administration  would  be  conducted  with  a  favorable  hand.  The 
manufacturing  States  wished  the  encouragement  of  manufactures  ; 
the  maritime  States  the  encouragement  of  ship  building,  and  the  ag- 
ricultural States  the  encouragement  of  agriculture.  Let  us  view 
the  progress  we  have  made  in  accommodating  their  interests  : — We 
have  laid  heavy  duties  upon  foreign  goods  to  encourage  domestic 
manufactures  ;  we  are  now  about  to  lay  a  tonnage  duty,  for  the  en- 
couragement of  commerce  ;  but  has  any  one  step  been  taken  to  en- 
courage the  agricultural  States  ?  So  far  from  it,  that  all  that  has  been 
done  operates  against  their  interest :  every  duty  we  have  laid  will 
be  heavily  felt  by  South  Carolina,  while  nothing  has  been  done  to 
assist  or  even  encourage  her  or  her  agriculture."  Mr.  Tucker  said : 
k- 1  am  opposed  to  high  duties,  because  they  tend  to  the  oppression 
of  certain  citizens  and  States,  in  order  to  promote  the  benefit  of 
other  States  and  other  classes  of  citizens."  Mr.  Bland  laid  it  down 


42  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

as  an  incontrovertible  truth,  "  that  the  agricultural  interest  is  the 
permanent  interest  of  this  country,  and  therefore  ought  not  to  be 
sacrificed  to  any  other."  Mr.  Jackson  of  Georgia,  who  had  accus- 
tomed himself,  as  he  said,  to  a  blunt  integrity  of  speech,  that  attest- 
ed his  sincerity,  exclaimed :  "  They  call  to  my  mind  a  passage  of 
Scripture,  where  a  king,  by  the  advice  of  inexperienced  counsellors, 
declared  to  his  people, '  my  father  did  laden  you  with  a  heavy  yoke, 
but  I  will  add  to  your  burdens.'  "  Follow  those  men  through  all 
their  legislative  career  and  it  will  be  found,  though  history  has  given 
them  little  credit  for  it,  that  they  steadily  pursued  one  object  as 
their  polar  star — resistance  to  the  ercroachments  of  power,  and  pro- 
tection to  the  rights  of  the  people. 

The  awful  squinting  towards  monarchy  which  Henry  saw  in  the 
Executive,  made  them  particularly  jealous  of  that  department  of 
government,  and  caused  them  to  oppose  every  measure  that  might 
ter  d  to  increase  its  power  or  patronage.  On  the  much  mooted  ques- 
tion, for  example,  of  removal  from  office,  they  insisted  that  the  Senate 
should  be  associated  with  the  President.  Mr.  Bland  was  the  first 
to  give  expression  to  opinions  which  have  since  been  so  often  re- 
peated, and  the  policy  of  which  is  still  a  question.  He  thought  the 
power  given  by  the  Constitution  to  the  Senate,  respecting  the  ap- 
pointments to  office,  would  be  rendered  almost  nugatory  if  the  Pre- 
sident had  the  power  of  removal.  He  thought  it  consistent  with  the 
nature  of  things,  that  the  power  which  appointed,  should  remove ;  and 
would  not  object  to  a  declaration  in  the  resolution,  that  the  Presi- 
dent shall  remove  from  office  by  and  with  the  advice  and  consent  of 
the  Senate. 

The  bill  to  establish  the  Treasury  Department  contained  a 
clause  making  it  the  duty  of  the  Secretary,  "to  digest  and  report 
plans  for  the  improvement  and  management  of  the  revenue  and  for 
the  support  of  public  credit." 

Mr.  Page  moved  to  strike  out  these  words,  observing,  that  to 
permit  the  Secretary  to  go  farther  than  to  prepare  estimates,  would 
be  a  dangerous  innovation  on  the  constitutional  privilege  of  that 
house.  It  would  create  an  undue  influence  within  those  walls,  be- 
cause members  might  be  led  by  the  deference  commonly  paid  to 
men  of  abilities,  who  gave  an  opinion  in  a  case  they  have  thoroughly 
considered,  to  support  the  plan  of  the  minister  even  against  their 


EARLY  POLITICAL  ASSOCIATES.  43 

own  judgment.  Nor  would  the  mischief  stop  there.  A  precedent 
would  be  established,  which  might  be  extended  until  ministers  of 
the  government  should  be  admitted  on  that  floor,  to  explain  and 
support  the  plans  they  had  digested  and  reported,  thereby  laying  a 
foundation  for  an  aristocracy  or  a  detestable  monarchy, 

Mr.  Tucker  seconded  the  motion  of  Mr.  Page.  He  hoped  the 
house  was  not  already  weary  of  executing  and  sustaining  the  powers 
vested  in  them  by  the  Constitution ;  and  yet  the  adoption  of  this 
clause  would  argue  that  they  thought  themselves  less  adequate  than 
an  individual  to  determine  what  burdens  their  constituents  were 
able  to  bear.  This  was  not  answering  the  high  expectations  that 
had  been  formed  of  their  exertions  for  the  general  good,  or  of  their 
vigilance  in  guarding  their  own  and  the  people's  rights. 

But  nothing  could  equal  the  ferment  and  disquietude  occasioned 
throughout  the  country  by  the  proposition  which  came  from  the 
Senate,  to  confer  titles  on  the  President  and  other  officers  of  govern- 
ment. The  committee  of  the  Senate  reported,  that  it  was  proper 
to  style  the  President  his  highness  the  President  of  the  United  States 
of  America,  and  Protector  of  their  liberties.  In  some  of  the  news- 
papers the  President  was  called  his  highness  the  President  General. 
Some  even  went  farther,  and  declared  that  as  he  represented  the 
majesty  of  the  people,  he  might  even  be  styled  "  His  Majesty}' 
without  reasonable  offence  to  republican  ears.  The  Senate  was  de- 
nominated most  honorable,  and  the  same  epithet  was  applied  to  the 
members  of  that  body.  For  instance,  it  was  published  that  the  most 
Iwnorable  Rufus  King  and  the  most  honorable  Philip  Schuyler  were 
appointed  senators.  And  when  Mrs.  Washington  came  to  New- 
York,  she  was  accompanied  by  the  "  lady  of  the  most  honorable 
Robert  Morris."  The  representatives,  and  even  the  secretaries  of 
the  executive  departments  were  favored  with  no  higher  title  than 
honorable.  This  habit  of  conferring  titles  and  drawing  distinctions 
between  the  different  departments  of  government,  and  extending 
those  titles  and  distinctions  to  persons  no  way  connected  with  the 
government,  had  become  very  common,  and  would  unquestionably 
have  grown  into  something  worse,  but  for  the  debates  called  forth  in 
the  House  of  Representatives,  and  the  indignation  shown  by  the 
leading  members  of  that  body  against  such  proceedings.  "What, 
sir,"  said  Mr.  Tucker,  "  is  the  intention  of  this  business  ?  Will  it  not 


44  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

alarm  our  fellow-citizens  ?  will  it  not  give  them  just  cause  of  alarm  £ 
Will  they  not  say,  that  they  have  been  deceived  by  the  Convention 
that  framed  the  Constitution  ?  That  it  has  been  contrived  with  a 
view  to  lead  them  on  by  degrees  to  that  kind  of  government  which 
they  have  thrown  off  with  abhorrence  ?  Shall  we  not  justify  the 
fears  of  those  who  are  opposed  to  the  Constitution,  because  they  con- 
sidered it  as  insidious  and  hostile  to  the  liberties  of  the  people  ?" 

"  Titles,  sir,"  said  Mr.  Page,  "  may  do  harm  and  have  done  harm. 
If  we  contend  now  for  a  right  to  confer  titles,  I  apprehend  the  time 
will  come  when  we  shall  form  a  reservoir  for  honor,  and  make  our 
President  the  fountain  of  it.  In  such  case  may  not  titles  do  an 
injury  to  the  Union  ?  They  have  been  the  occasion  of  an  eternal 
faction  in  the  kingdom  we  were  formerly  connected  with,  and  may 
beget  like  inquietude  in  America ;  for  I  contend,  if  you  give  the 
title,  you  must  follow  it  with  the  robe  and  the  diadem,  and  then  the 
principles  of  your  government  are  subverted." 

Such  were  the  men  with  whom  John  Randolph  daily  associated, 
such  were  the  high-toned  principles  of  liberty  he  was  daily  accus- 
tomed to  hear.  It  was  not  from  the  reading  of  books  in  his  closet, 
nor  from  second-hand  that  he  acquired  his  knowledge  of  politics,  and 
that  extensive  acquaintance  with  the  leading  characters  of  the  country 
for  which  he  was  so  remarkable,  but  from  familiar  intercourse  with 
the  statesmen  and  sages  who  laid  the  foundations  of  the  government, 
and  commenced  the  first  superstructure  of  laws  and  precedents  to 
serve  as  guides  and  examples  to  the  statesmen  who  should  coine  after 
them. 

It  was  the  fortune  of  this  young  man  to  behold  the  Government 
in  its  feeble  beginnings,  like  the  simple  shepherds  on  the  snowy  Ye- 
solo,  gazing  in  the  overshadowed  fountain  of  the  Po  with  his  scanty 

waters. 

Mirando  al  fonte  ombroso 
II  Po  con  pochi  umori. 

It  was  his  destiny  also  never  to  lose  sight  of  it,  but  to  follow  it 
through  near  half  a  century  of  various  fortune,  now  enfeebled  by 
war  and  faction,  now  strengthened  and  enlarged  by  new  States  and 
new  powers.  How  like  the  Po  !  he  receives  as  a  sovereign  the  Adda 
and  the  Tessino  in  his  course,  how  ample  he  hastens  on  to  the  sea, 
how  he  foams,  how  mighty  his  voice,  and  to  him  the  crown  is  assigned. 


THOMAS  JEFFERSON.  45 

Che  1  Adda,  che  '1  Tessino 
Soverchia  in  suo  cammimo, 
Che  ampio  al  Mar'  s'afiretta 
Che  si  spuma,  e  si  suona, 
Che  gli  si  da  corona ! 


CHAPTEE  X. 

THOMAS    JEFFERSON. 

IN  the  winter  of  the  year  179 0-1,  Philadelphia  had  again  become, 
as  in  times  of  the  old  Continental  Congress,  the  great  centre  of 
attraction.  By  a  recent  Act  it  had  been  made  the  seat  of  the  Federal 
Government  for  ten  years.  The  national  legislature,  adjourning  the 
12th  of  August  in  New- York,  were  to  assemble  the  first  Monday  in 
December  in  the  new  Capitol,  The  papers  and  officers  of  all  the 
Executive  Departments  were  removed  thither  early  in  October,  under 
the  conduct  of  Col.  Hamilton,  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury.  The 
President  returning  from  Mount  Yernon  about  the  1st  of  December, 
took  up  his  lodgings  in  a  house  belonging  to  Robert  Morris,  which 
had  been  hired  and  fitted  up  for  the  purpose.  And  Tuesday,  the  7th 
of  December,  the  3d  session  of  the  1st  Congress  was  organized  in 
the  new  Court  House  of  the  city,  which  had  been  tendered  to  the 
government  by  the  town  authorities.  We  find  also  our  young  friend, 
in  this  general  removal,  transferred  to  the  city  of  Philadelphia.  He 
took  up  his  residence  at  No.  154  Arch-street,  where  he  continued 
with  short  intervals,  till  the  spring  of  1794,  when  he  returned  to  Vir- 
ginia. 

He  was  attached  to  the  family  of  Edmund  Randolph,  the  Attor- 
ney General  of  the  United  States — the  same  person  his  mother 
pointed  him  to  as  the  model  of  an  orator,  worthy  of  his  imitation. 
Edmund  Randolph  was  a  kinsman  in  the  collateral  line.  He  was 
the  son  of  John  Randolph,  the  King's  Attorney  General  about  the 
time  of  the  Revolution. 

a  Mr.  Randolph,"  says  Wirt,  "  was,  in  person  and  manners,  among 
the  most  elegant  gentlemen  in  the  colony,  and  in  his  profession  ono 


£6  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

of  the  most  splendid  ornaments  of  the  "bar."  He  was  the  son  of  Sii 
John  (Knight),  who  was  the  son  of  William  of  Turkey  Island,  the 
great  American  progenitor  of  the  family.  Edmund  Randolph  in- 
herited many  of  the  accomplishments  of  his  father.  But  he  was 
more  showy  than  solid.  He  was  also  of  a  vacillating  character; 
voting  against  the  Constitution,  then  violent  in  its  favor ;  striving  at 
first  to  steer  above  the  influence  of  party,  he  was  at  length  ingulfed 
and  swept  away  by  its  current.  "  Friend  Edmund,"  said  John 
Randolph  years  afterwards,  "  was  like  the  aspen,  like  the  chameleon, 
ever  trembling,  ever  changing."  We  may,  therefore,  suppose  that 
his  influence  over  the  mind  and  character  of  his  pupil  was  not  so 
great  as  that  of  another  kinsman  who  was  also  a  member  of  General 
Washington's  Cabinet.  We  allude  to  Thomas  Jefferson3  the  first 
cousin  of  John  Randolph's  father,  and  the  intimate  friend  of  his 
youth. 

Mr.  Jefferson  had  been  abroad  some  years  as  Minister  to  France. 
Returning  on  a  visit  to  America,  he  was  invited  by  General  Washing- 
ton to  take  charge  of  the  State  Department.  The  invitation  was 
accepted,  and  he  was  no  soonor  installed  in  office  in  the  spring  of 
1790,  than  he  became  the  head  and  leader  of  the  Republican  State- 
Rights  Party,  then  struggling  into  existence.  Is  was  not  the  exalted 
station  alone,  but  other  circumstances  that  forced  him  into  this  unen- 
viable and  critical  position.  The  author  of  the  doctrine  of  State 
Rights  and  its  eloquent  defender,  George  Mason,  and  Patrick  Henry, 
were  both  in  retirement.  The  latter  had  been  offered  a  seat  in  the 
Senate  at  its  organization,  but  declined.  It  was  tendered  to  him  the 
second  time,  on  the  death  of  Col.  Grayson ;  he  again  declined  on  the 
ground  that  he  was  too  old  to  fall  into  those  aivkward  imitations 
which  have  now  become  fashionable,  spoken  in  allusion  to  the  levees 
of  Mrs.  Washington,  and  the  etiquette  observed  in  presentations  at' 
the  Executive  Mansion. 

Richard  Henry  Lee  was  still  in  the  Senate.  He  was  the  gentleman, 
the  scholar,  and  the  orator,  but  his  thoughts  ran  too  much  in  the  smooth 
channel  of  established  forms,  his  oratory  too  elaborate  and  polished,  his 
disposition  too  indolent  and  unambitious  to  make  him  the  fit  leader 
of  a  party  just  coming  into  existence  in  a  new  era,  with  new  thoughts, 
new  principles,  and  an  untried  experiment  before  them.  Thomaa 
Jefferson  was  the  man.  The  qualities  of  his  mind,  his  education  and 


THOMAS  JEFFERSON.  47 

previous  course  of  life,  fitted  him  to  be  the  bold  and  intrepid  pioneer 
of  that  untried  course  the  people  had  entered  upon. 

His  mind,  not  of  the  Platonic  cast,  was  eminently  perceptive. 
The  abstract  had  no  charms  for  him — the  spiritual  no  existence. 
Devoted  to  the  natural  sciences,  his  metaphysics  savored  of  material- 
ism. Locke's  Philosophy  of  the  Senses  bounded  his  conceptions  of  the 
human  understanding.  And  the  French  Disciples,  who  pursued  the 
doctrines  of  their  master,  to  the  legitimate  consequence  of  sensualism 
and  infidelity,  were  his  chief  authorities  on  all  questions  of  morality 
and  religion. 

He  was  a  bold,  free  thinker,  bound  to  no  school.  "  I  never  sub- 
mitted the  whole  system  of  my  opinions,"  says  he,  "  to  the  creed  of 
any  party  of  men  whatever,  in  religion,  in  philosophy,  in  politics,  or 
in  any  thing  else." 

He  was  born  in  a  country  in  the  vigor  of  its  youth,  untrammelled 
by  habit,  and  new  in  all  its  social  relations.  He  was  a  child  of  the 
Revolution.  His  ardent  temper  was  kindled  by  its  stormy  passions, 
and  his  bold  intellect  grasped  the  master  idea  of  that  great  popular 
movement,  which  was  unfettered  freedom  to  mind,  body,  and  estate. 
By  him  the  law  of  primogeniture  was  destroyed  in  Virginia,  religious 
freedom  established,  and  universal  liberty  and  equality  proclaimed  in 
the  Declaration  of  Independence. 

His  ruling  desire  to  strike  the  padlock  from  the  mind,  and  the 
fetter  from  the  limbs  of  mankind,  was  rather  strengthened  than 
abated  by  his  long  residence  abroad  under  a  despotic  government 
Being  a  man  of  letters  and  of  taste,  he  was  in  intimate  association 
with  the  great  writers  and  master  spirits  that  set  the  ball  of  the  French 
Revolution  in  motion.  In  boldness  and  freedom  of  discussion  they 
surpassed  even  himself.  Speaking  of  them  he  says,  "  the  writers  of 
this  country  (France)  now  taking  the  field  freely,  and  unrestrained, 
or  rather  revolted  by  prejudice,  will  rouse  us  all  from  the  errors  in 
which  we  have  been  hitherto  rocked." 

A  witness  of  the  assembling  of  the  States  General,  May.  1789, 
he  rejoiced  in  the  downfall  of  the  worn-out  French  monarchy,  of 
which  that  was  the  signal ;  and  was  the  friend  and  adviser  of  those 
who  sought  to  rebuild  on  its  ruins  a  freer  government,  with  broader 
and  deeper  foundations.  He  heard  the  rights  of  man,  the  origin  of 
government,  the  abuses  and  limitations  of  power,  more  freely  dis- 


4:8  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

cussed  in  the  cafes  and  saloons  of  Paris  than  in  the  court-yards  of 
Virginia. 

When  the  usages  and  precedents  of  past  times,  and  of  other 
governments,  were  scornfully  rejected,  he  saw  our  own  proceedings 
pointed  to  as  a  model,  and  regarded  with  an  authority  like  that  of 
the  Bible,  open  to  explanation^  but  not  to  question. 

Coming  from  those  scenes  of  enthusiasm  in  which  he  so  warmly 
participated ;  coming  from  a  land  where  old  prejudices  and  long 
established  abuses  were  vanishing  away ;  where  the  titles  of  feudal- 
ism and  the  privileges  of  despotism  had  been  swept  away  in  a 
night,  and  a  great  nation  was  rejoicing  in  the  dawn  of  a  new  era  of 
freedom ;  he  expressed  himself  astonished  to  find  his  own  govern- 
ment, which  was  regarded  by  others  as  a  model  and  an  example,  pos- 
sessed with  a  spirit  that  seemed  to  him  so  anti-republican. 

This  false  direction  of  the  government  he  mainly  attributed  to 
the  financial  schemes  of  Alexander  Hamilton,  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury. 

It  is  wellknown  that  Hamilton  advised  a  Constitution  far  differ- 
ent from*  the  one  adopted.  His  was  a  plan  of  consolidation,  with  a 
strong  infusion  of  the  aristocratic  principle.  Having  experienced 
the  imbecility  of  the  Confederation,  he  did  not  believe  the  new  gov- 
ernment practicable.  Without  a  successful  example  in  history,  he 
did  not  believe  in  the  capacity  of  the  people  for  self-government. 
Judging  of  mankind  by  the  oppressed  and  degraded  specimens  of 
the  army  and  of  the  Old  Country,  he  did  not  duly  appreciate  the 
intelligent  and  manly  character  of  his  own  countrymen,  nor  did  he 
comprehend  the  nature  of  that  government  of  specified  powers  and 
divided  sovereignty  which  was  the  embodiment  of  their  spirit  and 
principles.  Placed  at  the  head  of  the  Financial  Department  of  a 
new  government,  he  was  surrounded  with  many  difficulties.  The 
war  had  left  the  Confederation  and  the  States  burdened  with  debt ; 
and,  exhausted  of  resources,  it  became  his  duty  to  devise  means  to 
resuscitate  the  one,  and  to  pay  off  the  other.  With  no  experience 
in  his  own  country,  it  was  natural  he  should  look  to  the  successful 
example  of  others.  He  is  considered  a  wise  statesman,  who  is 
guided  by  established  precedents,  does  not  strike  into  unknown 
paths,  but  prudently  follows  the  course  that  has  been  pursued  before 
him.  Judging  him  by  this  rule,  it  would  be  hard  to  say  how  far  he 


THOMAS  JEFFERSON.  49 

ought  to  have  acted  otherwise  than  he  did,  without  hazarding  the 
censure  of  rashness.  'K  The  chief  outlines  of  these  plans,"  says  he, 
in  his  report  on  public  credit,  K  are  not  original,  but  it  is  no  ill 
recommendation  that  they  have  been  tried  with  success."  He 
recommended  that  the  debts  which  had  been  contracted  by  the 
several  States  in  the  War  of  Independence,  and  for  which  they 
were  bound,  as  independent  sovereignties,  should  be  assumed  by  the 
new  government, — that  these  assumed  debts,  and  those  contracted 
by  the  .Confederation,  amounting  in  all  to  some  eighty  millions  of 
dollars,  though  greatly  depreciated,  and  passed  from  the  hands  of 
the  original  owner,  should  be  funded  at  their  par  value ;  the  in- 
terest to  be  paid  regularly  by  an  excise  and  an  impost  duty,  but  the 
capital  'to  be  viewed  in  the  light  of  an  annuity,  at  the  rate  of  six  per 
centum  per  annum,  redeemable  at  the  pleasure  of  the  government. 
He  also  advised  the  incorporation  of  a  National  Bank,  as  "  an  insti- 
tution of  primary  importance  to  the  prosperous  administration  of  the 
finances,  and  of  the  greatest  utility  in  the  operations  connected  with 
the  support  of  the  public  credit."  In  his  Reports,  he  labors,  at 
great  length,  to  prove  the  utility  of  a  well-funded  National  Debt. 
"  It  is  a  well  known  fact,"  says  he,  "  that  in  countries  where  the 
national  debt  is  properly  funded,  it  answers  most  of  the  purposes  of 
money.  Transfers  of  stock,  or  public  debt,  are  there  equivalent  to 
payments  in  specie  ;  or,  in  other  words,  stock  in  the  principal  trans- 
actions of  business  passes  current  as  specie.  Trade  is  extended  by 
_t.  because  there  is  a  larger  capital  to  carry  it  on.  Agriculture  arid 
manufactures  are  promoted  by  it  for  a  like  reason.  The  interest  .of 
money  will  be  lowered  by  it,  for  this  is  always  in  ratio  to  the  quan- 
tity of  monsy,  and  to  the  quickness  of  circulation.  From  the  combi- 
nation of  these  effects,  additional  aids  will  be  furnished  to  labor,  to 
industry,  and  to  arts  of  every  kind.  But  these  good  effects  of  a 
public  debt  are  only  to  be  looked  for  when,  by  being  well  funded,  it 
«has  .acquired  an  adequate  and  stable  value."  These  arguments, 
viewed  in  connection  with  the  obvious  tendency  of  his  policy,  led 
the  enemies  of  Hamilton  to  declare  that  he  regarded  a  national 
debt  as  a  national  blessing.  Though  this  inference  might  be  drawn 
from  his  doctrine  and  policy,  he  yet,  in  express  terms,  declared  him- 
self against  it.  "  Persuaded  as  the  Secretary  is,"  says  he,  "  that  the 
proper  funding  of  the  present  debt  will  render  it  a  national  blessing, 


50  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

yet  he  is  so  far  from  acceding  to  the  proposition,  in  the  latitude  ic 
which  it  is  sometimes  laid  down,  that  'public  debts  are  public 
benefits' — a  position  inviting  to  prodigality,  and  liable  to  dangerous 
abuse — that  he  ardently  wishes  to  see  it  incorporated,  as  a  funda- 
mental maxim,  in  the  system  of  public  credit  of  the  United  States, 
that  the  creation  of  debt  should  always  be  accompanied  with  the 
means  of  extinguishment."  Had  those  schemes  of  Hamilton  been 
laid  before  a  British  Parliament,  they  wouid  have  been  viewed  as 
clearly  and  ably  expressed,  and  adopted  as  practicable  and  expe- 
dient ;  but  with  us,  far  other  and  higher  considerations  than  those 
of  expediency  or  practicability  had  to  be  weighed  before  the  adop- 
tion of  any  measure.  The  British  Parliament  was  omnipotent ;  the 
American  Congress  limited  to  a  few,  well  defined,  and  specified 
powers.  Parliament  was  only  guided  by  precedent  and  usage; 
Congress  were  controlled  by  the  words  of  a  written  Constitution. 
There  was  with  us,  therefore,  a  primary  and  fundamental  inquiry  to 
be  made  on  all  subjects  of  legislation,  unknown  to  the'  British 
statesman.  Whenever  a  measure  is  proposed,  the  first  question 
should  be,  Is  it  constitutional  ?  Is .  it  authorized  by  the  specified 
powers  laid  down  in  the  Charter?  or  does  it  encroach  on  the 
reserved  rights  of  the  States?  How  does  it  affect  the  balance  of 
power  between  the  Executive,  Legislative,  and  Judiciary  Depart- 
ments, or  how  does  it  operate  on  the  morals  and  integrity  of  the 
people,  upon  whose  purity  depends  the  existence  of  a  free  govern- 
ment ?  Unless  these  preliminary  questions  are  always  honestly  and 
fairly  settled,  it  is  obvious  that  a  republican  and  a  written  Constitu- 
tion cannot  long  be  of  any  avail.  But  these  considerations  did  not 
occur  to  the  mind  of  Hamilton,  in  projecting  his  schemes  of  finance  ; 
they  are  never  started,  nor  is  the  slightest  allusion  made  to  them  in 
his  Keports.  He  views  every  subject  in  its  financial  aspect,  without 
regard  to  its  political  bearing  on  the  new,  peculiar,  and  delicately 
balanced  institutions  of  his  country.  This  was  his  great  and  .fatal 
error.  Thomas  Jefferson  perceived  it,  and  battled  against  all  his 
schemes  as  unconstitutional,  destructive  to  the  independence  of  the 
States,  and  corrupting  to  the  rulers  and  to  the  people. 

Posterity,  therefore,  in  pronouncing  judgment  on  these  great 
rivals,  would  be  constrained  to  say  that  Hamilton  was  the  able 
financier,  but  Jefferson  the  profound  statesman.  While  the  one, 


THOMAS  JEFFERSON.  5J 

with  averted  countenance,  looked  back  upon  the  lights  the  world 
had  already  passed ;  the  other,  with  prophetic  vision,  caught  the 
rays  of  a  new  constellation,  just  dawning  upon  it.  Gathering  up  in 
his  capacious  mind  the  tendency  and  influences  of  those  feelings 
and  opinions,  recently  developed  in  American  history  and  institu- 
tions, Jefferson  conceived  a  theory  of  government  that  embodied  the 
growing  sentiments  of  the  people,  and  fulfilled  their  idea  of  what 
free  Republic  should  be.  He  stands  in  relation  to  the  Constitution 
as  Aristotle  to  the  Iliad ;  Homer  wrote  the  poem,  the  philosopher 
deduced  thence  the  rules  of  poetry.  Mason  and  other  sages  made 
the  Constitution,  the  statesman  abstracted  from  it  the  doctrines  of  a 
federative,  representative,  republican  government ;  and  demonstrated 
that  they  alone  are  adapted  to  a  wide-spread  and  diversified  country, 
and  suited  to  the  genius  of  a  free  and  enlightened  people.  Were 
the  question  asked,  What  has  America  done  for  the  amelioration  of 
mankind?  the  answer  would  not  be  found  in  her  discoveries  in 
science  or  improvements  in  art,  but  in  her  political  philosophy,  as 
conceived  by  Jefferson,  and  developed  by  his  disciples.  Though  he 
was  the  acknowledged  leader  of  what  may  be  called  the  great 
American  movement,  he  never  spoke  in  public,  and  never  wrote  an 
essay  for  the  newspapers.  His  great  skill  lay  in  infusing  his  senti- 
ments into  the  minds  of  others  by  conversation,  or  correspondence, 
and  making  them  the  instruments  of  their  propagation.  Gathering 
about  him  the  influential  men  of  the  new  party,  he  imparted  to  them 
more  comprehensive  views  of  their  own  doctrines,  and  made  them 
the  enthusiastic  defenders  of  those  principles,  the  importance  of 
which  they  had  but  dimly  perceived.  Over  no  one  did  he  exert  a 
greater  influence  than  the  young  and  ardent  subject  of  this  memoir. 
His  connection  with  the  family  of  Edmund  Randolph,  and  his  near 
relationship  to  Mr.  Jefferson  himself,  brought  him  frequently  within 
the  sphere  of  that  fascinating  conversation,  which  was  never  spared 
in  the  propagation  of  his  opinions.  But  John  Randolph,  although  a 
youth,  was  not  the  character  to  yield  a  blind  allegiance  to  any 
leader.  The  disciple  differed  widely  in  many  doctrines  from  the 
master.  The  grounds  of  that  difference  may  be  found  in  the  writ- 
ings of  another  great  statesman  that  begun  about  that  time  to  take 
hold  on  his  mind,  and  deeply  impress  his  character.  So  great  was 
their  influence  in  after  life,  that  the  writings  of  Edmund  Burke 


52  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

became  the  key  to  the  political,  opinions  of  John  Randolph.     With 
him  Edmund  Burke  was  the  great  master  of  political  philosophy. 


CHAPTEE    XI. 

SMALL  BEGINNINGS — EDMUND  BURKE — THOMAS  PAINE. 

SOON  after  the  adjournment  of  Congress,  the  4th  of  March,  1791 
General  Washington  left  the  seat  of  government,  and  commenced 
his  tour  through  the  Southern  States.  The  secretaries  at  the  head 
of  the  different  departments,  were  left  as  a  kind  of  committee  to 
conduct  affairs  in  his  absence. 

About  this  time  the  public  mind  began  to  be  greatly  agitated 
not  only  by  the  wonderful  events  of  the  French  Revolution,  but  the 
various  speculations  on  those  extraordinary  occurrences  that  daily 
teemed  from  our  own  political  press.  The  two  leading  productions, 
that  were  held  up  on  both  sides  as  setting  forth  most  clearly  and 
fully  the  views  they  respectively  entertained,  proceeded  from  men 
who  were  well  and  favorably  known  in  America  as  the  friends  of 
liberty. 

Edmund  Burke  had  not  only  defended  the  colonies,  in  the  Brit- 
ish Parliament,  against  the  unjust  and  oppressive  taxation  of  the 
ministry,  but  had  nobly  vindicated  their  character  and  their  mo- 
tives. Throughout  America  his  name  was  venerated  and  beloved. 
Well  might  he  exclaim,  "  I  love  a  manly,  moral,  regulated  liberty  as 
well  as  any  man,  be  he  who  he  will ;  and  perhaps  I  have  given  as  good 
proofs  of  my  attachment  to  that  cause  in  the  whole  course  of  my 
public  conduct." 

Thomas  Paine  was  in  America  during  the  struggle  of  the  Colo- 
nies for  independence,  and  greatly  aided  the  cause  by  his  spirited 
and  patriotic  essays.  It  was  generally  conceded  that  in  the  darkest 
hour  of  the  Revolution,  when  our  armies  were  disbanded,  and  the 
hearts  of  the  people  despondent,  he  helped  to  rally  the  one,  and  to 
animate  the  other  by  his  bold  and  patriotic  appeals.  The  first  men 
of  the  nation  forgot  his  many  vices,  and  cherished  his  person  and 
his  reputation  in  grateful  remembrance  of  his  valuable  services 


EDMUND  BURKTJ— THOMAS  PAINE.  53 

General  Washington  was  his  constant  correspondent  while  abroad, 
and  while  in  America  the  house  of  Jefferson  was  his  home. 

In  the  great  struggle  for  liberty  which  had  now  commenced  on 
the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic,  these  two  champions  of  the  cause  took 
opposite  sides.  Burke  expressed  a  hearty  wish  that  France  might 
be  animated  by  a  spirit  of  rational  liberty,  and  provide  a  permanent 
body  in  which  that  spirit  might  reside,  and  an  effectual  organ  by 
which  it  might  act ;  but,  he  said,  it  was  his  misfortune  to  entertain 
great  doubts  concerning  several  material  points  in  their  late  transac- 
tions. Paine,  on  the  other  hand,  had  nc  doubts ;  inflamed  by  the 
spirit  of  liberty,  suddenly  burst  forth  in  the  hearts  of  the  French 
people,  and  dazzled  by  its  brilliant  achievements,  he  threw  himself 
warmly  into  the  popular  cause  without  knowing  or  caring  for  vhe 
consequences. 

The  habits,  education,  social  position,  and  natural  temperament 
of  the  two  men  led  to  this  wide  difference.  Burke  had  been  long 
trained  in  the  school  of  experience,  Paine  was  the  mere  speculative 
theorist.  The  one  judged  of  the  future  by  the  past,  the  other  pro- 
jected the  future  not  from  the  solid  ground  of  experience,  but  the 
hopeful  theories  of  his  own  sanguine  imagination.  Burke  was  the 
cautious  statesman,  Paine  the  enthusiastic  patriot. 

The  statesman  cannot  stand  forward  and  give  praise  or  blame  to 
any  thing  which  relates  to  human  actions,  and  human  concerns,  on  a 
simple  view  of  the  object,  as  it  stands  stripped  of  every  relation,  in 
all  the  nakedness  and  solitude  of  metaphysical  abstraction.  Circum- 
stances which  with  some  pass  for  nothing,  give  in  reality  to  every 
political  principle  its  distinguishing  color,  and  discriminating  effect. 
The  circumstances  are  what  render  every  civil  and  political  scheme 
beneficial  or  noxious  to  mankind.  Burke  was  guided  by  this  great 
political  maxim,  the  truth  of  which  he  had  been  taught  by  long 
experience.  "  I  must  be  tolerably  sure,"  said  he,  "  before  I  venture 
publicly  to  congratulate  men  upon  a  blessing,  that  they  have  really 
received  one.  Flattery  corrupts  both  the  receiver  and  the  giver ; 
and  adulation  is  not  of  more  service  to  the  people  than  to  kings.  I 
should  therefore  suspend  my  congratulations  on  the  new  liberty  of 
France,  until  I  was  informed  how  it  had  been  combined  with  govern- 
ment, with  public  force,  with  the  discipline  and  obedience  of  armies, 
with  the  collection  of  an  effective  and  well  distributed  revenue,  with 


54  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

morality  and  religion,  with  solidity  and  property,  with  peace  and 
order,  with  civil  and  social  manners.  The  effect  of  liberty  to  indi- 
viduals is,  that  they  may  do  what  they  please  ;  we  ought  to  see  what 
it  will  please  them  to  do,  before  we  risk  congratulations,  which 
may  soon  be  turned  into  complaints.  Prudence  would  dictate  this  in 
the  case  of  separate  insulated  private  men ;  but  liberty,  when  men 
act  in  bodies,  is  pcnvei*.  Considerate  people,  before  they  declare  them- 
selves, will  observe  the  use  which  is  made  of  power ;  and  particularly 
of  so  trying  a  thing  as  new  power  in  mw  persons,  of  whose  principles, 
tempers,  and  dispositions,  they  have  little  or  no  experience.  Better 
to  be  despised  for  too  anxious  apprehensions,  than  ruined  by  too  con- 
fident a  security." 

Paine,  on  the  other  hand,  with  all  the  inexperienced  statesmen  of 
France,  followed  a  transcendental  idea.  He  saw  a  great  and  power- 
ful nation  burst  the  oppressive  and  galling  fetters  of  feudal  ages,  and 
proclaim  themselves  a  free  people.  With  all  the  lovers  of  man- 
kind through  the  world,  he  lifted  up  his  hands  and  clapped  for  joy. 
He  beheld  the  event  and  rejoiced.  But  how  this  new  power  might 
be  used  by  the  new  men,  of  whose  principles,  tempers,  and  dispositions 
he  had  no  experience,  he  did  not  stop  to  inquire ;  he  did  not  consult 
the  maxims  of  prudence,  or  the  principles  of  reason,  but  obeyed  the 
impulses  of  a  warm,  enthusiastic  and  patriotic  heart.  Dictated  by 
such  a  spirit,  his  writings  might  serve  to  animate,  but  not  to  instruct, 
to  inspire  a  kindred  enthusiasm,  but  to  afford  no  nourishment  to  the 
hungering  mind.  They  have  perished  with  the  occasion  that  gave 
them  birth,  while  the  immortal  truths  scattered  as  gems  through 
the  writings  of  Edmund  Burke,  are  set  like  stars  in  the  firmament 
for  lights  and  guides  to  mankind. 

Burke  wrote  his  reflections  on  the  Revolution  in  France  in  the 
month  of  May,  1790;  and  some  short  time  thereafter  gave  them  to 
the  public.  Paine's  answer,  entitled  the  Rights  of  Man,  soon  fol- 
lowed. The  first  and  only  copy  of  this  latter  production  made  its 
appearance  in  Philadelphia  about  the  first  of  May,  1791  ;  it  was  in 
the  hands  of  Beckley.  He  lent  the  pamphlet  to  Mr.  Jefferson,  with 
a  request,  that  when  he  should  have  read  it,  he  would  send  it  to 
Smith  the  printer,  who  wished  it  for  re-publication.  As  he  was  a 
stranger  to  Smith,  Mr.  Jefferson,  in  sending  the  pamphlet,  wrote  him 
a  note,  stating  why  he,  a  stranger,  had  sent  it,  namely,  that  Mr. 


THOMAS  PAINE— EDMUND  BURKE.  55 

Beckley  had  desired  it;  and,  to  take  off  a  little  of  the  dryness  of  a 
note,  he  added,  that  he  was  glad  to  find  it  was  to  be  reprinted,  that 
something  would  at  length  be  publicly  said  against  the  political  here- 
sies which  had  lately  sprung  up  amongst  us,  and  that  he  did  not  doubt 
our  citizens  would  rally  again  around  the  standard  of  Common  Sense 
In  these  allusions,  Mr.  Jefferson  had  reference  to  the  Discourses  on 
Davila,)  which  had  filled  Fenno's  paper  for  a  twelvemonth  without 
contradiction.  Mr.  Adams,  the  Vice-President,  was  the  reputed 
author  of  those  Discourses.  When  the  reprint  of  Paine's  pamphlet 
appeared,  it  had  prefixed  to  it  the  note  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  which  the 
printer  had  appended  without  giving  him  the  slightest  intimation  of 
such  an  intention.  In  this  unexpected  way  was  the  leader  of  the 
new  and  rising  Democratic  Party  identified  with  the  political  doc- 
trines of  Paine,  the  principles  of  the  French  Revolution,  and  made 
publicly  to  avow  his  hostility  to  the  political  heresies  which  had  lately 
sprung  up  in  our  own  country.  In  addition  to  this,  Paine's  pam- 
phlet, though  without  authority,  had  been  dedicated  to  General 
Washington.  The  pamphlet,  accompanied  with  these  circumstances, 
produced  a  considerable  excitement  in  the  political  circles  of  Phila- 
delphia. Major  Beckwith,  an  unofficial  British  agent,  made  it  a 
subject  of  formal  complaint  to  the  private  secretary  of  the  President. 
He  expressed  surprise  that  the  pamphlet  should  be  dedicated  to  the 
President  of  the  United  States,  and  averred  that  it  had  received  the 
unequivocal  official  sanction  of  the  Secretary  of  State,  not  as  Mr. 
Jefferson,  buc  as  the  Secretary  of  State. 

On  the  other  hand,  Mr.  Adams  was  not  slow  in  declaring  his 
opposition  to  the  sentiments  expressed  in  Paine's  pamphlet.  In  the 
most  pointed  manner,  he  expressed  his  detestation  of  the  book  and 
its  tendency.  "  J  was  at  the  Vice-President's  house,"  says  the  pri- 
vate secretary,  writing  to  General  Washington,  "  and  while  there, 
the  Doctor  and  Mrs.  Rush  came  in.  The  conversation  turned  on  this 
book,  and  Dr.  Rush  a^ked  the  Vice-President  what  he  thought  of  it. 
After  a  little  hesitation,  he  laid  his  hand  upon  his  breast,  and  said 
in  a  very  solemn  manner,  '  I  detest  that  book  and  its  tendency,  from 
the  bottom  of  my  heart.' " 

Mr.  Jefferson,  in  writing  to  the  President  about  the  same  time, 
Bays :  "  Paine's  answer  to  Burke's  pamphlet  begins  to  produce  some 
6 quibs  in  our  puWic  papers.  In  Fenno's  paper  they  are  Burkites ; 


56  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

in  the  others,  they  are  Painites.  One  of  Fenno's  was  evidently  from 
the  author  of  the  Itiscourses  on  Davila.  I  am  afraid  the  indiscre- 
tion of  a  printer  has  committed  me  with  my  friend  Mr.  Adams,  for 
whom,  as  one  of  the  most  honest  and  disinterested  men  alive,  I  have  a 
cordial  esteem,  increased  by  long  habits  of  concurrence  in  opinion  in 
the  days  of  his  republicanism ;  and  ever  since  his  apostasy  to  heredi- 
tary monarchy  and  nobility,  though  we  differ,  we  differ  as  friends 
should  do. 

"  Mr.  Adams  will  unquestionably  take  to  himself  the  charge  of  poli- 
tical heresy,  as  conscious  of  his  own  views  of  drawing  the  present  gov- 
ernment to  the  form  of  the  English  constitution,  and,  I  fear,  will  cc  n- 
sider  me  as  meaning  to  injure  him  in  the  public  eye.  I  certainly 
never  made  a  secret  of  my  being  anti-monarchical,  and  anti-aristo- 
cratical ;  but  I  am  sincerely  mortified  to  be  thus  brought  foward  on 
the  public  stage,  where  to  remain,  to  advance,  or  to  retire,  will  be 
equally  against  my  love  of  silence  and  quiet,  and  my  abhorrence  of 
dispute." 

We  have  given  the  minute  history  of  this  transaction,  not  only 
because  of  its  important  bearing  on  the  subject  of  this  memoir,  but 
because  it  traces  up  to  the  fountain  head  one  of  the  many  streams 
which,  flowing  together  in  after  times,  have  conspired  to  swell  the 
mighty  tide  of  party  spirit  that  now  sweeps  through  the  land. 

John  Randolph  was  in  Philadelphia  during  this  time;  partici- 
pated in  the  interest  and  excitement  of  the  occasion ;  heard  the  dis- 
cussions in  the  various  circles  into  which  he  was  freely  admitted ;  saw 
people  become  inflamed  with  the  Anglomania  or  the  Gallomania,  and 
arrange  themselves  under  the  banners  of  their  respective  champions 
as  Burkites  or  Painites,  according  as  they  were  inclined  to  admire 
the  British  Constitution,  or  the  more  free  and  levelling  doctrines  of 
the  French  Revolution,  and  plainly  perceived  that  that  great  event 
was  destined  to  swallow  up  every  minor  consideration,  and  to  give 
character  and  complexion  to  the  politics  of  his  own  country.  But 
while  he  was  a  democratic  republican,  a  follower  of  Jefferson  in  all 
that  pertained  to  his  political  doctrines  and  interpretation  of  the 
Constitution,  pre-eminently  a  disciple  of  the  Mason  and  Henry 
school  of  States'  rights,  yet  he  did  not  become  a  Painite  in  the 
sense  that  term  was  used  by  Mr.  Jefferson.  In  the  expressive  lan- 
guage of  Governor  Tazewell,  he  could  not  bear  Tom  Paine ;  he  ad 


THOMAS  PAINE— EDMUND  BURKE.  57 

mired  Burke,  though  himself  a  jacobin  !  While  he  rejoiced  in  the  over- 
throw of  despotism  by  the  French  people,  he  could  not  fail  to  perceive 
that  they  were  better  fitted  to  destroy  tyrants  than  obey  the  laws ;  and 
hastened  to  learn  those  lessons  of  wisdom  that  fell  from  the  lips  of 
the  great  master  of  political  philosophy,  who,  from  the  few  events  al- 
ready transpired,  foretold  with  the  clearness  of  a  Hebrew  prophet, 
the  wretched  end  to  which  they  were  hastening.  "We  regard  this  as 
a  most  remarkable  fact  in  the  history  of  that  young  man.  The  de- 
sign of  Burke  was  eminently  conservative.  He  saw  the  conse- 
quences of  a  dissemination  of  French  revolutionary  doctrines  among 
the  English  people ;  his  purpose  was  to  shut  out  from  England 
what  the  kings  of  Europe  called  the  French  evil. 

With  this  design,  he  gives  a  most  beautiful  and  masterly  expo- 
sition of  the  British  Constitution,  from  Magna  Charta  to  the 
declaration  of  rights.  He  calls  it  an  entailed  inheritance,  derived  to 
us  (the  people  of  England)  from  our  forefathers,  and  to  be  transmitted 
to  our  posterity ;  as  an  estate  specially  belonging  to  the  people  of 
this  kingdom — an  inheritable  crown — an  inheritable  peerage  ;  and  a 
House  of  Commons,  and  a  people  inheriting  privileges,  franchises, 
and  liberties  from  a  long  line  of  ancestors. 

With  the  same  masterly  hand  he  makes  bare  the  composition  of 
the  French  National  Assembly — the  characters  that  compose  it — the 
few  acts  they  had  already  performed  during  a  single  year ;  and  then 
predicts,  from  these  elements  of  calculation,  that  France  will  be 
wholly  governed  by  the  agitators  in  corporations,  by  societies  in  the 
towns  formed  of  directors  in  assignats,  and  trustees  for  the  sale  of 
church  lands,  attorneys,  agents,  money-jobbers,  speculators,  and  ad- 
venturers, composing  an  ignoble  oligarchy,  founded  on  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  crown,  the  church,  the  nobility,  and  the  people.  Here 
end  all  the  deceitful  dreams  and  visions  of  this  equality,  and  the 
rights  of  man.  In  the  Serbonian  log  of  this  base  oligarchy,  they  are 
all  absorbed,  sunk,  and  lost  for  ever.  The  present  form  of  the 
French  commonwealth,  he  says,  cannot  remain  ;  but  before  its  final 
settlement  it  may  be  obliged  to  pass,  as  one  of  our  poets  says, 
"  through  great  varieties  of  untried  being  ;"  and  in  all  its  transmi 
grations  to  be  purified  by  fire  and  blood  ! 

It  is  not  surprising  that  such  a  book  as  this  should  be  seized 
pon  by  the  partisans  of  England,  and  held  up  as  a  justification  of 


58  A-1FE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

their  doctrine  that  the  British  Constitution,  with  all  its  corruptions. 
was  the  best  model  of  a  government  the  world  ever  saw ;  and  as  a 
vindication  of  the  abhorrence  they  had  expressed  for  the  doctrines 
of  the  French  Revolution,  and  their  tendency. 

But  it  is  a  matter  of  no  little  surprise  that  a  mere  stripling,  a 
youth  of  some  eighteen  or  twenty  years  of  age,  himself  a  republican 
and  a  jacobin,  with  an  ardent  temperament  and  a  lively  imagination, 
should  have  the  independence  to  ponder  over  the  pages  of  a  book 
condemned  by  his  associates ;  the  judgment  to  perceive  its  value, 
and  the  discrimination  to  leave  out  that  which  peculiarly  belonged 
to  England  or  to  France,  without  being  inflamed  by  its  arguments,  and 
to  appropriate  to  himself  those  rich  treasures  of  wisdom  to  be  found 
in  its  pages :  the  massive  ingots  of  gold  that  constitute  the  greater 
part  of  that  magnificent  monument  of  human  intellect.  As  we  have 
said,  the  writings  of  Edmund  Burke  are  the  key  to  the  political 
opinions  of  John  Randolph. 

In  after  life,  as  he  grew  in  experience,  those  opinions  became 
more  and  more  assimilated  to  the  doctrines  of  his  great  master. 

His  position  in  society,  his  large  hereditary  possessions,  his  pride 
of  ancestry,  his  veneration  for  the  commonwealth  of  Virginia,  her 
ancient  laws  and  institutions ;  his  high  estimation  of  the  rights  of 
property  in  the  business  of  legislation,— all  conspired  to  shape  his 
thoughts,  and  mould  them  in  matters  pertaining  to  domestic  polity 
after  the  fashion  of  those  who  have  faith  in  the  old,  the  long- 
established,  and  the  venerable.  No  one  can  trace  his  course  in  the 
Virginia  Convention,  or  read  his  speeches,  which  had  a  remarkable 
influence  on  the  deliberations  of  that  body,  without  perceiving  that 
his  deep  and  practical  wisdom  is  of  the  same  stamp,  and  but  little 
the  great  Gamaliel  at  whose  feet  he  was  taught. 


YOUTHFUL  COMPANIONS.  59 


CHAPTEE  XII. 

YOUTHFUL    COMPANIONS. 

WE  are  not  to  suppose  that  a  youth,  in  the  joyous  hours  of  his 
dawning  faculties,  devoted  his  time,  or  any  great  portion  of  it,  to  the 
society  of  sober  statesmen,  or  to  the  grave  study  of  political  science. 
Far  other  were  the  associates  and  companions  of  John  Randolph 
during  his  residence  in  the  Quaker  city,  even  at  that  day  renowned 
for  its  intelligent,  polished,  gay,  and  fashionable  society. 

With  occasional  visits  to  Virginia,  and  a  short  residence  of  a 
few  weeks  in  Williamsburg  during  the  autumn  of  1793,  Phila- 
delphia, till  the  spring  of  1794,  continued  to  be  his  place  of  abode. 
His  companions  were  Batte,  Carter,  Epps,  Marshall,  and  Rose  of 
Virginia;  Bryan  of  Georgia,  and  Rutledge  of  South  Carolina. 
Most  of  these  were  young  men  of  wealth,  education,  refined  man- 
ners, high  sense  of  honor,  and  of  noble  bearing.  John  W.  Epps 
afterwards  became  a  leading  member  of  Congress,  married  the 
daughter  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  and  in  1813  was  the  successful  rival  of 
Randolph  on  the  hustings  before  the  people.  Joseph  Bryan  like- 
wise in  a  'short  time  became  a  leading  character  in  Georgia,  was  a 
member  of.  Congress  from  that  State,  and  to  the  day  of  his  untimely 
death  continued  to  be  the  bosom  friend  of  the  associate  of  his  youth. 
Most  of  the  others,  though  unknown  to  fame,  adorned  the  social 
sphere  in  which  they  moved,  and  were  noble  specimens  of  the  unam- 
bitious scholar  and  the  gentleman.  Thomas  Marshall,  the  brother 
of  the  Chief  Justice,  and  father  of  Thomas  Marshall,  the  late  mem- 
ber of  Congress,  is  still  living.  He  is  a  man  of  extraordinary 
powers,  and  great  learning :  his  wit  and  genial  humor  are  not  to  be 
surpassed.  Those  who  knew  them  well  agree  that  his  natural  talents 
surpass  those  of  his  late  illustrious  brother,  the  Chief  Justice. 
Robert  Rose  was  a  man  of  genius;  he  married  the  sister  of  Mr. 
Madison,  and  might  have  risen  to  any  station  in  his  profession 
(which  he  merely  studied  as  an  ornament),  in  letters,  or  in  politics, 
that  he  aspired  to ;  but,  like  too  many  in  his  sphere  and  station  in 


60  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

society,  he  lived  a  life  of  inglorious  ease,  and  wasted  his  gifts,  like 
the  rose  its  sweets,  on  the  desert  air.  "With  such  companions,  we 
may  readily  suppose  there  was  fun  and  frolic  enough ;  but  nothing 
low  or  mean,  or  vulgar  or  sordid,  in  all  their  intercourse.  The  cor- 
respondence of  some  of  those  young  men  at  that  period  is  now  before 
the  writer.  It  is  very  clear  that  Randolph  was  the  centre  of 
attraction  in  that  joyous  circle  of  boon  companions.  And  while 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that  they  indulged  in  all  the  license  allowed 
at  that  time  to  young  men  of  their  rank  and  fortune,  yet  he  passed 
through  that  critical  period  of  life  without  the  contamination  of  a 
single  vice.  Though  many  years  afterwards,  he  said,  "  I  know  by 
fatal  experience  the  fascinations  of  a  town  life,  how  they  estrange  the 
mind  from  its  old  habits  and  attachments."  Bryan,  in  February, 
1794,  wishes  him  all  the  happiness  that  is  attendant  on  virtue  and 
regularity.  Again,  in  speaking  of  one  of  their  companions,  to  whom 
Randolph  had  become  strongly  attached,  he  expresses  a  hope  that 
he  may  prove  worthy  of  the  friendship, — "  possessing  as  you  do," 
says  he,  "  a  considerable  knowledge  of  mankind,  your  soul  would  not 
have  knit  so  firmly  to  an  unworthy  object." 

Most  of  those  young  men  were  students  of  medicine.  Randolph 
also  attended  with  them  several  courses  of  lectures  in  anatomy  and 
physiology — sciences  that  are  indispensable  not  only  to  a  profession- 
al, but  to  a  liberal  and  gentlemanly  education.  We  do  not  learn,  as 
many  have  supposed,  that  he  studied  law  at  that  time  in  the  office 
of  his  relation,  Edmund  Randolph,  the  Attorney  General.  Two 
years  after  leaving  Philadelphia,  Bryan  writes  that  he  is  rejoiced  to 
hear  his  friend  has  serious  thoughts  of  attacking  tJie  law.  He  tells 
us  himself  that  he  never,  after  Theodorick  broke  up  his  regular 
habits  at  New- York,  devoted  himself  to  any  systematic  study,  ex- 
cept for  the  few  weeks  he  was  in  Williamsburg,  in  the  autumn  of 
1793.  So  we  conclude  that  he  never  made  the  law  a  matter  of  se- 
rious study,  certainly  never  with  the  view  of  making  it  a  profession. 

In  April,  1794,  he  returned  to  Virginia.  In  June  he  was  twenty- 
one  years  of  age,  and  then  took  upon  himself  the  management  of 
his  patrimonial  estates,  which  were  heavily  encumbered  with  a  Brit- 
ish debt.  Matoax  was  still  in  the  family,  but  was  sold  about  this 
time  for  three  thousand  pounds  sterling,  to  pay  off  a  part  of  the 
above  debt.  The  mansion  house  has  since  been  burnt,  but  the  same 


RICHARD  RANDOLPH.  61 

estate  now  would  not  bring  three  hundred  dollars,  although  it  is 
within  three  miles  of  Petersburg. 

Richard  Randolph,  the  elder  brother,  lived  at  Bizarre,  an  estate 
on  the  Appomatox,  about  ninety  miles  above  Petersburg.  It  is  near 
Farmville,  but  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river,  in  Cumberland  coun- 
ty. John  made  his  brother's  house  his  home,  while  his  own  estate, 
sailed  Roanoke,  lay  about  thirty  miles  south  on  the  Roanoke  river, 
in  the  county  of  Charlotte. 


CHAPTER   XIII 

RICHARD  RANDOLPH. 

WITH  Richard  the  reader  has  already  formed  some  slight  acquaint- 
ance. In  1789  he  married  Judith  Randolph,  the  daughter  of  Thom- 
as Mann  Randolph,  of  Tuckahoe.  Judith  was  a  relation  in  both 
the  direct  and  collateral  lines.  Her  father,  Thomas  Mann,  was  the 
son  of  William,  who  was  the  son  of  Thomas  of  Tuckahoe,  the  son 
of  William,  the  first  founder  of  the  family  in  Virginia.  Her  mother 
was  Anne  Gary,  the  daughter  of  Mary  Gary,  who  was  the  daughter 
of  the  first  Richard  of  Curies,  and  the  sister  of  the  second  Richard 
of  Curies,  the  grandfather  of  Richard  her  husband.  This  lady  was 
remarkable  for  her  great  strength  of  mind,  for  her  many  virtues,  and 
high  accomplishments.  Richard  was  regarded  as  the  most  promis- 
ing yoning  man  in  Virginia.  His  talents  were  only  surpassed  by  his 
extraordinary  goodness  of  character. 

Let  his  OWL  grateful  acknowledgments  to  his  father-in-law,  Judge 
Tucker,  speak  for  him.  "  Accept,"  says  he,  "  once  more,  my  beloved 
father,  the  warmest  effusions  of  a  heart  that  knows  but  one  tie  su- 
perior to  that  which  binds  him  to  the  .best  of  parental  friends. 
When  I  look  back  to  those  times  wherein  I  was  occupied  in  forming 
my  mind  for  the  reception  of  professional  knowledge,  and  indeed  to 
whatever  period  of  my  life  I  cast  my  eyes,  something  presents  itself 
to  remind  me  of  the  source  whence  sprung  all  my  present  advanta- 
ges and  happiness.  Something  continually  shows  my  father  to  me 


62  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

in  the  double  light  of  parent  and  friend.  While  1  recognize  all  the 
attention  I  have  received  from  him,  all  the  precepts  inculcated  by 
him ;  while  I  feel  that  if  I  have  any  virtuous  emotions  or  pleasures, 
they  are  all  derived  from  him,  that  to  him  I  owe  whatever  capacity 
I  possess  of  being  useful  in  the  world  I  am  in — while  all  these  re- 
flections are  crowding  into  my  mind,  I  feel  a  sensation  that  all  are 
strangers  to,  who  have  not  known  such  a  friend.  The  feelings  which 
arise  from  a  sense  of  gratitude  for  the  kindness  and  friendship  of 
my  father — the  tender  affection  inspired  by  his  virtues  and  his  love, 
are  as  delightful  to  my  soul,  as  the  knowledge  of  being  obliged  by 
those  we  despise  is  painful  and  oppressive."  A  grateful  heart 
obliged  by  a  worthy  and  belo\  ed  object,  as  Milton  finely  says,  "  by 
owing  oives  not,  but  finds  itself  at  once  indebted  and  discharged." 
And  again : — "  The  time  is  now  at  hand,  when  I  hope  you  will  be 
relieved  from  all  further  anxiety,  and  the  embarrassments  you  have 
too  long  endured  in  the  management  of  our  patrimony ;  when  my 
brother  and  myself  will  take  on  ourselves  our  own  troubles,  and 
when  the  end  of  your  administration  of  our  little  affairs  will  furnish 
the  world  with  one  complete  and  perhaps  solitary  example,  shall  I 
only  say,  of  an  unerring  guardian  of  infant  education  and  property? 
An  example,  I  glory  in  boasting  it,  of  an  adopted  father  surpassing 
in  parental  affection,  and  unremitted  attention  to  his  adopted  chil- 
dren, all  the  real  fathers  who  are  known  to  any  one.  I  can  most 
sincerely  and  truly  declare,  that  in  no  one  moment  of  my  whole  life, 
have  I  ever  felt  the  loss  in  the  least  trifle." 

One  of  the  debts  owing  by  the  father  to  creditors  in  England 
was  a  simple  open  account,  that  might  have  been  easily  avoided,  as 
it  was  not  binding  on  the  estate  devised  to  the  sons.  But  Richard 
wrote  to  Judge  Tucker,  "  I  urge  the  propriety,  indeed  necessity,  of 
paying  the  open  account  which  my  mother  always  said  was  recog- 
nized by  my  father  as  a  true  one,  and  ought  therefore  honestly  to  be 
discharged.  For  myself  I  can  never  bear  the  idea  of  a  just  debt 
due  from  my  father  to  any  one,  remaining  unsatisfied  while  I  have 
property  of  his,  firmly  convinced  as  I  am  that  he  had  no  equitable 
right,  whatever  power  the  law  may  have  given  him,  of  devising  me 
land  or  any  thing  else,  to  the  loss  of  any  of  his  just  creditors,  and 
that  under  this  conviction,  it  will  be  equally  iniquitous  in  me  to  re- 
tain such  property,  suffering  these  just  claims  to  pass  unnoticed." 


RICHARD  RANDOLPH.  63 

.  Nor  did  this  noble-minded  man  stop  here  in  his  high  sense  of 
right  and  justice.  He  again  writes  to  his  late  guardian : — "  With 
regard  to  the  division  of  the  estate,  I  have  only  to  say,  that  I  want 
not  a  single  negro  for  any  other  purpose  than  his  immediate  libera- 
tion. I  consider  every  individual  thus  unshackled  as  the  source  of 
future  generations,  not  to  say  nations  of  freemen ;  and  I  shudder 
when  I  think  that  so  insignificant  an  animal  as  I  am,  is  invested 
with  this  monstrous,  this  horrid  power.  For  the  land  I  care  not  a 
jot.  I  am  ready  to  yield  all  my  claim  to  it.  I  am  ready  to  yield 
Matoax  or  its  profits,  and  all  of  my  Prince  Edward  and  Cumberland 
land,  except  a  bare  support,  rather  than  see  those  wretches  sacrificed 
at  the  shrine  of  unjust  and  lawless  power." 

Richard  was  bred  to  the  profession  of  law,  but  never  could  oe 
induced  to  engage  in  the  practice.  Nothing  but  necessity,  he  de- 
clared, could  overcome  his  disinclination.  It  was  not  the  fatigue  and 
disgust  that  repelled  him  so  much  as  the  chicane  and  low  cunning, 
which  his  observation  led  him  to  conclude  were  the  essential  qualifi- 
cations of  a  county  court  lawyer.  "  What  inducement,"  exclaimed 
he,  "  have  I  to  leave  a  happy  and  comfortable  home  to  search  for 
bustle,  fatigue  and  disappointment  ?  I  have  a  comfortable  subsist- 
ence, which  is  enough  to  make  me  happy." 

The  family  circle  was  composed  of  Richard,  his  wife,  Nancy  the 
sister  of  Mrs.  Randolph,  John  (Theodorick  had  died  in  February, 
1791),  and  Mrs.  Anna  Bland  Dudley  and  her  children.  Mrs.  Dudley 
was  the  daughter  of  Mrs.  Eaton,  the  sister  of  John  Randolph's 
mother.  They  lived  in  North  Carolina.  Her  husband  was  unfortu- 
nate, had  died  and  left  his  family  poor  and  dependent  on  their  friends. 
Richard  went  himself  to  North  Carolina,  brought  Mrs.  Dudley  and 
her  children  to  Virginia,  and  gave  them  an  asylum  under  the  hos- 
pitable roof  of  Bizarre. 

John  did  not  confine  himself  much  to  home  or  business.  He 
kept  up  a  regular  correspondence  with  many  of  his  old  companions ; 
amused  himself  with  his  dog  and  gun,  and  visited  from  place  to  place 
among  his  friends.  As  a  specimen  of  his  wanderings,  we  give  the 
following  memorandum  made  by  himself: 

November,  1795. 
Monday,  30.— Bizarre  to  D.  Meade's. 


(54  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH 

December. 
Tuesday,  1.— Capt.  Murray's. 

3.— Richmond. 
Wednesday,  9.— Petersburg. 
Thursday,  17. — Left  Petersburg  to  Jenito. 
Friday,  18.— To  F.  Archer's  and  D.  Meade's. 
Saturday,  19.— D.  Meade's  to  Bizarre ;  received  letter  from 
Sunday,  20. — Roanoke. 
Sunday,  27.— From  Roanoke  to  Bizarre. 
Tuesday,  29.— To  Roauoke. 
Thursday,  31.— To  Bizarre. 
January,  '96,  New- Year's  day  at  Bizarre. 
Saturday,  2.— To  Major  Eggleston's. 
Sunday,  3.— Colonel  Botts. 
Monday,  4.— Petersburg. 
Friday,  15.— At  Jenito  Bridge. 
Saturday,  16.— At  D.  Meade's. 
Sunday,  17.— At  D.  Meade's. 


CHAPTER   XI V. 

VISIT  TO  CHARLESTON  AND   GEORGIA. 

His  old  friends,  Bryan  and  Rutledge,  had  for  some  time  been  urging 
him  to  pay  them  a  visit.  Bryan  directed  his  letters  to  "  Citizen 
John  Randolph,  of  Cbarlotte  county,  Virginia,"  and  says,  "  I  am 
happy  to  hear  you  are  settled  in  a  healthy  part  of  Virginia,  but  I 
am  almost  inclined  to  think  my  friend  premature  in  settling  so  early, 
as  you  will  in  a  great  measure  be  deprived  of  that  freedom  you  know 
so  well  how  to  enjoy."  He  then  urges  him  to  visit  Georgia.  "You 
will  find  me  on  the  sea-coast,"  says  he,  "  and  as  you  bribe  me  with  a 
pipe,  I  can  promise  in  return  best  Spanish  segars  and  the  best  of  li- 
quors— good  horses,  deer-hunting  in  perfection — good  companions, 
that  is  to  say,  not  merely  bottle  crackers,  Jack,  but  good,  sound,  well- 
informed  Democrats." 

This  long-expected  visit  was  made  in  the  spring  of  1796.  On 
the  back  of  a  letter  received  from  Rutledge,  he  lays  out  the  pro- 
gramme of  his  journey,  with  the  various  distances  and  stages,  from 
Bizarre  to  Charleston ;  then  concludes  the  memorandum  with  these 


VISIT  TO  CHARLESTON  AND  GEORGIA.  (55 

words :  "  Where  I  hope  to  embrace  the  friend  of  my  youth ;  the 
sight  of  whom  will  ten  thousand  times  repay  this  tedious  journey." 

E.  S.  Thomas,  in  his  Reminiscences  of  the  last  Sixty-five  Years, 
printed  at  Hartford,  in  1840,  thus  speaks  of  him:  tt  On  a  bright  sun- 
ny morning,  early  in  February,  1796,  might  have  been  seen  entering 
my  bookstore  in  Charleston,  S.  C.,  a  fine-looking,  florid  complexioned 
old  gentleman,  with  hair  white  as  snow,  which,  contrasted  with  his 
own  complexion,  showed  him  to  have  been  a  free  liver,  or  bon-vivant 
of  the  first  order.  Along  with  him  was  a  tall,  gawky-looking  flaxen- 
haired  stripling,  apparently  of  the  age  from  sixteen  to  eighteen,  with 
a  complexion  of  a  good  parchment  color,  beardless  chin,  and  as  much 
assumed  self-consequence  as  any  two-footed  animal  I  ever  saw.  This 
was  John  Randolph.  I  handed  him  from  the  shelves  volume  after 
volume,  which  he  tumbled  carelessly  over,  and  handed  back  again. 
At  length  he  hit  upon  something  that  struck  his  fancy.  My  eye 
happened  to  be  fixed  upon  his  face  at  the  moment,  and  never  did  I 
witness  so  sudden,  so  perfect  a  change  of  the  human  countenance.  That 
which  before  was  dull  and  heavy,  in  a  moment  became  animated  and 
flushed  with  the  brightest  beams  of  intellect.  He  stepped  up  to  the 
old  gray-headed  gentleman,  and,  giving  him  a  thundering  slap  on 
the  shoulder,  said,  "  Jack,  look  at  this ! !"  I  was  young,  then,  but 
I  never  can  forget  the  thought  that  rushed  upon  my  mind  at  the 
moment,  which  was  that  he  was  the  most  impudent  youth  I  ever  saw. 
He  had  come  to  Charleston  to  attend  the  races.  There  was  then 
living  in  Charleston  a  Scotch  Baronet,  by  the  name  of  Sir  John 
Nesbit,  with  his  younger  brother  Alexander,  of  the  ancient  house  of 
Nesbits,  of  Dean  Hall,  some  fifteen  miles  from  Edinburgh.  Sir  John 
was  a  very  handsome  man,  and  as  l  gallant  gay  Lothario'  as  could 
be  found  in  the  city.  He  and  Randolph  became  intimate,  which  led 
to  a  banter  between  them  for  a  race,  in  which  each  was  to  ride  his 
own  horse.  The  race  came  off  during  the  same  week,  and  Randolph 
won ;  some  of  the  ladies  exclaiming  at  the  time,  <  though  Mr.  Ran- 
dolph had  won  the  race,  Sir  John  had  won  their  hearts.'  This  was 
not  so  much  to  be  wondered  at,  when  you  contrasted  the  elegant 
form  and  graceful  style  of  riding  of  the  Baronet,  with  the  uncouth 
and  awkward  manner  of  his  competitor." 

From  Charleston,  Randolph  pursued  his  journey  into  Georgia, 
and  spent  several  months  with  his  friend  Bryan. 


66  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

"We  cannot  doubt  that  these  young  men  enjoyed  themselves  in 
the  manner  that  young  men  usually  enjoy  themselves  on  such  occa- 
sions. Bryan,  in  his  subsequent  letters,  frequently  alludes  to  some 
amusing  incident  that  occurred  during  the  sojourn  of  his  friend  in 
Georgia.  "  My  eldest  brother,"  says  he,  "  still  bears  a  friendly  re- 
membrance of  the  rum  ducking  you  gave  him." 

But  the  all-absorbing  subject  in  Georgia,  at  the  time  of  Eandolph's 
visit,  was  the  Yazoo  question. 

On  the  7th  day  of  February,  1795,  the  Legislature  of  Georgia 
passed  an  act  authorizing  the  sale  of  four  tracts  of  land,  therein 
described,  and  comprehending  the  greater  part  of  the  country  west  of 
the  Alabama  river,  to  four  companies,  called  the  Georgia,  the  Georgia 
Mississippi,  the  Upper  Mississippi,  and  the  Tennessean  Companies, 
for  which  they  were  to  pay  five  hundred  thousand  dollars.  The  land 
contained  within  the  boundaries  of  the  several  companies  was  esti- 
mated by  the  claimants  at  forty  millions  of  acres.  The  sale  of  a 
country  so  extensive,  for  a  sum  so  far  below  its  value,  excited  imme- 
diate and  universal  indignation  in  the  State  of  Georgia.  The  mo- 
tives of  the  Legislature  were  questioned  and  examined.  Their  cor- 
ruption was  established  on  the  most  indisputable  evidence.  Up- 
wards of  sixty-four  depositions  were  taken,  that  developed  a  scene  of 
villany  and  swindling  unparalleled  in  the  history  of  any  country. 
On  comparing  a  list  of  the  names  of  the  companies  with  the  names 
of  the  persons  who  voted  for  the  land,  it  appeared  that  all  the  mem- 
bers in  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  Georgia,  who 
voted  in  favor  of  the  law,  were,  with  one  single  exception,  interested 
in  and  parties  to  the  purchase.  Every  member  who  voted  for  the 
law  received  either  money  or  land  for  his  vote.  The  guardians  of 
the  rights  of  the  people  united  with  swindlers,  defrauded  their  con- 
stituents, sold  their  votes,  betrayed  the  delegated  trust  reposed  in 
them,  and  basely  divided  among  themselves  the  lands  of  the  people 
of  Georgia.  This  flagrant  abuse  of  power,  this  enormous  act  of  cor- 
ruption, was  viewed  with  abhorrence  by  every  honest  man.  The  press 
through  the  country  burst  out  in  a  blaze  of  indignation.  All  the 
grand  juries  of  the  State  (except  in  two  counties,  where  there  were 
corrupt  majorities  of  Yazoo  men,)  presented  this  law  as  a  public 
robbery,  and  a  deliberate  fraud.  The  Convention  which  met  in  the 
dontb  •-•••  May,  1795,  at  Louisville,  was  crowded  with  petitions  from 


VISIT  TO  CHARLESTON  AND  GEORGIA.  (57 

every  part  of  the  State,  -which,  by  an  order  of  the  Convention,  was 
referred  to  the  succeeding  Legislature.  This  Legislature  was 
elected  solely  with  reference  to  that  question.  Repeal  or  no  repeal, 
Yazoo  and  anti-Yazoo,  was  the  only  subject  canvassed  before  the 
people.  On  the  30th  of  January,  1796,  an  act  was  passed,  with  only 
three  dissenting  voices,  declaring  the  usurped  act  of  February,  1795, 
void,  and  expunging  the  same  from  the  public  records.  At  a  sub- 
sequent period,  this  expunging  act  was  engrafted  on  the  Constitu- 
tion, and  made  a  fundamental  law  of  the  land. 

Randolph  arrived  in  Georgia  in  the  midst  of  this  excitement,  and 
shared  with  his  friends  their  indignation  at  that  flagrant  act  of  cor- 
ruption on  the  part  of  the  agents  of  the  people.  The  famous  Yazoo 
claim,  which  afterwards  made  such  a  noise  in  Congress,  was  preferred 
by  the  New  England  Mississippi  Land  Company,  to  recover  from 
Congress  the  value  of  the  lands  thus  fraudulently  obtained.  It  was 
in  opposition  to  this  application,  that  Randolph  immortalized  himself 
in  speeches  that  will  stand  the  test  of  time,  and  of  criticism  the 
severest  scrutiny.  It  was  among  those  who  had  been  betrayed,  in 
the  midst  of  the  people  who  were  burning  with  shame  at  the  insult 
and  indignity  offered  them,  that  he  caught  the  fire  of  inspiration  that 
winged  his  words  with  such  a  withering  power  as  to  drive  from  the 
halls  of  Congress  for  more  than  ten  years,  so  long  as  he  had  a  seat 
there,  all  those  who  were  interested  in  the  nefarious  scheme. 

John  Randolph  returned  from  this  visit  of  friendship,  and  arrived 
in  Virginia  about  the  first  of  July.  He  was  destined  to  experience 
a  shock  such  as  he  had  never  felt  before.  His  brother  Richard  died 
the  14th  of  June,  on  Tuesday,  about  4  o'clock  in  the  morning;  such 
was  the  minute  record  made  of  it  himself.  This  sudden  and  unex- 
pected calamity  crushed  him  down. 

Next  to  the  death  of  his  mother  this  was  the  severest  blow  he  had 
ever  received.  His  mother  died  when  he  was  a  child.  Though 
mournful,  yet  sweet  was  the  memory  of  her  image,  associated  with 
those  days  of  innocence  and  brightness.  •  But  the  strong  bonds  of 
fraternal  affection  in  grown  up  men,  were  now  torn  asunder ;  the 
much  prized  treasure  of  a  brother's  love  is  suddenly  taken  from  him, 
leaving  no  pleasant  memories  to  soothe  the  pain  of  so  deep  a  wound. 
His  best  friend  and  counsellor,  the  first  born  of  his  father's  house, 
its  pride,  and  cherished  representative,  hurried  away  in  his  absence 
6 


63  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH 

to  an  untimely  grave — lie  not  present  to  receive  his  last  breath,  and 
to  close  bis  lifeless  eyes.  He  never  recovered  from  this  stroke.  The 
anguish  of  his  heart  was  as  fresh  on  the  fiftieth  anniversary  of  the 
birthday  of  that  brother,  as  when  first  he  experienced  the  desola- 
tion made  in  the  domestic  circle  at  Bizarre  by  the  hand  of  death. 
How  touching  is  the  following  simple  note  addressed  to  his  brother, 
Henry  St.  George  Tucker,  many,  many  years  after  this  sad  event ! 
"Dear  Henry: — Our  poor  brother  Richard  was  born  1770.  He 
would  have  been  fifty-six  years  old  on  the  9th  of  this  month.  I  can 
no  more.  J.  R.  of  R."  In  the  deep  solitude  of  his  heart,  the  only 
green  spot  was  the  memory  of  the  days  of  his  youth. 

Few  events  exerted  a  greater  influence  over  the  mind  and  charac- 
ter of  John  Randolph  than  the  death,  the  untimely  and  sudden 
death,  of  his  brother.  Richard,  as  we  have  said,  was  the  most  pro- 
mising man  in  Virginia.  John  Thompson,  himself  a  man  of  brilliant 
genius,  nipped  also  in  the  blooming,  thus  writes :  "  Grief  like  yours, 
my  dear  friend,  is  not  to  be  alleviated  by  letters  of  condolence.  The 
anguish  of  hearts  like  yours  cannot  be  mitigated  by  the  maxims  of 
an  unfeeling  and  unnatural  philosophy.  Let  such  consolation  be 
administered  to  the  insensible  being,  who  mourns  without  sorrow, 
whose  tears  fall  from  a  sense  of  decorum,  and  whose  melancholy 
ceases  the  instant  fashion  permits.  Let  some  obdurate  moralist  in- 
struct this  selfish  being,  that  the  death  of  a  friend  is  not  a  misfortune, 
and  that  sensibility  is  weakness.  Nothing  but  sympathy  ought  to 
be  offered  to  you.  Accept  that  offering  from  one  of  your  sincerest 
friends.  My  heart  was  long  divided  between  you  and  your  brother. 
His  death  has  left  a  void  which  you  will  occupy.  I  will  fondly  cher 
ish  his  memory.  Painful  as  the  retrospect  is,  I  will  often  contem- 
plate Ids  virtues  and  his  talents.  '  Never  shall  I  perform  that  holy 
exercise  without  feeling  new  virtue  infused  into  my  soul.  To  you  I 
will  give  that  friendship,  of  which  he  can  no  longer  be  sensible. 
Take  it,  and  return  it  if  you  can.  I  cannot  write  your  brother's  eulo- 
gium.  Although  his  fame  was  only  in  the  dawn,  although  like  a  me- 
teor he  perished  as  soon  as  he  began  to  dazzle,  I  cannot  sound  his 
praise.  His  life  would  be  a  pathetic  tale  of  persecuted  genius  and 
oppressed  innocence.  The  fictions  of  romance  cannot  present  so  af- 
fecting a  story.  When  his  country  was  preparing  to  do  him  ample 
justice,  and  to  recompense  his  sufferings  by  her  warmest  admiration, 


AT  HOME.  39 

Death  marked  him  for  his  victim.  Modern  degeneracy  had  not 
reached  him. 

"  Nervous  eloquence  and  dauntless  courage  fitted  him  to  save  his 
sinking  country.  He  has  left  no  memorial  of  his  talents  behind. 
He  was  born  to  enlighten  posterity,  but  posterity  will  not  hear  of 
him. 

"  0  Providence,  thy  dispensations  are  dark  !  We  cannot  compre- 
hend them  !  His  amiable  wife,  his  children — but  here  my  heart  be- 
gins to  bleed — I  cannot  go  on." 


CHAPTER    XY. 

AT  HOME. 

JOHN  RANDOLPH,  now  became  the  head  of  a  large  household,  was 
suddenly  thrown  into  a  position  of  great  responsibility.  His  own 
estate  was  very  large ;  so  was  his  brother's — and  both  were  heavily 
encumbered  with  a  British  debt,  contracted  by  the  father  many  years 

before. 

9  • 

Richard  liberated  his  slaves.  This  was  a  mark  of  his  great  be- 
nevolence of  feeling  and  nobleness  of  character.  But  it  proved  irs 
the  end  to  be  a  mistaken  philanthropy.  Left  in  the  country  where 
they  had  been  slaves,  those  negroes  soon  became  idle  and  profligate 
vagabonds  and  thieves ;  a  burthen  to  themselves,  and  a  pest  to  the 
neighborhood.  The  family  at  Bizarre  consisted  of  Mrs.  Randolph, 
her  two  infant  children,  St.  George  and  Tudor,  Mrs.  Dudley  and  her 
children,  Nancy  and  John  Randolph.  For  nearly  fifteen  years,  till 
Bizarre  was  destroyed  by  fire,  he  continued  at  the  head  of  the  house- 
hold. Though  twenty-three  years  of  age  at  the  death  of  his  brother, 
he  had  the  appearance  of  a  youth  of  sixteen,  and  was  not  grown.  He 
grew  a  full  head  taller  after  this  period. 

His  extreme  sensibility  had  been  deeply  touched— the  quick 
irritability  of  his  temper  exasperated  by  the  tragic  events  of  his 
family.  A  father's  face  he  had  never  seen,  save  what  his  lively  ima- 
gination would  picture  to  itself  from  the  lines  of  a  miniature  likeness 
which  he  always  wore  in  his  bosom.  The  fond  caresses  of  a  tender 


70  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

mother,  who  alone  kneiv  him,  were  torn  from  him  in  his  childhood 
The  second  brother  had  died  in  his  youth  ;  and  now  the  oldest,  the 
best,  the  pride  and  hope  of  the  family,  after  years  of  suffering  and 
persecution,  just  as  he  had  triumphed  over  calumny  and  oppression, 
was  suddenly  called  away.  We  may  well  imagine  how  deep,  how 
poignant  was  his  grief,  when  thirty  years  thereafter,  in  the  solitude 
of  his  hermitage  at  Roanoke,  his  lively  fancy  brought  back  those 
early  scenes  with  all  the  freshness  of  recent  events,  and  caused  him 
to  exclaim  with  the  Indian  Chief,  who  had  been  deprived  of  all  his 
children  by  the  white  man's  hand — "  Not  a  drop  of  Logan's  blood — 
father's  blood  except  St.  George,  the  most  bereaved  and  pitiable-  of 
the  step-sons  of  nature  1" 

His  room  at  Bizarre  was  immediately  under  the  chamber  of 
Mrs.  Dudley.  She  never  waked  in  the  night  that  she  did  not  hear 
him  moving  about,  sometimes  striding  across  the  floor,  and  exclaim- 
ing, "  Macbeth  hath  murdered  sleep !  Macbeth  hath  murdered 
sleep  !"  She  has  known  him  to  have  his  horse  saddled  in  the  dead 
of  night,  and  ride  over  the  plantation  with  loaded  pistols. 

His  natural  temper  became  more  repulsive  ;  he  had  no  confiden- 
tial friend,  nor  would  any  tie,  however  sacred,  excuse  inquiry.  Why 
should  it  ?  for  who  can  minister  to  a  mind  diseased,  or  pluck  from 
the  heart  its  rooted  sorrow  ?  Why  then  expose,  even  to  friendship's 
eye,  the  lacerated  wounds  that  no  balm  can  cure  ? 

He  grew  more  restless  than  ever,  though  his  home  had  every 
external  arrangement  to  make  it  agreeable.  Hear  him  describe  it : 
"Mrs,  Randolph,  of  Bizarre,  my  brother's  widow,  was,  beyond  all 
comparison,  the  nicest  and  best  housewife  that  I  ever  saw.  Not  one 
drop  of  water  was  ever  suffered  to  stand  on  her  sideboard,  except 
what  was  in  the  pitcher ;  the  house,  from  cellar  to  garret,  and  in 
every  part,  as  clean  as  hands  could  make  it ;  and  every  thing  as  it 
should  be  to  suit  even  my  fastidious  taste.  Never  did  I  see  or 
smell  any  thing  to  offend  my  senses,  or  my  imagination."  Those 
who  lived  there  had  been  taught  in  the  school  of  affliction.  Chas- 
tened and  subdued  by  their  own  sorrows,  they  had  learned  to  feel 
for  the  misfortunes  of  others.  That  home,  which  could  not  fill  the 
aching  void  of  its  youthful  master's  heart,  or  soothe  the  earnest 
longings  of  his  wounded  soul,  was  made  the  delightful  retreat  and 


AT  HOME.  71 

asylum  of  the  distressed  and  the  unfortunate.  There  could  they 
find  sympathy  and  encouragement. 

To  escape  from  the  burden  and  pain  of  his  own  thoughts,  John 
Kaudolph  often  fled  to  his  friends  in  distant  parts  of  the  country. 
For  the  next  three  years  he  was  frequently  found  at  the  residence 
of  his  father-in-law,  in  Williamsburg.  He  often  visited  Mr.  Wick- 
ham,  who  lived  in  the  same  city.  That  gentleman  had  taken  a  great 
liking  to  him.  He  was  the  agent  of  the  British  creditors,  who  held 
a  mortgage  on  the  Randolph  estates.  His  forbearance  and  indulgence 
were  highly  appreciated  by  him  on  whom  the  whole  burthen  of  pay- 
ment had  now  fallen.  He  returned  this  act  of  kindness  by  an  ardent 
affection  for  the  man,  and  a  high  admiration  of  his  character.  He 
has  said,  "  John  Wickham  was  my  best  of  friends  without  making 
any  professions  of  friendship  for  me  ;  and  the  best  and  wisest  man  I 
ever  knew  except  Mr.  Macon." 

When  interrogated  by  Mr.  Wickham  as  to  what  he  had  been  do- 
ing, Governor  Tazewell,  who  was  his  youthful  companion  on  those 
visits,  says  his  answer  was — Nothing,  sir,  tiothing  !  Yet  ho  showed 
that  he  had  been  reading,  and  that  he  had  digested  well  what  he  had 
read.  The  conversation  was  generally  on  the  politics  of  the  day — 
the  French  Revolution,  and  Burke,  which  was  his  political  Bible. 

That  he  pursued  no  systematic  course  of  reading  at  this  time  is 
certain.  Mrs.  Dudley  says  his  habits  of  study  one  could  not  ascer- 
tain, as  he  was  never  long  enough  in  one  place  to  study  much.  She 
has  frequently  heard  him  lament  that  he  was  fond  of  ligM  reading — 
has  known  him  to  seat  himself  by  the  candle,  where  she  and  Mrs. 
Randolph  were  knitting,  turn  over  the  leaves  of  a  book  carelessly,  like 
a  child,  without  seeming  to  read,  and  then  lay  it  down  and  tell  more 
about  it  than  those  who  had  studied  it.  He  had  a  fine  taste  for  mu- 
sic, but  it  was  uncultivated.  "  I  inherited  from  your  grandmother," 
says  he,  writing  to  his  niece,  Mrs.  Bryan,  "  an  exquisite  ear,  which 
has  never  received  the  slightest  cultivation.  This  is  owing  in  a  great 
measure  to  the  low  estimate  that  I  saw  the  fiddling,  piping  gentry 
held  in  when  I  was  young ;  but  partly  to  the  torture  that  my  poor 
brother  used  to  inflict  upon  me,  when  essaying  to  learn  to  play  upon 
the  violin,  now  about  forty  years  ago,  I  have  a  taste  for  painting, 
but  never  attempted  drawing.  I  had  read  a  great  deal  upon  it  and 
had  seen  a  few  good  picturas  before  I  went  to  England  :  there  I  as- 


72  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

tonished  some  of  their  connoisseurs  as  much  by  the  facility  with 
which  I  pointed  out  the  hand  of  a  particular  master,  without  refer- 
ence to  the  catalogue  (I  never  mistook  the  hand  of  Yan  Dyke — I 
had  seen  specimens  of  his  and  Reuben's  pencil,  and  some  other  great 
masters,  at  Mr.  Geo.  Calvert's,  near  Bladensburg — they  were  since 
sold  in  Europe),  as  by  my  exact  knowledge  of  the  geography^  topo- 
graphy and  statistics  of  the  country. 

"  For  poetry  I  have  had  a  decided  taste  from  my  childhood,  yet 
never  attempted  to  write  one  line  of  it.  This  taste  I  have  sedulously 
cultivated.  I  believe  that  I  was  deterred  from  attempting  poetry  by 
the  verses  of  Billy  Mumford,  and  some  other  taggers  of  rhyme, 
which  I  heard  praised  (I  allude  to  epistles  in  verse,  written  at  12  or 
13  years  old),  but  secretly  in  my  heart  despised.  I  also  remember 
to  have  heard  some  poetry  of  Lord  Chatham  and  of  Mr.  Fox,  which 
I  thought  then,  and  still  think,  to  be  unworthy  of  their  illustrious 
names — and  before  Horace  had  taught  me  that  '  neither  gods,  nor 
men,  nor  booksellers'  stalls  could  endure  middling  poetry,'  I  thought 
none  but  an  inspired  pen  should  attempt  the  task." 

Among  the  youthful  companions  that  he  most  valued  and  cher- 
ished about  this  time,  were  John  Thompson,  the  author  of  the  letter 
in  a  preceding  chapter,  and  his  brother  William  Thompson.  The 
following  is  a  memorandum  in  his  own  handwriting,  and  found  among 
his  papers  :  "  John  Thompson,  Jr..  son  of  John  and  Anne  Thomp- 
son, of  Sussex,  born  3d  Nov.  1776,  died  25th  January,  1799.  He 
was  the  author  of  Graccus,  Cassius,  Curtius,  written  on  the  subject 
of  American  politics — speak  tJiey  for  him,"  And  surely  for  one  of 
his  age  they  were  remarkable  productions,  especially  the  latter  ad- 
dressed to  General  Marshall,  afterwards  Chief  Justice,  then  a  can- 
didate for  Congress  on  the  Federal  side  of  politics.  William  Thomp- 
son was  born  the  20th  of  August,  1778.  In  the  year  1798  he  and 
his  friend  John  Randolph  undertook  a  pedestrian  tour  to  the  Moun- 
tains, to  visit  Richard  Kidder  Meade,  a  relation  of  the  latter.  They 
started  from  Bizarre,  each  with  a  small  bundle  on  a  cane.  Mrs. 
Dudley  was  an  eye-witness  of  their  departure  and  of  their  return. 
She  was  informed  that  they  performed  the  whole  journey  on  foot 
They  both  returned  in  fine  health  and  spirits.  Soon  after  this 
Thompson  went  to  Europe,  wandered  over  Germany,  studied  medi- 
cine, then  abandoned  it  for  the  law,  returned  to  Virginia,  went  on 


CANDIDATE  FOR  CONGRESS.  73 

*bot  to  Canada  in  the  fall  of  1801.  Having  squandered  his  patri- 
mony, falling  into  dissipated  habits,  with  a  genius  equally  as  brilliant 
though  far  more  eccentric  than  his  deceased  brother,  he  was  rapidly 
throwing  away  the  great  gifts  of  nature,  and  sinking  into  a  hopeless 
vagabond  and  outcast,  when  his  friend  Randolph  took  him  by  the  hand, 
brought  him  to  Bizarre,  made  it  his  home,  encouraged  him,  and  cher- 
ished him  with  the  affection  of  a  brother  so  long  as  he  could  be  per- 
suaded to  remain  in  Virginia.  With  him  hereafter  the  reader  will  be- 
come more  intimately  acquainted.  Writing  from  Bizarre  to  Randolph, 
in  his  absence,  he  says :  '•  My  dear  brother — Since  you  left  us  I  have 
been  deeply  engaged  in  what  you  advised.  I  have  reviewed  the  Ro- 
man and  the  Grecian  History.  I  have  done  more;  I  have  reviewed 
my  own.  Believe  me,  Jack,  that  I  am  less  calculated  for  society  than 
almost  any  man  in  existence.  I  am  not.  perhaps,  a  vain  fool,  but  I 
have  too  much  vanity,  and  I  am  too  susceptible  of  flattery.  I  have 
that  fluency  which  will  attract  attention  and  receive  applause  from  an 
unthinking  multitude.  Content  with  my  superiority,  I  should  be 
too  indolent  to  acquire  real,  useful  knowledge.  I  am  stimulated  by 
gratitude,  by  friendship,  and  by  love,  to  make  exertions  now.  I  feel 
confident  that  you  will  view  my  foibles  with  a  lenient  eye — that  you 
vdll  see  me  prosper,  and  in  my  progress  be  delighted." 


CHAPTER   XVI. 

CANDIDATE  FOR  CONGRESS — HISTORY  OF  THE  TIMES. 

WE  have  now  approached  an  important  period  in  the  life  of  John 
Randolph.  In  the  winter  of  1799,  in  the  twenty-sixth  year  of  his 
age,  he  was  announced  as  a  candidate  for  Congress  in  the  district 
which  afterwards  became  so  celebrated  as  the  Charlotte  district. 

John  Thompson,  writing  to  his  brother,  then  in  Europe,  says, 
"  Our  friend  John  Randolph  offers  for  Congress,  and  will  probably 
be  elected.  He  is  a  brilliant  and  noble  young  man.  He  will  be  an 
object  of  admiration  and  terror  to  the  enemies  of  liberty."  In  1 831, 
in  the  last  political  speech  he  ever  made,  he  is  reported  to  have  said 


74  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

that  when  he  commenced  his  political  career  he  had  waged  a  warfare, 
remarkable  for  its  fierceness — he  had  almost  said  for  its  ferocity — 
against  certain  principles,  and  those  who  advocated  them.  When  he 
drew  his  sword  to  carry  on  that  warfare,  he  had  thrown  away  the 
scabbard,  and  as  he  never  asked  for  quarter,  so  he  did  not  always 
give  it.  It  becomes  necessary,  therefore,  in  order  to  understand  his 
position,  to  give  a  brief  and  general  outline  of  the  most  important 
events  which  had  occurred  up  to  the  time  that  he  made  his  appear- 
ance on  the  political  stage.  We  have  already  seen  that  the  source  of 
party  division  is  to  be  traced  to  the  Federal  Convention ;  that  those 
elements  of  discord  which  have  continued  to  agitate  the  country 
up  to  this  day,  had  their  birth  in  the  cradle  of  the  Constitution. 
Patrick  Henry  and  George  Mason  were  the  fathers  of  the  doctrine 
of  States-rights.  At  a  subsequent  period,  under  the  auspices  of 
Thomas  Jefferson,  those  doctrines  were  digested  into  the  canon  of  a 
regularly  organized  party  that  exerted  a  powerful  influence  on  the 
administration  of  government.  The  difference  between  the  two  par- 
ties, Federalist  and  Republican,  as  they  respectively  called  them- 
selves at  that  time,  was  not  confined  to  the  interpretation  of  the 
Constitution. 

While  the  one  desired  and  the  other  deprecated  a  strong  govern- 
ment, the  spirit  that  inclined  them  to  bend  that  instrument  to  their 
wishes,  is  to  be  found  in  the  mental  and  moral  organization  of  the  men 
themselves.  Those  who  doubted  the  capacity  of  the  people  for  self- 
government  (and  there  were  many  at  that  time  when  our  experiment 
was  untried),  and  believed  that  the  only  efficient  control  was  to  be 
found  in  a  strong  government  in  the  hands  of  the  rich  and  well  born, 
naturally  inclined  to  an  interpretation  that  would  authorize  such 
measures  as  might  bring  about  such  a  state  of  things.  Those,  on  the 
other  hand,  who  had  full  faith  in  the  capacity  of  the  people,  corn- 
batted  every  doctrine  which  in  their  judgment  tended  to  steal  power 
from  the  many  and  place  it  in  the  hands  of  the  few.  This  radical 
difference  of  sentiment,  which  originated  in  natural  temperament, 
and  was  modified  by  education  and  position  in  society,  influenced  the 
judgment  in  its  interpretation  of  every  measure  of  government,  and 
men  inclined  to  the  one  or  the  other  side,  according  as  they  believed 
the  measure  originated  in  the  one  or  the  other  doctrine  above  men- 
tioned. The  Republicans  accused  the  other  party  of  being  mon- 


HISTORY  OF  THE  TIMES.  75 

arcliists  in  principle,  and  of  a  design  so  to  shape  the  administration 
of  affairs,  that  in  time  the  government  might  assume  that  form. 

The  Republicans  again  were  charged  by  their  opponents  with 
being  disorganizing  levellers,  and  the  enemies  of  all  government. 
The  first  great  questions  on  which  they  divided  were  the  financial 
schemes  of  Alexander  Hamilton,  then  Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 
With  these  the  reader  has  already  been  made  acquainted.  The 
legislative  measures  enacted  from  time  to  time  to  carry  them  into 
effect,  finally  brought  on  a  crisis  in  the  whisky  insurrection,  as  it  was 
called,  when  the  people  in  the  western  counties  of  Pennsylvania,  by 
armed  force,  resisted  the  execution  of  the  excise  law.  The  Federal- 
ists were  accused  of  goading  on  this  rebellion,  that  they  might  have 
a  pretext  to  raise  a  standing  army,  to  be  used  as  an  instrument  for 
forcing  their  schemes  on  the  country.  The  Republicans  were  charged 
with  promoting  discontent  and  insurrection,  that  they  might  destroy 
all  government.  Unhappily,  neither  party  gave  the  other  credit  for 
honesty  or  patriotism ;  and  the  people,  in  the  heat  of  the  contest, 
were  well  nigh  driven,  in  blindness  and  in  rage,  on  the  bayonets  of 
each  other.  The  occasion,  however,  passed  away  without  serious  dif- 
ficulty ;  but  the  bitter  and  hostile  feelings  engendered  by  so  violent  a 
contest  still  remained,  and  were  ready  to  expand  themselves  with 
increased  fury  on  any  other  occasion  that  might  arise. 

In  the  mean  time  the  French  Revolution  had  made  rapid  pro 
gress.  When  the  news  of  that  event  was  first  wafted  across  the 
Atlantic,  it  was  hailed  with  acclamation  as  the  effort  of  a  great  nation 
to  shake  off  the  yoke  of  despotism,  and  to  assume  their  position 
among  people  with  a  free  and  enlightened  government.  The  events 
of  a  single  year  led  many  to  doubt  the  success  of  the  experiment, 
and  to  predict  that  the  whole  would  end  in  anarchy.  Among  the 
prophets  of  evil  omen  was  Edmund  Burke,  the  great  master  of 
political  philosophy.  We  have  already  seen  how  his  great  work  was 
seized  upon  by  the  Federalists  as  the  ablest  expounder  of  their 
general  doctrines,  and  of  their  views  in  particular  in  regard  to  the 
tendency  of  the  principles  of  the  French  Revolution.  This  was 
io  throw  the  other  party  to  the  other  extreme :  for  true  it  is  that  the 
great  masses  are  more  influenced  by  impulses  of  the  heart,  than  the 
judgments  of  the  understanding.  Paine's  "  Rights  of  Man  "  was  set 
forth  as  the  exponent  of  the  doctrines  of  the  Republicans.  Burke, 


76  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

in  his  spirit  of  conservatism,  pronounced  a  glowing  eulogy  on  the 
British  Constitution.  Paine  denounced  it  as  the  instrument  of  op- 
pression and  tyranny.  It  is  easy  to  perceive  the  bias  in  the  minds 
of  those  who  took  Burke  and  those  who  took  Paine  as  their  standard 
of  orthodoxy.  When  these  great  masters  wrote,  the  monarchy  in 
France  was  still  in  existence.  It  was  soon  overturned,  and  a  repub- 
lic, one  and  indivisible,  proclaimed  in  its  stead.  This  event,  more 
than  any  thing  that  had  transpired  before,  stirred  up  the  elements  of 
party-strife  in  the  United  States.  Free  and  republican  themselves, 
the  American  people  did  not  pause  on  the  horrors  that  were  perpe- 
trated, did  not  consider  the  consequences  of  the  doctrines  that  were 
brought  into  practice  by  the  rash  theorists  of  France ;  they  only  saw 
a  great  people,  taking  themselves  as  a  model,  struggling  for  their 
independence.  Their  sympathies  were  awakened,  and  all  their  feel- 
ings enlisted  in  behalf  of  the  republican  cause  in  France.  Those 
who  paused — those  who  suggested  a  doubt — were  denounced  as  ene- 
mies of  the  people.  The  deep  enthusiasm  of  a  free  people  in  favor 
of  those  who,  however  erroneous,  were,  like  themselves,  seeking  free- 
dom, did  more  than  any  other  cause  to  build  up  the  Republican  party 
in  America.  The  cautions  of  a  cold  judgment,  however  true,  cannot 
weigh  against  the  generous  impulses  of  a  warm  heart.  What  is  true 
of  individuals  in  this  particular,  is  ten  thousand  times  more  true  of 
the  multitude. 

But  the  elastic  spirit  of  freedom  could  not  be  restrained  within 
the  limits  of  France.  It  began  to  spread  to  other  kingdoms,  and  to 
alarm,  by  its  rapid  diffusion,  the  monarchs  of  Europe.  They  com- 
bined to  suppress  what  they  called  the  French  evil.  England  was  at 
the  head  of  the  coalition.  A  furious  war  commenced — a  desperate 
death-struggle  for  existence.  One  or  the  other  must  be  crushed  and 
destroyed.  Republicanism  and  monarchy  could  not  exist  together 
on  the  same  continent.  All  the  deep  passions  of  the  human  heart 
were  aroused — all  the  elements  of  destruction  brought  into  active 
operation.  It  was  a  war  of  Titans,  and  nature  groaned  under  the 
mighty  toils  of  her  warring  sons.  There  could  be  no  neutrality  in 
*uch  a  contest.  Their  wide-sweeping  arms  drew  in,  as  instruments 
or  agents  of  strife,  the  remotest  nations.  America,  though  remote, 
could  not  hope  to  escape. 

Her  position  was  too  conspicuous — her  example  in  producing  the 


HISTORY  OF  THE  TIMES.  77 

present  state  of  things  in  France  too  well  known  for  her  to  escape. 
England  sought  to  drag  her  into  the  contest  on  the  side  of  the  allies. 
France  stretched  forth  her  arms  to  embrace  her  ancient  ally,  and  to 
stand  by  her  side  on  the  hills  of  Ardenne  in  the  same  cause  that  had 
seen  them  side  by  side  on  the  plains  of  Yorktown. 

The  true  policy  of  the  United  States  was  to  pursue  a  line  of 
strict  neutrality.  In  accordance  with  the  unanimous  vote  of  his 
cabinet,  Thomas  Jefferson  at  the  head  as  Secretary  of  State,  General 
Washington  issued  his  proclamation,  April  22d,  1793,  declaring  that 
a  state  of  war  exists  between  Austria,  Prussia,  Sardinia,  Great  Britain, 
and  the  United  Netherlands,  on  the  one  part,  and  France  on  the  other ; 
and  that  the  duty  and  interest  of  the  United  States  require  that  they 
should  with  sincerity  and  good  faith  adopt  and  pursue  a  conduct 
friendly  and  impartial  toward  the  belligerent  powers.  The  citizerj 
of  the  United  States  at  the  same  time  were  warned  carefully  to  avoid 
all  acts  and  proceedings  whatsoever,  which  might  in  any  manner  tend 
to  contravene  such  disposition.  It  was  impossible,  however,  to  repress 
the  enthusiasm  of  the  people  in  favor  of  the  French  cause.  When 
their  minister  landed  at  Charleston,  about  the  time  of  the  above 
proclamation,  he  was  marched  in  triumph  through  the  Southern 
States  and  principal  towns  to  the  capitol  at  Philadelphia.  Pre- 
suming on  certain  privileges  which  he  assumed  to  have  been  granted 
to  France  in  her  treaty  of  alliance  with  the  United  States,  1778, — 
emboldened  by  the  ardent  devotion  of  the  people  to  the  cause  of 
liberty,  so  eagerly  manifested  towards  himself  as  the  representative 
of  a  sister  republic,  he  soon  threw  off  all  restraint,  treated  the  gov- 
ernment with  contempt,  and  assumed  acts  of  sovereignty  not  only 
inconsistent  with  our  rights  of  neutrality,  but  our  existence  as  an 
independent  and  respectable  nation.  This  conduct  led  to  corres 
pondence,  remonstrance,  and  irritation  on  both  sides. 

Great  Britain  at  all  times  doubted  the  sincerity  of  our  declaration 
of  impartiality,  and  treated  with  the  utmost  contempt  our  rights  of 
neutrality.  Her  naval  officers  insulted  and  menaced  us  in  our  own 
ports — violated  our  national  rights,  by  searching  vessels  and  impress- 
ing seamen  within  our  acknowledged  jurisdiction,  and  in  an  outrage- 
ous manner  seizing  entire  crews  in  the  West  Indies,  and  other  parts 
of  the  world.  Her  licensed  privateers  committed  the  most  atrocious 
depredations  and  violences  on  our  commerce,  both  in  the  capture  and 


78  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

in  the  after-adjudication,  such  as  were  never  tolerated  in  any  well 
organized  and  efficient  government.  The  Governor  of  Upper  Canada, 
in  an  official  and  formal  manner,  ordered  settlers  within  our  own 
territory,  and  far  removed  from  the  posts  they  had  unjustly  withheld 
from  us,  to  withdraw,  and  forbade  others  to  settle  on  the  same.  The 
persons  to  whom  their  Indian  affairs  were  intrusted  took  unusual 
pains  and  practised  every  deception  to  keep  those  people  in  a  temper 
of  hostility  towards  us. 

The  agents  sent  amongst  us,  as  with  a  design  to  insult  the  coun- 
try, were  ungracious  and  obnoxious  characters,  rancorous  refugees, 
who  retaining  all  their  former  enmity,  could  see  nothing  through  a 
proper  medium,  and  were  the  source  of  constant  misrepresentation 
and  falsehood.  The  government  were  encouraged  to  permit  all  these 
outrages,  because  they  were  told  there  was  a  British  party  in  Amer 
ica  that  would  not  suffer  the  country  to  be  involved  in  a  war  with 
England. 

France,  seeing  with  what  boldness  and  impunity  England  com- 
mitted her  depredations,  was  not  slow  in  doing  the  same.  She 
avowed  her  purpose,  and  fulfilled  it  to  the  letter,  of  treating  us  in  the 
same  manner  we  permitted  her  enemies  to  treat  us.  Such  was  the 
deplorable  condition  of  things  within  one  year  from  the  proclamation 
of  neutrality.  As  the  last  resort,  willing  to  exhaust  all  the  means  of 
conciliation  before  a  declaration  of  war,  the  administration,  on  the 
19th  of  April,  1794,  commissioned  John  Jay  as  minister  extraordi- 
nary to  the  court  of  London,  with  instructions  to  demand  redress  for 
our  grievances,  and  if  occasion  suited,  to  negotiate  a  treaty  of  amity 
and  commerce.  A  few  weeks  thereafter,  the  28th  of  May,  James 
Monroe  was  sent  as  minister  plenipotentiary  to  the  French  govern- 
ment, with  similar  instructions.  The  occasion  was  most  favorable  for 
a  negotiation  with  England.  The  campaign  of  1793-4  proved  disas- 
trous to  the  allied  powers.  The  coalition  was  dissolved.  The  hot 
lava  fires  France  poured  forth  from  her  volcanic  bosom  consumed  hep 
enemies.  The  star  of  the  republic  was  in  the  ascendant.  At  such  a 
moment  it  seemed  plain  to  the  ministry  that  it  would  not  do  to  break 
with  the  United  States.  If  they  should  drive  the  two  republics  into 
a  close  alliance,  events  had  already  proved  that  the  two  united  would 
be  invincible.  A  different  line  of  policy,  therefore,  must  be  pursued. 
Hence,  when  Mr.  Jay  arrived  at  the  Court  of  St.  James,  he  was  most 


HISTORY  OF  THE  TIMES.  79 

graciously  received.  Lord  Granville  was  all  conciliation  and  com- 
promise. He  had  not  been  engaged  in  the  business  of  negotiation 
many  days,  when  the  King — tough  old  George,  who  was  the  last  to 
surrender  in  the  Revolution — said  to  him,  "  Well,  sir,  I  imagine  you 
begin  to  see  that  your  mission  will  probably  be  successful."  u  I  am 
happy,  may  it  please  your  majesty,  to  find  that  you  entertain  that 
idea."  "  Well,  but  don't  you  perceive  that  it  is  likely  to  be  so  ?" 
"  There  are  seme  recent  circumstances  (the  answer  to  Jay's  repre- 
sentations) which  induce  me  to  flatter  myself  that  it  will  be  so." 
The  king  nodded  with  a  smile,  signifying  that  it  was  to  those  circum- 
stances that  he  alluded.  It  was  a  foregone  conclusion.  Peace  with 
the  United  States  had  now  become  essential  to  England  :  and  that 
wise  nation  never  stands  on  trifles  when  an  important  object  is  to  be 
attained. 

Never  did  negotiator,  beginning  with  such  anxious  forebodings, 
find  himself  proceeding  so  smoothly,  so  satisfactorily.  The  treaty 
was  concluded  and  signed  in  London,  on  the  19th  of  November,  1794 ; 
was  received  by  the  President  the  7th  of  March  following,  and  on  the 
8th  of  June  was  submitted  to  the  Senate  for  their  consideration.  On 
the  24th,  by  precisely  a  constitutional  majority,  they  advised  and  con- 
sented to  its  ratification.  Although  in  the  mind  of  the  President 
several  objections  had  occurred,  they  were  overbalanced  by  what  he 
conceived  to  be  its  advantages ;  and  before  transmitting  it  to  the 
Senate  he  had  resolved  to  ratify  it,  if  approved  by  that  body.  But 
before  he  had  given  his  signature  to  the  treaty,  it  was  well  ascer- 
tained that  the  British  order  in  council  of  the  8th  of  June,  1793,  for 
the  seizure  of  provisions  going  to  French  ports,  had  been  renewed. 
Apprehensive  that  this  might  be  regarded  as  a  practical  interpreta- 
tion of  an  article  in  the  treaty  in  regard  to  provisions  not  being  con- 
traband of  war  unless  in  particular  cases,  the  President  wisely 
determined  to  reconsider  his  decision.  Marshall,  in  his  Life  of 
Washington,  says  :  "Of  the  result  of  this  reconsideration  there  is 
no  conclusive  testimony."  It  has  become  a  matter  of  importance  in 
history  to  determine  this  fact. 

It  was  charged  that  a  war  with  France,  and  a  consequent  alliance 
with  England,  had  been  the  object  of  the  executive  council,  from  the 
commencement  of  hostilities  between  those  two  great  European  pow- 
ers. The  treaty,  it  was  alleged,  originated  in  that  spirit.  And  the 


80  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

circumstances  and  manner  of  its  consummation  were  confidently  al- 
luded to  as  evidence  of  that  fact.  It  was  well  known  that  the  Presi- 
dent made  up  his  judgment  with  great  deliberation  ;  and  that  when 
once  fixed  he  was  unalterable  ;  he  had  an  invincible  repugnance  to 
retract  an  opinion,  or  retrace  a  step  once  taken. 

While  he  was  deliberating  on  the  treaty — when  in  fact,  as  it 
was  alleged,  he  had  determined  not  to  sign  for  the  present,  an  inter- 
cepted letter  addressed  by  the  French  minister  to  his  government, 
was  placed  in  the  President's  hands.  This  letter  contained  many 
facts  bearing  on  the  character  of  the  President,  the  influences  that 
were  working  on  him,  and  deeply  implicating  the  reputation  of  the 
Secretary  of  State.  It  was  alleged  that  the  other  Secretaries,  into 
whose  hands  the  letter  had  fallen,  made  an  unwarrantable  use  of  it 
to  prejudice  the  mind  of  the  President  against  their  obnoxious  col- 
league and  the  French  cause,  and  thereby  to  induce  him  hastily  to 
ratify  the  treaty  contrary  to  his  better  judgment — to  drive  from  his 
cabinet  the  only  republican  remaining  in  office,  and  to  lend  his  aid, 
though  unconsciously  and  indirectly,  to  the  destruction  of  the  repub- 
lican cause  in  the  United  States. 

Mr.  Jefferson  retired  from  the  State  Department  in  1794,  early 
in  January.  He  says  that  he  suffered  martyrdom  all  the  time  he 
was  in  office — alluding  to  his  single-handed  and  unaided  efforts  to 
combat  the  heresies  of  Hamilton,  and  to  resist  the  tendencies  of  the 
government  to  yield  to  British  influence.  He  was  succeeded  by  the 
Attorney  General,  Edmund  Randolph,  whose  relationship  to  the 
subject  of  this  memoir  has  already  been  made  known  to  the  reader. 
That  gentleman  professed  to  be  of  no  party,  but  was  understood  to 
be  a  Republican  in  principle,  and  favorably  inclined  to  the  French 
cause.  "  The  fact  is,"  says  Jefferson,  "  he  has  generally  given  his 
principles  to  the  one  party,  and  his  practice  to  the  other — the  oyster 
to  one,  the  shell  to  the  other.  Unfortunately,  the  shell  was  generally 
the  lot  of  his  friends,  the  French  and  Republicans,  and  the  oyster,  of 
their  antagonists.  Had  he  been  firm  to  the  principles  he  professed, 
in  the  year  1793,  the  President  would  have  been  kept  from  an  habit- 
ual concert  with  the  British  and  anti-republican  party." 

Randolph  declared  that  long  before  the  Fauchet  letter  made  its 
appearance,  the  British  partizans  had  been  industrious  in  dissemi- 
nating the  most  poisonous  falsehoods  concerning  him,  and  in  his 


HISTORY  OF"  THE  TIMES.  81 

RDsence  seized  the  advantage  of  uttering  uncontradicted  slanders  ; 
boasting  and  insisting  that  in  a  controversy  between  them,  he  (Ran 
dolph)  must  be  sacrificed.  Hamilton  had  retired,  but  was  in  con- 
stant communication  with  the  President  on  all  subjects  of  importance. 
The  British  partisans  alluded  to,  were  Pickering  and  Wolcott,  the 
Secretary  of  War  and  of  the  Treasury. 

"With  these  facts  before  us  we  can  now  proceed  with  the  subject  in 
hand..  "We  have  said  that  the  President  had  determined  to  ratify  the 
treaty,  if  so  advised  by  the  Senate.  But  soon  after  their  adjourn- 
ment he  became  satisfied  that  the  provision  order,  as  it  was  called, 
had  been  renewed  by  the  British  government.  He  then  began  to 
balance  whether  to  ratify  or  not.  In  this  state  of  mind,  he  required 
the  Secretary  of  State  to  hold  a  conversation  with  the  British  Minis- 
ter on  the  29th  June,  1795,  and  to  tell  him  that  by  the  constitution 
the  treaty  now  rested  with  the  President,  and  that  he  had  entered 
into  the  consideration  of  the  subject.  A  letter  was  written  to  the 
American  Minister  at  Paris,  on  the  2d  of  July,  under  the  President's 
eye  and  special  correction,  in  which  it  was  stated  that  the  "  President 
has  not  yet  decided  upon  the  final  measure  to  be  adopted  by  himself." 
He  consulted  with  all  the  officers  of  government  on  several  collateral 
points  in  the  treaty — consulted,  as  it  was  believed,  with  Hamilton  on 
the  treaty  at  large — and  required  the  Secretary  of  State  to  give  his 
written  opinion.  This  opinion  of  the  Secretary  was  handed  in  the 
12th  of  July,  1795.  Among  other  things,  he  says:  "I  take  the 
liberty  of  suggesting  that  a  personal  interview  be  immediately  had 
between  the  Secretary  of  State  and  Mr.  Hammond,  and  that  the  sub- 
stance of  the  address  to  him  be  this  " — (after  some  preliminary  re- 
marks) :  "  But  we  are  informed  by  the  public  gazettes,  and  by  letters 
tolerably  authentic,  that  vessels,  even  American  vessels,  laden  with 
provisions  for  France,  may  be  captured  and  dealt  with  as  carrying  a 
kind  of  contraband.  Upon  the  supposition  of  its  truth,  the  President 
cannot  persuade  himself- that  he  ought  to  ratify  during  the  existence 
of  the  order.  His  reasons  will  be  detailed  in  a  proper  representation 
through  you  (Mr.  Hammond)  to  his  Britannic  Majesty.  At  the 
same  time,  that  order  being  removed,  he  will  ratify  without  delay  01 
further  scruple."  In  the  morning  of  the  13th  of  July,  the  President 
instructed  the  Secretary  to  have  the  proposed  interview  immediately 
with  Mr.  Hammond,  and  to  address  him  as  had  been  suggested. 


82  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

Mr.  Hammond  asked,  in  the  course  of  the  interview,  if  it  would 
not  be  sufficient  to  remove  the  order  out  of  the  way  ;  and  after  the 
ratification  to  rescind  it  ? 

The  Secretary  replied  with  some  warmth,  that  this  would  be  a 
mere  shift,  as  the  principle  was  the  important  thing.  He  then  asked, 
if  the  President  was  irrevocably  determined,  not  to  ratify,  if  the  pro- 
vision order  was  not  removed  ?  The  Secretary  answered,  that  he 
was  not  instructed  upon  that  point.  This  conversation  was  imme- 
diately related  to  the  President.  He  told  the  Secretary  that  he  migJit 
have  informed  Mr.  Hammond  that  he  never  would  ratify,  if  the  pro- 
vision  order  was  not  removed  out  of  the  way. 

The  President  left  Philadelphia  for  Mount  Vernon,  the  15th  day 
of  July,  1795  ;  and  soon  afterwards,  the  Secretary  commenced  draft- 
ing the  memorial  that  was  to  be  addressed  to  his  Britannic  Majesty. 
After  discussing  the  article  of  the  treaty  in  reference  to  provisions, 
and  showing  the  inconsistency  of  the  order  of  the  8th  of  June,  1793, 
with  that  article,  the  memorial  concludes  :  "  The  chief  obstacle,  which 
is  dependent  for  its  removal  on  his  Britannic  Majesty,  is  the  order 
above  stated.  The  President  is  too  much  deprived  of  its  particulars, 
to  declare  what  shall  be  his  irrevocable  determination :  but  the  sen- 
sibility which  it  has  excited  in  his  mind,  cannot  be  allayed  without 
the  most  unequivocal  stipulation,  to  reduce  to  the  only  construction 
in  which  he  can  acquiesce,  the  article  of  the  treaty." 

Before  the  President  had  received  the  memorial  which  he  had 
ordered  to  be  drafted,  he  wrote  to  the  Secretary  on  the  22d  July, 
from  Mount  Vernon,  thus :  "  In  my  hurry  I  did  not  signify  the  pro- 
priety of  letting  those  gentlemen  (the  Secretaries  of  War  and  the 
Treasury,  and  the  Attorney  General)  know  fully  my  determination 
with  respect  to  the  ratification  of  the  treaty,  and  the  train  it  was  in ; 
but  as  this  was  necessary,  in  order  to  enable  them  to  form  their  opin- 
ions on  the  subject  submitted,  I  take  it  for  granted,  that  both  were 
communicated  to  them  by  you,  as  a  matter  of  course.  The  first,  that 
is  the  conditional  ratification,  (if  the  late  order,  which  we  have  heard 
of  respecting  provision-vessels,  is  not  in  operation,)  may  on  all  fit  oc- 
casions be  spoken  of  as  my  determination,  unless  from  any  thing 
you  have  heard,  or  met  with  since  I  left  the  city,  it  should  be  thought 
more  advisable  to  communicate  with  me  on  the  subject.  My  opinion 
respecting  the  treaty  is  the  same  now  that  it  was ;  that  is,  not  favor- 


HISTORY  OF  THE  TIMES.  33 

able  to  it ;  but  that  it  is  better  to  ratify  it  in  the  manner  the  Senate 
have  advised,  (and  ivith  the  reservation  already  mentioned^  than  to 
suffer  matters  to  remain  as  they  are — unsettled." 

In  answer  to  this  the  Secretary  writes :  "  I  had  communicated 
fully  your  determination  with  respect  to  the  ratification.  I  have  no 
Joubt  that  the  order  for  seizing  provision-vessels  exists.  Nothing 
Has  occurred  to  prevent  the  speaking  of  that  determination/'' 

On  the  29th  July  the  President  writes :  "  I  also  return,  under 
cover  of  this  letter,  the  draft  of  the  memorial^  and  the  rough  draft 
of  a  ratification.  These  are  very  important  papers,  and,  with  the 
instructions  which  follow,  will  require  great  attention  and  considera- 
tion, and  are  the  primary  cause  of  my  returning  to  Philadelphia." 

On  the  31st  he  writes  :  "  The  memorial  seems  well  designed  to 
answer  the  end  proposed." 

"While  the  memorial  was  in  the  hands  of  the  President  at  Mount 
Yernon,  it  became  the  subject  of  conversation  with  the  Heads  of 
Departments.  Wolcott  and  Pickering  were  both  opposed  to  any  de- 
lay in  concluding  the  business.  Wolcott  observed  that  it  would  give 
the  French  Government  an  opportunity  of  professing  to  make  very 
extensive  overtures  to  the  United  States,  and  thus  embarrass  the 
treaty  with  Great  Britain. 

Pickering,  on  hearing  the  memorial,  exclaimed,  "  This,  as  the 
sailors  say,  is  throwing  the  whole  up  in  the  wind." 

The  President  returned  to  Philadelphia  on  the  llth  of  August. 
The  same  evening,  in  presence  of  Pickering  and  Bradford,  the  Se- 
cretary of  State  observed,  "  that  the  sooner  the  memorial  was  re- 
vised by  the  gentlemen  jointly,  who  were  prepared  with  their  opin- 
ions, the  better."  The  President  replied,  "  that  he  supposed  every 
thing  of  this  sort  had  been  settled.  The  Secretary  said  that  it  was 
not  so,  as  Colonel  Pickering  was  for  an  immediate  ratification.  To 
this  Pickering  responded :  "  I  told  Mr.  Randolph  that  I  thought  the 
postponement  of  ratification  was  a  ruinous  step." 

On  the  morning  of  the  13th  of  August,  the  letters  which  had 
been  written  to  foreign  ministers  in  his  absence,  were  laid  before  the 
President.  The  one  addressed  to  Mr.  Monroe  was  in  these  words : 
— "  The  treaty  is  not  yet  ratified  by  the  President ;  nor  will  it  be 
ratified,  I  believe,  until  it  returns  from  England — if  then.  The  late 
British  order  for  seizing  provisions,  is  a  weighty  obstacle  to  a  ratifi- 
Y 


84  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

cation.  I  do  not  suppose  that  such  an  attempt  to  starve  France  will 
be  countenanced."  Other  letters  were  written  of  the  same  tenor,  and 
laid  before  the  President.  He  made  no  objection  to  the  strong  ex- 
pressions contained  in  them. 

There  can  be  no  question  from  the  evidence,  that  up  to  the  13th 
of  August,  1795,  and  for  a  month  previous,  the  President  had  deli- 
berately made  up  his  mind  not  to  sign  the  treaty  so  long  as  the  pro- 
vision order  was  in  existence. .  What  caused  the  great  change  be- 
tween that  time  and  the  18th  ;  for  on  that  day  he  gave  to  the  treaty 
an  unconditional  ratification  1  Marshall,  in  his  Life  of  Washington, 
intimates,  that  the  great  clamor  raised  against  the  treaty  in  the  com- 
mercial towns,  was  the  cause  of  this  change  in  the  mind  of  the  Presi- 
dent. He  thought  that  by  signing  the  treaty  at  cmee  he  would  put 
an  end  to  all  hope  of  influencing  the  executive  will  by  agitation. 
This  solution  is  not  consistent  with  the  character  of  the  man.  No 
one  despised  mere  popular  clamor  more  than  he  did ;  no  one  valued 
more  the  opinion  of  his  fellow-citizens.  With  a  mind  not  suggestive, 
but  eminently  judicious,  he  sought  for  counsel  in  all  quarters,  and 
profited  more  by  advice  than  any  other  man  that  ever  held  a  public 
station. 

He  considered  that  the  occasion  called  for  wise  and  temperate 
measures.  In  his  letter  of  the  31st  of  July,  to  the  Secretary  of 
State,  he  says :  "  In  time,  when  passion  shall  have  yielded  to  sober 
reason,  the  current  may  possibly  turn ;  but  in  the  mean  while,  this 
Government,  in  relation  to  France  and  England,  may  be  compared  to 
a  ship  between  the  rocks  Scylla  and  Charybdis.  If  the  treaty  is  ra- 
tified, the  partisans  of  the  French  (or  rather  of  war  and  confusion) 
will  excite  them  to  hostile  measures,  or  at  least  to  unfriendly  senti- 
ments :  if  it  is  not,  there  is  no  foreseeing  all  the  consequences  which 
may  follow,  as  it  respects  Great  Britain.  It  is  not  to  be  inferred 
from  hence,  that  I  am,  or  shall  be  disposed  to  quit  the  ground  I 
have  taken,  unless  circumstances  more  imperious  than  have  yet  come  to 
my  knowledge,  should  compel  it ;  for  there  is  but  one  straight  course 
in  these  things,  and  that  is,  to  seek  truth  and  pursue  it  steadily." 
He  then  instructs  the  Secretary  to  be  attentive  to  all  the  resolutions 
that  might  come  in,  and  to  all  the  newspaper  publications,  that  he 
might  have  all  the  objections  against  the  treaty  which  had  any 
weight  in  them,  embodied  in  the  memorial  addressed  to  the  British 


THE  FAUCHET  LETTER.  35 

king,  or  in  the  instructions  to  the  American  Minister  at  London.  It 
cannot  be  presumed,  therefore,  that  the  excitement  in  the  country 
against  the  treaty,  was  the  cause,  or  at  least  the  principal  cause  of 
the  sudden  change  in  the  determination  of  the  President.  "We  must 
look  to  some  other  source  for  a  solution  of  this  difficulty. 


CHAPTER   XVII. 

THE   FAUCHET  LETTER. 

ON  the  31st  day  of  October,  1794,  about  the  time  of  the  whisky  in- 
surrection, and  Jay's  negotiation  in  London,  the  French  Minister 
forwarded  a  dispatch  to  his  government,  entitled  "  Private  Corres- 
pondence of  the  Minister  on  Politics,  No.  10." 

This  letter  on  its  way  was  captured  by  a  British  cruiser,  placed  in 
the  hands  of  Lord  Grenville,  and  by  him  forwarded  to  the  Minister 
here  (Mr.  Hammond),  with  instructions  to  use  it  for  the  benefit  of 
his  Majesty's  service.  When  the  letter  came  to  Hammond,  he  made 
known  the  contents  to  Mr.  Wolcott,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  but 
did  not  intimate  a  desire  that  it  might  be  communicated  to  the  Pre- 
sident. Wolcott  himself  suggested  it,  and  asked  that  it  might  be 
placed  in  his  hands  for  that  purpose.  Hammond  at  first  declined, 
but  finally  consented,  on  condition  that  a  certified  copy  should  be 
left  in  his  hands.  Wolcott  received  the  letter  the  28th  day  of  July, 
1795,  while  the  President  was  at  Mount  Vernon.  He  immediately 
showed  it  to  Mr.  Pickering.  It  was  their  opinion  that  its  contents 
were  of  so  delicate  and  important  a  nature  that  they  ought  to  be  im- 
parted to  the  President  without  delay,  and  ivilh  the  utmost  secrecy. 
Any  open  attempt  to  effect  this  end,  they  thought  might  excite  the 
suspicion  of  Mr.  Randolph.  The  first  hint  of  the  matter  was  com- 
municated to  the  President  in  a  letter  from  Mr.  Pickering  in  the 
following  words :  «  July  31st— On  the  subject  of  the  treaty,  I  confess 
I  feel  extreme  solicitude,  and,  for  a  special  reason,  which  can  be  com- 
municated to  you  only  in  person.  I  entreat,  therefore,  that  you  will 
return  with  all  convenient  speed  to  the  seat  of  government.  In  tho 


36  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

mean  time,  for  the  reason  above  referred  to,  I  pray  you  to  decide  on 
no  important  political  measure  in  whatever  form  it  may  be  presented 
to  you.  Mr.  Wolcott  and  I  (Mr.  Bradford  concurring)  waited  on 
Mr.  Eandolph,  and  urged  his  writing  to  request  your  return.  He. 
wrote  in  our  presence"  Just  the  day  before,  Randolph  had  written 
to  the  President — "  As  soon  as  I  had  the  honor  of  receiving  your 
letter  of  the  24th  instant,  I  conferred  with  the  Secretaries  of  the 
Treasury  and  of  War  upon  the  necessity  or  expediency  of  your  re- 
turn hither  at  this  time.  We  all  concurred  that  neither  the  one  nor 
the  other  existed,  and  that  the  circumstance  would  confer  upon  the 
things  which  had  been  and  are  still  carried  on,  an  importance  which 
it  would  not  be  convenient  to  give  them."  After  receiving  the  above 
mysterious  letter  from  Pickering,  which  perhaps  arrived  the  same- 
day  with  Randolph's,  the  President  hastened  to  the  seat  of  govern- 
ment. He  arrived  on  the  llth  of  August,  and  the  contents  of 
Fauchet's  intercepted  letter  were  made  known  to  him  the  same  day. 
In  this  private  correspondence,  after  stating  that  the  dispatches  of 
himself  and  colleagues  had  been  confined  to  a  naked  recital  of  facts, 
the  Minister  thus  proceeds : — "  I  have  reserved  myself  to  give  you, 
as  far"  as  I  am  able,  a  key  to  the  facts  detailed  in  our  reports.  *  *  * 
The  previous  confessions  of  Mr.  Randolph  alone  throw  a  satisfactory 
light  upon  every  thing  that  comes  to  pass.  *  *  *  I  shall,  then,  en- 
deavor to  give  you  a  clue  to  all  the  measures,  of  which  the  common 
dispatches  give  you  an  account ;  and  to  discover  the  true  causes  of 
the  explosion,  which  it  is  obstinately  resolved  to  repress  with  great 
means  (the  whisky  insurrection),  although  the  state  of  things  has 
no  longer  any  thing  alarming."  *  *  *  He  then  undertakes  to  give  a 
history  of  the  primitive  division  of  parties — Federalists  and  Anti- 
Federalists.  Speaks  of  the  whimsical  contrast  between  the  name 
and  the  real  opinion  of  the  parties — the  former  aiming  with  all  their 
power  to  annihilate  Federalism,  while  the  latter  were  striving  to 
preserve  it.  These  divisions,  he  proceeds  to  say,  originated  in  the 
system  of  finances,  which  had  its  birth  in  the  cradle  of  the  consti- 
tution. It  created  a  financiering  class,  who  threaten  to  become  the 
aristocratical  order  of  the  State.  He  then  continues,  in  the  fifth 
paragraph,  in  these  words :  "  It  is  useless  to  stop  longer  to  prove 
that  the  monarchical  system  was  interwoven  with  those  novelties  of 
finance,  and  that  the  friends  of  the  latter  favored  the  attempts  whicL 


THE  FAUCHET  LETTER.  87 

were  made,  in  order  to  bring  the  constitution  to  the  former  by  in- 
sensible gradations.  The  writings  of  influential  men  of  this  party 
prove  it  (alluding  to  Mr.  Adams's  Discourses  on  Davila) ;  their  real 
opinions,  too,  avow  it,  and  the  journals  of  the  Senate  are  the  deposi- 
tory of  the  first  attempts." 

He  speaks  of  the  sympathy  of  this  party  with  the  regenerating 
movements  of  France,  while  running  in  monarchical  paths ;  and 
after  an  account  of  the  rapid  increase  and  consolidation  of  the  Anti- 
Federal  party,  under  the  name  of  patriots  and  republicans,  he  thus 
proceeds : — "  In  every  quarter  are  arraigned  the  imbecility  of  the 
Government  towards  Great  Britain,  the  defenceless  state  of  the 
country  against  possible  invasions,  the  coldness  towards  the  French 
Republic — the  system  of  finance  is  attacked,  which  threatens  eternizing 
the  debt,  under  pretext  of  making  it  the  guarantee  of  public  happi- 
ness ;  the  complication  of  that  system  which  withholds  from  general 
inspection  all  its  operations — the  alarming  power  of  the  influence  it 
procures  to  a  man  whose  principles  are  regarded  as  dangerous — the 
preponderance  which  that  man  acquires  from  day  to  day  in  public 
measures,  and,  in  a  word,  the  immoral  and  impolitic  modes  of  taxa- 
tion which  he  at  first  presents  as  expedients,  and  afterwards  raises 
to  permanency." 

He  then  speaks  of  the  excise  law — the  navigation  of  the  Missis- 
sippi, and  the  system  for  the  sale  of  public  lands,  as  being  the 
principal  sources  of  discontent  to  the  Western  people,  and  the  cause 
of  their  rebellion.  "At  last,"  says  he,  "the  local  explosion  i? 
effected.  *  *  *  The  Government  which  had  foreseen  it,  reproduced, 
under  various  forms,  the  demand  of  a  disposable  force  which  might 
put  it  in  a  state  of  respectable  defence.  Defeated  in  this  measure, 
who  can  aver  that  it  may  not  have  hastened  the  local  eruption,  in 
order  to  make  an  advantageous  diversion,  and  to  lay  the  more  gene- 
ral storm  which  it  saw  gathering  ?  Am  I  not  authorized  in  forming 
this  conjecture  from  the  conversation  which  the  Secretary  of  State 
had  with  me  and  Le  Blanc,  above,  an  account  of  which  you  have 
in  my  dispatch,  No.  3  ?  But  how  may  we  expect  that  this  new  plan 
will  be  executed  ? — By  exasperating  and  severe  measures,  authorized 
by  a  law  which  was  not  solicited  till  the  close  of  the  session.  This 
law  g*ve  to  the  one  already  existing  for  collecting  the  excise,  a  coercive 
for<*>  Thich  hitherto  it  had  not  possessed,  and  a  demand  of  which 


88  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

was  not  before  ventured  to  be  made.  *  *  *  *  This  was  undoubtedly 
what  Mr.  Randolph  meant  in  telling  me  that  wider  pretext  of  giving 
energy  to  the  Government,  it  ivas  intended  to  introduce  absolute 
poiver,  and  to  mislead  tlie  President  in  paths  which  would  conduct 
him  to  unpopularity? 

He  then  proceeds  to  describe  the  successful  efforts  to  raise  an 
army,  and  to  gain  over  certain  influential  characters,  and  continues 
thus  :  "  The  Secretary  of  this  State  possessed  great  influence  in  the 
popular  societies  of  Philadelphia,  which  in  its  turn  influenced  those 
of  other  States  :  of  course  he  merited  attention.  It  appears,  therefore, 
that  those  men,  with  others  unknown  to  me,  all  having,  without  doubt, 
Randolph  at  their  head,  were  balancing  to  decide  on  this  party.  Two 
or  three  days  before  the  proclamation  was  published  (in  reference  to 
the  whisky  insurrection  25th  September,  1794),  and  of  course  before 
the  cabinet  had  resolved  on  its  measures,  Mr.  Randolph  came  to  see  me 
with  an  air  of  great  eagerness,  and  made  to  me  the  overtures  of  which 
I  have  given  you  an  account  in  my  No.  6.  Thus,  with  some  thou- 
sands of  dollars,  the  republic  would  have  decided  on  civil  war,  or  on 
peace.  Thus  the  consciences  of  the  pretended  patriots  of  America 
have  already  their  prices.  *  *  *  What  will  be  the  old  age  of  this 
Government  if  it  is  thus  early  decrepit.  Such,  citizen,  is  the  evident 
consequence  of  the  system  of  finances  conceived  by  Mr.  Hamilton. 
He  has  made  of  a  whole  nation,  a  stock-jobbing,  speculating,  selfish 
people.  *  *  *  *  Still,  there  are  patriots  of  whom  I  delight  to  enter- 
tain an  idea  worthy  of  that  imposing  title.  Consult  Monroe — he  is 
of  this  number ;  he  had  apprised  me  of  the  men  whom  the  current  of 
events  had  dragged  along  as  bodies  devoid  of  weight.  His  friend 
Madison  is  also  an  honest  man.  Jefferson,  on  whom  the  patriots 
cast  their  eyes  to  succeed  the  President,  had  foreseen  these  crises. 
He  prudently  retired,  in  order  to  avoid  making  a  figure  against  his 
inclination  in  scenes,  the  secret  of  which  will  soon  or  late  be  brought 
to  light." 

These  are  the  leading  and  essential  facts  in  the  intercepted  letter. 
And  they  certainly  contain  very  grave  charges.  The  men  in  power 
are  accused  of  a  design  of  changing  the  government  into  a  monarchy ; 
clothing  the  President  with  absolute  power,  and  fomenting  a  rebel- 
lion, that  they  might  have  a  pretext  to  raise  a  standing  army  to 
enforce  their  designs.  The  pretended  patriots  of  the  country  are 


THE  FAUCHET  LETTER.  89 

accused  of  venality  and  corruption — the  highest  officer  under  Govern- 
ment charged  with  making  overtures  to  the  minister  of  a  foreign 
power  for  money ;  and  it  is  alleged  that  none  but  those  who  are  op- 
posed to  the  Administration  are  trustworthy  and  honest. 

It  is  not  surprising  that  a  communication  of  this  sort,  addressed 
by  a  foreign  minister  to  his  Government,  whose  feeling  of  friendship 
to  our  own  was  extremely  questionable,  falling  into  the  hands  of  one 
of  the  parties  implicated,  should  excite  his  indignation  and  create  in 
him  a  desire  to  have  the  truth  of  the  charges  investigated.  But  the 
use  made  of  that  letter  by  the  triumvirate,  Wolcott,  Pickering,  and 
Bradford,  to  destroy  an  obnoxious  rival  and  to  crush  the  rising  ener- 
gies of  a  hateful  party,  cannot  be  justified.  The  wicked  and  Jesuiti- 
cal doctrine,  that  all  is  fair  in  politics,  may  sanction  the  means  in 
the  end ;  but  the  pen  of  the  historian  must  condemn,  under  all  cir- 
cumstances, both  the  principle  and  its  application.  Kandolph  was  a 
colleague  of  those  men — held  the  highest  station  in  the  executive  de- 
partment of  Government — was  in  the  most  intimate  relations  with 
them,  holding  daily  and  hourly  communications  on  the  gravest  sub- 
jects of  state.  He  was  reputed  to  be  among  the  first  gentlemen  of 
his  age — possessed  a  high  reputation,  and  an  unblemished  character 
for  integrity  and  honor.  A  paper  falls  into  the  hands  of  his  intimate 
and  daily  associates,  written  by  an  ignorant  and  prejudiced  foreigner, 
in  which  this  man  is  charged  with  being  accessible  to  a  bribe.  What 
line  of  conduct  do  they  pursue  ?  It  seems  that  in  a  formal  dispatch 
of  the  foreign  minister,  No.  6,  the  facts  are  stated  from  which  he 
draws  his  injurious  inference.  Did  the  triumvirate  call  for  that  doc- 
ument so  obviously  necessary  as  a  means  of  explaining  the  injurious 
charges  ?  It  was  in  the  hands  of  the  same  individual  from  whom 
they  had  obtained  the  first  communication.  But  they  made  no  in- 
quiry for  it ;  did  not  seem  to  wish  to  know  that  the  means  of  expla- 
nation were  in  their  reach,  or  in  existence.  Did  they  communicate 
the  contents  of  the  letter  to  their  implicated  colleague,  that  he  might 
exculpate  himself  from  its  charges  ?  They  kept  it  a  profound  secret 
from  him- — held  frequent  conclaves  over  it — considered  it  extremely 
important,  and  concluded  that  the  President  must  be  informed  of  it, 
but  in  the  most  secret  manner,  lest  the  implicated  person  might  take 
the  alarm.  They  even  go  to  him,  and  induce  him  in  their  presence 
to  write  to  the  President,  requesting  his  immediate  return  to  the  seat 


90  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RAJNDOLPH. 

of  government.  Not  content  with  this,  one  of  the  party  writes  him- 
self, stating  that  he  is  very  solicitous  about  the  treaty,  and/ar  a  sp& 
cial  reason,  thus  connecting  the  fate  of  the  treaty  with  the  contents 
of  the  intercepted  letter.  Was  this  acting  fairly  towards  their  col- 
league ?  It  was  not  treating  him  even  as  a  gentleman.  Their  con- 
duct  can  only  be  compared  to  that  of  a  bailiff  or  town  beadle,  who 
has  gotten  some  clue  on  a  suspected  character,  towards  whom  he 
must  act  with  the  utmost  caution  and  secrecy,  lest  he  might  snuff 
suspicion  in  the  wind  and  take  to  flight. 

Nor  was  their  conduct  at  all  mitigated  by  the  return  of  the 
President.  They  beset  him  the  moment  of  his  arrival ;  the  inter- 
cepted letter  was  placed  in  his  hands  the  same  evening ;  a  cabinet 
council  was  called  the  next  morning  to  deliberate  on  the  treaty.  Not 
a  breath  was  uttered  to  Randolph  by  the  President,  that  he  was  sus- 
pected of  treachery  to  himself,  and  of  having  made  overtures  for  a 
bribe  to  betray  his  country.  On  the  contrary,  an  unusually  cordial 
manner  is  observed  towards  him.  He  is  called  on  to  give  his  opinion 
on  the  subject  of  ratification.  He  repeats  the  same  arguments  he 
had  used  before ;  he  contended  that  the  treaty  did  not  warrant  the 
provision  order,  and  that  the  President  could  not  sign  the  treaty  so 
long  as  the  order  existed ;  because  we  had  already  acknowledged,  on 
the  7th  of  September,  1793,  that  a  permission  to  Great  Britain  to  ex- 
ercise such  a  power,  would  be  a  just  cause  of  war  to  France ;  that  we 
should  be  inconsistent  in  our  discussions  with  the  French  minister  ; 
because  when  he  remonstrated  upon  the  extension  of  contraband  by 
the  treaty,  it  was  answered  that  we  did  not  alter  the  law  of  nations ; 
but  now  we  should  desert  what  was  contended  to  be  the  law  of  na- 
tions, in  two  letters  to  Mr.  Hammond ;  that  we  should  run  the  haz- 
ard of  a  war  with  France,  by  combining  to  starve  her ;  and  that  her 
discontents  were  the  only  possible  chance  remaining  to  the  British 
partisans  for  throwing  us  into  the  arms  of  Great  Britain,  by  creating 
a  seeming  necessity  of  an  alliance  with  the  latter  power.  These  co- 
gent arguments  had  already  been  urged  on  the  President ;  he  felt 
their  force,  and  had  determined,  as  the  reader  cannot  doubt,  not  to 
sign  so  long  as  the  provision  order  existed,  and  had  taken  his  mea- 
sures accordingly.  How  are  these  arguments  met  now  ?  Let  it  be 
remembered  that  on  the  morning  of  this  very  day,  it  was  circulated 
in  the  coffee-houses  by  Hammond,  the  British  minister,  and  his  par- 


THE  FAUCHET  LETTER.  91 

tisans,  that  Randolph  was  at  the  bottom  of  the  town  meetings  which 
had  been  gotten  up  to  denounce  the  treaty  (and  which  actually  burnt 
a  copy  of  the  treaty  in  front  of  Hammond's  house,  by  the  hands  of 
the  common  hangman),  and  that  there  was  a  conspiracy,  of  which 
Randolph  was  a  member,  to  destroy  the  popularity  of  the  President, 
and  to  thrust  Mr.  Jefferson  into  his  chair.  No  one  can  doubt  that 
these  rumors  designedly  put  afloat,  were  carefully  related  to  the 
President  by  his  faithful  and  disinterested  ministers,  so  that  when 
Randolph  concluded  his  speech,  the  very  arguments  that  had  weighed 
with  the  President  before,  were  now  evidences  of  his  guilt — con- 
firmations strong  as  proofs  of  Holy  Writ.  Pickering  and  Wolcott 
answered  in  the  most  excited  and  intemperate  manner ;  urged  the 
immediate  ratification  of  the  treaty,  and  charged  that  the  struggle  to 
defeat  it  was  the  act  of  a  detestable  and  nefarious  conspiracy.  There 
was  a  unanimous  vote  for  immediate  unconditional  ratification,  so 
far  as  the  provision  order  was  concerned ;  but  to  be  accompanied 
with  a  remonstrance  on  that  subject.  The  President  receded  from 
his  determination,  and  consented  to  ratify.  The  necessary  papers 
were  prepared,  and  on  the  18th  of  August,  1795,  the  President  affixed 
his  signature  to  the  treaty.  All  this  struck  the  Secretary  of  State 
with  astonishment.  He  did  not  know  how  to  account  for  it.  All 
the  while  he  was  treated  with  unusual  courtesy.  Two  days  after  the 
President  had  determined  to  sign  the  treaty,  on  the  14th  of  the 
month,  he  paid  a  private  and  friendly  visit  to  Mr.  Randolph's  house ; 
invited  him  next  day  in  the  most  cordial  manner  to  dine  with  a  "party 
of  chosen  friends,  and  placed  him  at  the  foot  of  the  table  as  a  mark 
of  respect  and  confidence.  On  the  18th,  the  day  of  the  ratification, 
the  same  air  of  cordiality  was  assumed.  But  good,  easy  man,  while 
his  honors  were  thus*  ripening,  next  day  there  came  a  nipping  frost. 
On  Wednesday,  the  19th  of  August,  1795,  while  going  to  the 
President's  at  the  usual  hour,  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning,  he  was 
met  by  the  steward,  who  informed  him  that  the  President  desired 
him  to  postpone  his  visit  till  half  past  ten.  On  reaching  the  door  at 
the  appointed  hour,  he  was  surprised  to  learn  that  the  President  had 
been  closeted  with  his  colleagues  for  more  than  an  hour.  On  enter- 
ing the  room,  the  President  rose  from  his  chair,  and  received  him 
with  marked  formality.  After  a  few  words,  the  President  drew  a 
letter  from  his  pocket,  and  said :  "  Mr.  Randolph,  here  is  a  letter 


92  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

which  I  desire  you  to  read}  and  make  such  explanations  as  you 
choose." 

After  he  had  read  the  letter,  and  some  little  conversation  had  en- 
sued, the  President  requested  Messrs.  Wolcott  and  Pickering  to  in- 
terrogate him  !  In  a  short  time  he  was  requested  to  leave  the  room, 
that  they  might  consult  on  what  had  been  said  !  Can  the  reader  come 
to  any  other  conclusion,  than  that  the  mind  of  the  President  had 
been  worked  up  to  prejudge  the  case  ?  Can  any  one  believe  that  the 
great  and  good  Washington  would  have  acted  in  a  manner  so  precipi- 
tate in  itself,  so  injurious  and  humiliating  to  a  long  tried  friend,  and 
a  faithful,  confidential  officer,  unless  his  passions  had  been  excited 
by  some  undue  influence,  exerted  over  his  peculiar  temper  and  cha- 
racter ? 

Who  can  doubt,  after  a  review  of  all  the  facts  connected  with 
this  transaction,  that  Randolph,  as  he  declared  himself,  ivas  the  me- 
ditated victim  of  party  spirit  ?  Who  can  doubt  that  Wolcott  and 
Pickering,  by  their  artful  insinuations,  and  earnest  commentaries  on 
the  intercepted  letter,  had  induced  the  President  to  believe  that 
there  was  in  truth  a  detestable  and  nefarious  conspiracy  to  defeat 
the  treaty  ? — that  there  was  a  dark  design  of  replacing  him  by  an- 
other President ;  and  that  his  Secretary  of  State,  in  whom  he  had 
placed  the  most  unbounded  confidence,  had  been  convicted  of  a  cor- 
rupt attachment  to  France,  and  of  perfidy  to  himself.  The  more  wo 
read  and  learn  of  Washington  and  his  acts,  the  more  exalted  our 
judgment  becomes  of  his  virtue  and  purity.  The  more  the  days  of 
his  mortality  recede  from  us,  the  more  sublime  and  godlike  his  cha- 
racter appears.  But  when  we  go  back  to  the  times  when  he  wrought 
on  earth  with  other  men,  and  performed  his  part  on  the  public  stage, 
we  perceive  that  he  had  like  passions  with  ourselves,  and  like  us, 
was  liable  to  err. 

The  ratification  of  such  a  treaty  would  at  any  time  have  created 
a  strong  hostility  to  the  administration  that  advised  it.  It  was  cer- 
tainly very  defective.  We  say  nothing  about  the  objections  raised 
against  it,  under  the  influence  of  the  party  excitement  of  the  times. 
Much  allowance  must  be  made  for  them ;  but  the  negotiator  himself 
admitted  that  the  subjects  of  difficulty  were  merged  in  the  treaty, 
but  not  settled.  Time  has  proved  the  truth  of  his  admission.  The 
late  war  with  Great  Britain — the  more  recent  difficulties  on  the 


THE  FAUCHET  LETTER.  93 

boundary  question,  all  grew  out  of  the  unsettled  questions  of  dispute 
merged  in  the  treaty.  It  was  evidently  made  for  a  temporary  pur- 
pose— to  serve  the  nonce — and  perhaps  that  was  all  that  could  have 
been  expected.  The  President  did  not  approve  it.  The  more  he 
thought  of  it,  the  less  he  liked  it.  But  that  there  might  be  some  set- 
tlement of  the  perplexing  and  threatening  difficulties  between  the 
two  nations,  he  consented  to  ratify,  if  the  Senate  advised.  The  rati- 
fication of  such  a  treaty,  under  any  circumstances,  would  have  en- 
countered formidable  opposition.  But  when  it  was  made  known  that 
the  President,  under  the  influence  of  a  party 'intrigue,  had  been  hur- 
ried into  a  premature  ratification,  contrary  to  his  better  judgment, 
with  the  British  order  in  council  staring  him  in  the  face,  which 
s  jemed  to  have  been  issued  in  contempt  of  the  treaty,  as  a  license  to 
plunder  our  defenceless  commerce,  the  storm  that  was  raised  cannot 
well  be  imagined.  T  he  great  Washington  rose  into  the  pure  empy- 
rean of  a  clear  conscience ;  but  the  guilty  beings  below  were  swept 
away  by  the  tempest.  All  who  had  any  thing  to  do  with  this  busi- 
ness were  treaty -foundered,  and  ingulfed  in  the  torrent  that  soon 
swept  over  the  land. 

It  was  predicted,  as  a  sequel  to  these  transactions,  that  Monroe 
would  be  recalled  from  Paris.  In  December,  1795,  only  three 
months  after  the  ratification,  Mr.  Jefferson  writes  :  "  I  should  not 
wonder  if  Monroe  were  to  be  recalled,  under  the  idea  of  his  being  of 
the  partisans  of  France,  whom  the  President  considers  as  the  parti- 
sans of  war  and  confusion,  in  his  letter  of  July  31st,  and  as  disposed 
to  excite  them  to  hostile  measures,  or  at  least  to  unfriendly  senti- 
ments; a  most  infatuated  blindness  to  the  true  character  of  the 
sentiments  entertained  in  favor  of  France."  Sure  enough,  the  sub- 
ject was  soon  made  the  theme  of  cabinet  consultation ;  and  on  the  2d 
day  of  July,  1796,  it  was  resolved  to  recall  him.  «  We  think,"  said 
the  Heads  of  Department,  in  their  communication  to  the  President, 
"  the  great  interests  of  the  United  States  require  that  they  have  near 
the  French  government  some  faithful  organ  to  explain  their  real 
views,  and  to  ascertain  those  of  the  French.  Our  duty  obliges  us  to  be 
explicit.  Although  the  present  Minister  Plenipotentiary  of  the  United 
States  at  Paris  has  been  amply  furnished  with  documents  to  explain 
the  views  and  conduct  of  the  United  States,  yet  his  own  letters  au- 
thorize us  to  say,  that  he  has  omitted  to  use  them,  and  thereby  ex- 


94:  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

posed  the  United  States  to  all  the  mischiefs  which  would  flow  from 
jealousies  and  erroneous  conceptions  of  their  views  and  conduct. 
Whether  this  dangerous  omission  arose  from  such  an  attachment  to 
the  cause  of  France  as  rendered  him  too  little  mindful  of  the  inter- 
ests of  his  own  country,  or  from  mistaken  views  of  the  latter,  or  from 
any  other  cause,  the  evil  is  the  same."  After  speaking  of  his  confi- 
dential correspondence  with  the  notorious  enemies  of  the  whole  sys- 
tem of  government,  and  of  certain  anonymous  letters,  which  they  en- 
tertained no  doubt  were  written  with  the  privity  of  Mr.  Monroe,  they 
proceed :  "  The  anonymous  communications  from  officers  of  the 
United  States  in  a  foreign  country,  on  matters  of  a  public  nature, 
and  which  deeply  concern  the  interests  of  the  United  States  in  rela- 
tion to  that  foreign  country,  are  proofs  of  sinister  designs,  and  show 
that  the  public  interests  are  no  longer  safe  in  the  hands  of  such  men." 
On  the  8th  of  July,  from  Mount  Yernon,  the  President  invited 
Charles  Cotesworth  Pinkney,  of  Charleston,  to  succeed  Mr.  Monroe. 
In  his  private  and  confidential  letter  to  that  gentleman,  he  says : 
"  The  situation  of  affairs,  and  the  interests  of  this  country,  as  they 
relate  to  France,  render  it  indispensably  necessary,  that  a  faithful 
organ  near  that  Government,  able  and  willing  to  explain  its  views  and 
to  ascertain  these  of  France,  should  immediately  fill  the  place  of  our 
present  Minister  Plenipotentiary  at  Paris." 

From  this  period  not  a  friend  of  the  French  cause  remained  in 
the  administration  of  affairs.  Jefferson,  foreseeing  the  tendency  of 
events,  had  prudently  retired,  after  having  suffered  a  three  years' 
martyrdom.  Randolph  had  been  ignominiously  driven  from  the 
cabinet ;  and  Monroe  recalled,  not  only  with  the  charge  of  infidelity 
to  his  Government,  but  under  the  accusation  of  sinister  designs  against 
his  country. 

It  was  proclaimed  in  the  newspapers,  in  political  meetings,  on  the 
hustings,  every  where,  that  the  friends  of  liberty  are  for  an  intimate 
union  ivith  France.  The  partisans  of  slavery  prefer  an  alliance 
with  England.  On  the  other  hand,  the  President  had  declared  and 
acted  on  the  belief,  that  the  friends  of  France  were  the  partisans  of 
war  and  confusion.  "  A  most  infatuated  blindness"  said  Jefferson. 
ri  to  tJie  true  character  of  the  sentiments  entertained  in  favor  of 
France  /" 

The  reader  cannot  mistake,  at  this  rate,  how  things  were  tending. 


MR.  MONROE.  95 

The  person  and  character  of  the  President  were  no  longer  respected. 
The  Republicans  were  resolved  that  their  opponents  should  not  shel- 
ter themselves  behind  the  aegis  of  his  fame.  They  considered  that 
he  had  descended  into  the  arena  of  strife,  and  were  determined  that 
he  should  share  the  fate  of  other  combatants. 

Happily  for  him,  he  soon  sought  repose  in  voluntary  retirement. 
The  reins  of  government  fell  into  other  hands.  On  the  4th  of  March, 
1797,  this  pure  patriot  entered  the  shades  of  Mount  Yernon  with  in- 
finitely more  pleasure  than  he  had  ever  passed  the  threshold  into  the 
cabinet  of  power.  However  much  some  of  the  measures  of  his  admin- 
istration may  be  condemned,  his  own  motives  are  above  suspicion. 
If  ever  a  man  had  in  view  the  exaltation  of  the  character  of  his  own 
country,  impressing  on  it  a  pure  American  stamp,  free  from  all 
foreign  alloy,  he  had.  Whether  all  the  measures  advocated  by  him 
tended  to  that  end  is  another  question.  The  historian  must  not  be 
deterred  from  a  critical  examination  into  them  from  the  fear  of  tar- 
nishing his  great  name.  That  is  impossible  !  From  the  clouds  of 
party  it  has  come  out  all  the  brighter  for  the  mists  by  which  it  was 
temporarily  enveloped 


CHAPTEE   XIX. 

MR.   MONROE — FRANCE — MR.  ADAMS  ELECTED  PRESIDENT. 

THE  charges  against  Mr.  Monroe  were  unjust,  and  his  recall  an  im- 
politic measure,  unless  the  Government  had  determined  not  to  send 
a  successor,  for  which  there  was  sufficient  reason.  Nothing  but  the 
intemperate  zeal  of  such  partisans  as  Pickering  and  "Wolcott  could 
have  advised  the  course  pursued.  The  strangest  part  of  the  business 
is  that  General  Washington  should  have  yielded  so  completely  to 
their  views.  He  speaks  more  harshly,  if  possible,  than  they  do,  not 
only  of  Mr.  Monroe's  conduct,  but  of  his  motives.  He  charges  him 
with  misrepresenting  his  own  Government,  an  undue  condescension 
to  that  of  France,  and  alleges  that  he  was  promoting  the  views  of  a 
party  in  his  own  country,  that  were  obstructing  every  measure  of  the 


96  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

Administration,  and,  by  their  attachment  to  France,  were  hurrying 
it  (if  not  ivith  design,  at  least  in  its  consequences),  into  a  war  with 
Great  Britain,  in  order  to  favor  France.  He  further  charges  that 
this  French  party  had  brought  the  country  to  a  most  degraded  and 
humiliating  condition  ;  and  that  our  Minister  at  Paris  had  been  the 
principal  actor  in  its  accomplishment.  *  That  he  was  timid  in  his  de- 
mands of  justice,  and  over  zealous  in  his  efforts  to  conciliate  the 
French  people,  cannot  be  doubted.  But  he  had  a  most  difficult  part 
to  perform.  His  open  reception  by  the  National  Convention — the 
fraternal  embrace  in  the  midst  of  shouts  and  acclamation,  and  his  un- 
reserved declarations  of  attachment  to  the  French  cause,  were  not  at 
all  diplomatic.  The  people  of  Paris,  who  were  the  Government  in 
fact,  would  have  consented  to  no  other  kind  of  reception.  Fond  of 
exhibition  and  excitement  at  all  times,  they  could  not  let  an  occasion 
of  that  sort  pass  quietly  by  without  considering  that  they  had  cast  a 
slight  on  the  representative  of  a  sister  Republic.  At  the  same  time, 
the  whole  nation  were  thoroughly  impressed  with  the  belief  that  we 
owed  our  existence  to  them  ;  that  their  timely  alliance  had  sustained 
our  cause  against  the  arms  of  England,  and  their  powerful  influence 
in  negotiation  had  secured  our  Independence.  They  were  taught 
this  lesson  not  only  by  their  own  Government,  and  the  thousands  of 
Frenchmen  who  fought  in  our  armies,  but  they  were  taught  it  by  the 
statesmen  of  America,  her  orators,  her  poets,  her  historians,  and  all 
her  diplomatic  agents  abroad.  All  France  was  penetrated  with  a 
belief  that  we  owed  them  a  debt  of  gratitude  that  no  service  could 
repay.  Whether  right  or  wrong,  such  was  the  national  faith.  They 
were  now  engaged  in  a  war  with  the  very  nation  from  whose  tyran- 
nous oppression  they  had  plucked  us — their  own  hereditary  enemy 
of  a  thousand  years — a  war  destructive,  vindictive,  exterminating. 
So  soon,  therefore,  as  it  was  known  that  the  United  States  had  sent 
an  envoy  to  negotiate  a  treaty  with  England,  their  suspicions  were 
awakened.  They  doubted  the  sincerity  of  our  declarations  of  friend- 
ship, and  insisted  that  Mr.  Monroe  was  merely  sent  to  blind  and  lull 
them  into  repose,  while  the  real  design  was  a  close  alliance  with  their 
mortal  foe.  In  vain  did  the  Minister  declare  that  no  treaty  would 
be  made  with  England  that  would  affect  the  rights  of  France.  There 
is  no  reasoning  in  detail  with  the  multitude ;  special  facts  make  but  a' 
slight  impression,  they  are  governed  by  broad  and  universal  truths. 


FRANCE.  97 

It  was  impossible  to  persuade  the  French  mind  that  the  United 
States  meant  well  in  seeking  to  form  a  treaty  with  their  enemies, 
while  they  were  impressed  with  the  belief  that  they  owed  their  exist- 
ence, independence,  and  an  immense  debt  of  gratitude  to  France. 
Whenever  Mr.  Monroe  made  a  demand  for  the  redress  of  our  many 
grievances,  he  was  at  once  met  with  the  charge  of  ^ngratitude,  and 
was  threatened  with  the  displeasure  and  hostility  of  France,  if  the 
treaty  then  in  progress  at  London  should  be  consummated.  So  soon 
as  it  was  known  that  a  treaty  had  been  made,  and  that  it  had  been 
advised  by  the  Senate  and  ratified  by  the  President,  the  hostility  of 
the  French  Government  and  the  indignation  of  the  people  knew  no 
bounds.  The  harassing  decrees  of  Government,  the  depredations 
on  American  commerce,  the  atrocious  cruelties  committed  on  her 
seamen  and  citizens  were  worse  than  if  there  had  been  an  open  decla- 
ration of  war  ;  for  then  all  merchant  vessels  would  have  been  kept  at 
home.  It  was  declared  by  the  Government  that  these  things  were 
done  in  consequence  of  the  British  treaty.  They  now  began  to  draw 
a  distinction  between  the  Administration  and  the  people  of  the  United 
States.  They  imagined  that  a  large  majority  were  friendly  to  an 
alliance  with  France.  The  first  appeal  was  made  by  the  minister 
Adet,  in  the  autumn  of  1796,  with  a  view  of  influencing  the  presiden- 
tial election.  Mr.  Adams  was  considered  as  the  representative  of 
the  Administration,  or  English  party,  and  Mr.  Jefferson  the  repre- 
sentative of  the  French  party.  The  next  occasion  on  which  this 
spirit  was  manifested  in  the  most  remarkable  degree,  was  in  the 
month  of  December,  1796,  by  the  Directory.  "When  Mr.  Monroe 
presented  his  letters  of  recall,  and  the  letters  of  credence  of  General 
Pinckney,  who  the  reader  knows  had  been  appointed  to  succeed  him, 
he  was  told  that  the  Directory  would  not  acknowledge  nor  receive 
another  Minister  Plenipotentiary  from  the  United  States,  until  after 
the  redress  of  grievances  demanded  of  the  American  Government, 
and  which  the  French  Government  had  a  right  to  expect  from  it. 
He  was,  at  the  same  time,  told  that  this  determination  allowed  to 
subsist  between  the  French  Kepublic  and  the  American  people,  the 
affection  founded  upon  former  benefits  and  reciprocal  interests,  and 
that  he  himself  had  cultivated  this  affection  by  every  means  in  his 
power.  And  to  his  valedictory  address,  the  President  of  the  Execu- 
tive Directory  thus  replied  : — "  Mr.  Minister  Plenipotentiary  of  the 


98  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

United  States  of  America,  by  presenting  to-day  your  letters  of  recall 
to  the  Executive  Directory,  you  give  to  Europe  a  very  strange  spec- 
tacle. France,  rich  in  her  liberty,  surrounded  by  a  train  of  victories, 
strong  in  the  esteem  of  her  allies,  will  not  abase  herself  by  calcula- 
ting the  consequences  of  the  condescension  of  the  American  Govern- 
ment to  the  suggestions  of  Iwr former  tyrants.  Moreover,  the  French 
Kepublic  hopes  that  the  successors  of  Columbus,  Raleigh,  and  Penn— 
always  proud  of  their  liberty — will  never  forget  that  they  oive  it  to 
France.  They  will  weigh  in  their  wisdom  the  magnanimous  benevo- 
lence of  the  French  people,  with  the  crafty  caresses  of  certain  perfidi- 
ous persons  who  meditate  bringing  them  back  to  their  former  slavery. 
Assure  the  good  American  people,  sir,  that,  like  them,  we  adore 
liberty ;  that  they  will  always  have  our  esteem,  and  that  they  will 
find  in  the  French  people  republican  generosity,  which  knows  how 
to  grant  peace,  as  it  does  to  cause  its  sovereignty  to  be  respected." 

While  Mr.  Monroe  was  assured  that  he  had  combated  for  prin- 
ciples, had  known  the  true  interests  of  his  country,  and  that  they 
parted  from  him  with  regret,  General  Pinckney  was  treated  in  the 
most  disrespectful  manner.  In  no  manner  was  he  recognized  in  his 
official  capacity,- — was  refused  the  usual  cards  of  hospitality  on  which 
his  personal  safety  depended,  and  like  an  ordinary  stranger,  was  left 
wholly  to  the  regulations  of  the  Paris  police.  And  about  the  first  of 
February,  1797,  the  very  day  that  Bonaparte's  brilliant  termination 
of  the  Italian  campaigns  was  announced,  he  was  ordered  to  quit 
Paris,  and  to  pass  beyond  the  confines  of  France. 

The  news  of  the  election  of  Mr.  Adams  to  the  presidency,  arrived 
in  Paris  about  the  first  of  March.  This  filled  the  measure  of  hos- 
tile feelings  on  the  part  of  the  Directory :  they  were  now  ready  for 
any  extremity.  The  unfriendly  sentiments  of  Mr.  Adams  were  well 
known  in  France;  and  they  were  cordially  reciprocated.  Those 
feelings  began  to  develope  themselves  at  an  early  period.  And  it  is 
important  at  this  point  of  our  history,  that  the  reader  should  know 
their  origin. 

In  the  summer  of  1780  Mr.  Adams  was  in  Paris,  charged  with 
three  distinct  commissions  from  the  Congress  of  the  Confederation  : 
first,  to  take  a  share  in  any  future  negotiations  for  peace ;  second, 
to  conclude  a  treaty  of  commerce  with  Great  Britain ;  third,  to  re- 
present the  United  States  at  the  Court  of  London.  At  that  time 


FRANCE.  99 

there  was  not  the  slightest  prospect  of  peace.  Cornwallis  was 
inarching  triumphantly  through  the  southern  provinces,  and  Eng- 
land was  in  high  hopes  of  subjugating  her  revolted  colonies.  At  this 
conjuncture,  Mr.  Adams  proposed  to  make  known  to  the  Court  of 
London  that  he  held  a  commission  to  conclude  a  treaty  of  commerce 
with  Great  Britain,  and  to  represent  the  United  States  at  the  Court 
of  London.  As  he  was  required  to  do,  he  consulted  the  Count  de 
Vergennes  on  the  subject.  That  nobleman,  the  Secretary  for  Foreign 
Affairs,  ridiculed  it  as  an  ill-timed  and  visionary  proposition.  To 
be  solicitous  about  a  treaty  of  commerce,  before  independence  was 
established,  he  thought  was  like  being  busy  about  furnishing  a  house 
before  the  foundation  was  laid.  He  told  Mr.  Adams  that  the  Bri- 
tish ministry  would  consider  the  communication  as  ridiculous,  and 
would  either  return  no  answer,  or  an  insolent  one. 

Mr.  Adams  still  insisted  on  the  propriety  of  his  course,  entered 
into  an  elaborate  argument  to  prove  it,  and  was  very  intemperate  in 
his  language  and  insinuations  as  to  the  motives  of  France,  and 
showed  an  overweening  desire  either  to  figure  himself  in  the  Court 
of  London,  or  to  form  a  close  commercial  alliance  with  England  as 
the  best  means  of  securing  independence  to  his  country.  He  evi- 
dently showed  no  disposition  to  rely  on  the  good  intentions  of  France 
in  the  business. 

The  Count  de  Vergennes  at  length  inclosed  a  copy  of  his  corre- 
spondence with  Mr.  Adams,  to  Dr.  Franklin,  accompanied  with  these 
remarks : — "  You  will  find,  I  think,  in  the  letters  of  that  plenipoten- 
tiary, opinions  and  a  tone  which  do  not  correspond  either  with  the 
manner  I  explained  myself  to  him,  or  with  the  intimate  connection 
which  subsists  between  the  king  and  the  United  States.  You  will 
make  that  use  of  these  pieces  which  your  prudence  shall  suggest. 
As  to  myself,  I  desire  that  you  will  transmit  them  to  Congress,  that 
they  may  know  the  line  of  conduct  which  Mr.  Adams  pursues  with 
regard  to  us,  and  that  they  may  judge  whether  he  is  endowed,  as 
Congress  no  doubt  desires,  with  that  conciliating  spirit  which  is  ne* 
cessary  for  the  important  and  delicate  business  with  which  he  is  in 
trusted." 

The  communication  was  made  to  Congress  ;  and  that  body  re- 
sponded to  Mr.  Adams,  that  they  did  not  doubt  his  correspondence 
with  the  Count  de  Vergennes  flowed  from  his  zeal  and  assiduity  in 
8 


100  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

the  service  of  his  country,  but  that  the  opinions  of  that  minister  .wors 
well-founded,  and  that  he  must  be  more  cautious  in  future.  Mr. 
Adams  never  forgot  or  forgave  this  insult  to  his  vanity  and  self-es- 
teem, which  were  ruling  traits  in  his  character.  He  soon  left  for 
Holland,  where  he  remained  till  negotiations  for  peace  had  com- 
menced in  Paris,  in  November,  1782.  When  he  arrived  on  the 
scene  of  action,  Mr.  Jay  and  Dr.  Franklin,  two  of  the  associate  com- 
missioners, had  made  considerable  progress  in  the  negotiation.  The 
whole  matter  was  talked  over  to  him,  and  he  very  soon  displayed  his 
suspicions  of  the  sincerity  and  motives  of  France.  In  his  correspond- 
ence he  thus  writes  : — "Paris,  Nov.  1782.  When  I  speak  of  this 
(French)  Court,  I  know  not  that  any  other  minister  (Count  de  Ver- 
gennes)  is  included  than  that  of  Foreign  Affairs.  A  whole  system  of 
policy  is  now  as  glaring  as  the  day,  which  perhaps  Congress  and  the 
people  of  America  have  little  suspicion  of.  The  evidence  now  results 
from  a  large  view  of  all  our  European  negotiations.  The  same  prin- 
ciple and  the  same  system  have  been  uniformly  pursued  from  the 
beginning  of  my  knowledge  in  Europe,  in  April,  1778,  to  this  hour. 
In  substance  it  has  been  this : — In  assistance  afforded  us  in  naval 
force  and  in  money,  to  keep  us  from  succumbing,  and  nothing  more  : 
To  prevent  us  from  ridding  ourselves  wholly  of  our  enemies,  and 
from  growing  rich  and  powerful :  To  prevent  us  from  obtaining  ac- 
knowledgments of  our  independence  by  other  foreign  powers,  and 
from  acquiring  consideration  in  Europe,  or  any  advantage  in  the 
peace,  but  what  is  expressly  stipulated  in  the  treaties :  To  deprive 
us  of  the  Grand  Fishery,  the  Mississippi  river,  the  Western  lands, 
and  to  saddle  us  with  the  tories."  The  friends  of  Mr.  Adams  even 
went  so  far  as  to  say,  that  Dr.  Franklin  favored,  or  did  not  oppose 
the  designs  of  France  against  the  United  States ;  and  that  it  was 
entirely  owing  to  the  firmness,  sagacity,  and  disinterestedness  of  Mr. 
Adams,  with  whom  Mr.  Jay  united,  that  we  had  obtained  those  im- 
portant advantages.  Dr.  Franklin,  in  allusion  to  this  subject,  says : 
"  He  (Mr.  Adams)  thinks  the  French  minister  one  of  the  greatest 
enemies  of  our  country ;  that  he  would  have  straitened  our  bounda- 
ries, to  prevent  the  growth  of  our  people  ;  contracted  our  fishery  to 
obstruct  the  increase  of  our  seamen;  and  retained  the  royalists 
amongst  us,  to  keep  us  divided  ;  that  he  privately  opposed  all  our  ne- 
gotiations with  foreign  courts,  and  afforded  us.  during  the  war,  the  as- 


MR.  ADAMS  ELECTED  PRESIDENT.  101 

sistance  we  received,  only  to  keep  it  alive,  that  we  might  be  so  much 
the  more  weakened  by  it ;  that  to  think  of  gratitude  to  France  is  the 
greatest  of  follies,  and  that  to  be  influenced  by  it  would  ruin  us.  He 
makes  no  secret  of  his  having  these  opinions — expresses  them  pub- 
licly, sometimes  in  presence  of  the  English  ministers,  and  speaks  of 
hundreds  of  instances,  which  he  could  produce  in  proof  of  them.  If 
I  were  not  convinced  of  the  real  inability  of  this  Court  to  furnish  the 
further  supplies  we  asked,  I  should  suspect  these  discourses  of  a  per- 
son in  his  station  might  have  influenced  the  refusal — (at  that  very 
moment,  the  king  of  France  had  postponed  his  own  creditors,  that  he 
might  furnish  means  to  sustain  the  credit  of  the  United  States  ;) — 
but  I  think  they  have  gone  no  further  than  to  occasion  a  suspicion, 
that  ice  have  a  considerable  party  of  anti- Galileans  in  America, 
who  are  not  tories,  and  consequently,  to  produce  some  doubts  of  the 
continuance  of  our  friendship.  As  such  doubts  may  hereafter  have 
a  bad  effect,  I  think  we  cannot  take  too  much  care  to  remove  them : 
and  it  is,  therefore,  I  write  this  to  put  you  on  your  guard  (believ- 
ing it  my  duty,  though  I  know  I  hazard  by  it  a  mortal  enmity),  and 
to  caution  you  respecting  the  insinuations  of  this  gentleman  against 
this  Court,  and  the  instances  he  supposes  of  their  ill  will  to  us,  which 
I  take  to  be  as  imaginary  as  I  know  his  fancies  to  be,  that  Count  cle 
Yergennes  and  myself  are  continually  plotting  against  him,  and  em- 
ploying the  news-writers  of  Europe  to  depreciate  his  character.  But 
as  Shakspeare  says,  "  Trifles  light  as  air,"  &c.  I  am  persuaded, 
however,  that  he  means  well  for  his  country,  is  always  an  honest 
man,  often  a  wise  one,  but  sometimes,  and  in  some  things,  absolutely 
out  of  his  senses." 

This  was  the  man  elected  President  of  the  United  States.  Such 
were  the  opinions  and  sentiments  entertained  by  him  in  regard  to 
France,  which  time  and  the  revolution  in  that  country  had  only  de- 
veloped and  strengthened. 

So  soon  as  this  election  was  known,  and  avowedly  in  consequence 
of  it,  the  Executive  Directory,  on  the  2d  of  March,  1797,  decreed 
that  the  treaty  concluded  on  the  sixth  of  February,  1778,  between 
France  and  the  United  States,  was  modified  of  full  right  by  that 
which  had  been  concluded  at  London  on  the  nineteenth  of  November, 
1794,  between  the  United  States  of  America  and  England;  and  in 
consequence  thereof,  decreed  further,  that  all  merchandise  of  the 


102  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

enemy's,  all  merchandise  not  sufficiently  ascertained  to  be  neutral^ 
conveyed  under  American  flags,  shall  be  confiscated ;  that  every 
thing  which  serves  directly  or  indirectly  to  the  arming  and  equipping 
of  vessels,  shall  be  contraband — that  every  American  who  shall  hold 
a  commission  from  the  enemies  of  France,  as  well  as  every  seaman  of 
that  nation,  composing  the  crew  of  the  ships  and  vessels,  shall,  by 
this  fact  alone,  be  declared  piratical,  and  treated  as  such,  without 
suffering  the  party  to  establish  that  the  act  was  the  consequence  of 
threats  or  violence ;  that  every  American  ship  shall  be  deemed  a 
lawful  prize,  which  shall  not  have  on  board  a  bill  of  lading  (role 
cVequipage)  in  due  form,  according  to  the  plan  annexed  to  the  treaty 
of  the  sixth  of  February,  1778.  This  was  in  fact  a  declaration  of 
war  in  disguise.  It  was  so  intended.  The  Government  avowed  their 
determination  to  fleece  the  American  citizens  of  their  property,  to  a 
sufficient  degree  to  bring  them  to  their  feeling  in  the  only  nerve  in 
which  it  was  presumed  their  sensibility  lay,  which  was  their  pecuniary 
interest. 

When  Mr.  Adams  was  inaugurated  on  the  fourth  of  March,  1797, 
he  was  ignorant  of  this  decree  ;  he  only  knew  that  General  Pinckney 
had  been  refused  credence  as  Minister  Plenipotentiary,  and  had  been 
ordered  to  leave  France. 

Notwithstanding  this,  he  expressed  a  desire  for  reconciliation. 
Meeting  with  Mr.  Jefferson,  who  had  come  to  Philadelphia  to  take 
upor.  himself  the  duties  of  Yice-President,  to  which  office  he  had 
just  been  elected,  Mr.  Adams  entered  immediately  on  an  explanation 
of  the  situation  of  our  affairs  with  France,  and  the  danger  of  rupture 
with  that  nation,  a  rupture  which  would  convulse  the  attachments  of 
this  country  ;  that  he  was  impressed  with  the  necessity  of  an  imme- 
diate mission  to  the  Directory,  and  had  concluded  to  send  one,  which, 
by  its  dignity,  should  satisfy  France,  and  by  its  selection  from  the 
three  great  divisions  of  the  continent,  should  satisfy  all  parts  of  the 
United  States ;  in  short,  that  he  had  determined  to  join  Gerry  and 
Madison  to  Pinckney,  and  he  requested  Mr.  Jefferson  to  consult  Mr. 
Madison  for  him.  On  the  sixth  of  March,  when  Mr.  Jefferson  re- 
ported the  result  of  his  negotiation  with  Mr.  Madison,  the  President 
replied,  that,  on  consultation,  some  objections  to  that  nomination  had 
been  raised,  which  he  had  not  contemplated ;  the  subject  was  then 
dropped,  and  never  afterwards  resumed.  The  consultation  alluded 


MR.  ADAMS  ELECTED  PRESIDENT.  1Q3 

to  was  with  Pickering,  Wolcott,  McHenry  and  Lee,  the  late  Cabi* 
net  of  General  Washington,  which  he  had  transmitted  entire  to  his 
successor.  The  feelings  and  opinions  of  those  gentlemen  are  well 
known  to  the  reader.  So  that  the  kind  intentions  of  Mr.  Adams,  in 
the  first  enthusiasm  of  office,  towards  the  Republican  party,  and  his 
spirit  of  conciliation  towards  France,  were  soon  dissipated  by  the 
advice  of  his  counsellors.  In  less  than  three  weeks  from  this  date, 
the  President's  proclamation  was  issued,  requiring  an  extraordinary 
session  of  Congress  to  be  convened  on  the  fifteenth  day  of  May. 

It  is  obvious  that  the  President  was  advised  to  this  measure,  and 
that  the  design  of  his  advisers  was  to  procure,  if  not  a  declaration  of 
war,  at  least  the  enactment  of  such  strong  retaliatory  measures  as 
would  lead  to  that  result.  There  could  have  been  no  other  motive 
in  convening  the  legislative  department  at  that  unusual  season ;  and 
when  the  decree  of  the  2d  of  March  was  made  known,  there  was  no 
other  alternative  left  to  the  Administration.  The  President  might 
have  dismissed  his  ministers,  and  taken  into  his  Cabinet  such  men  as 
M  /idison,  Gallatin  and  Gerry.  With  their  advice  he  could  have  sent 
tt  France,  as  he  proposed  at  first,  such  envoys  as  would  at  once  have 
satisfied  that  nation,  smothered  every  asperity,  caused  the  repeal  of 
every  obnoxious  decree,  and  the  institution  of  a  tribunal  to  try  all 
questions  of  dispute  between  the  two  nations.  But  not  choosing  to 
follow  this  course,  there  was  no  alternative  in  the  line  of  policy  to 
be  pursued  but  war  or  disgrace. 

The  President's  opening  speech  on  the  17th  of  May,  was  consid- 
ered by  his  friends  sufficiently  spirited.  After  giving  a  history  of 
the  rejection  of  the  American  Minister  by  the  Executive  Directory, 
and  the  indignities  offered  to  the  nation  through  him,  he  thus  pro- 
ceeds :  "  With  this  conduct  of  the  French  Government,  it  will  be 
proper  to  take  into  view  the  public  audience  given  to  the  late  Minis- 
ter of  the  United  States  on  his  taking  leave  of  the  Executive  Direc- 
tory— the  speech  of  the  President  discloses  sentiments  more  alarm- 
ing than  the  refusal  of  a  Minister,  because  more  dangerous  to  our 
independence  and  union  ;  and  at  the  same  time  studiously  marked 
with  indignities  towards  the  Government  of  the  United  States  :  it 
evinces  a  disposition  to  separate  the  people  of  the  United  States  from 
the  Government,  to  persuade  them  that  they  have  different  affections, 
principles,  and  interests,  from  those  of  their  fellow-citizens  whom  they 


104  L!FE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

themselves  have  chosen  to  manage  their  common  concerns  *  and  thua 
to  produce  divisions  fatal  to  our  peace.  Such  attempts  ought  to  be 
repelled  with  a  decision  which  shall  convince  France  and  the  world, 
that  we  are  not  a  degraded  people,  humiliated  under  a  colonial  spirit 
of  fear  and  sense  of  inferiority,  fitted  to  be  the  miserable  instruments 
of  foreign  influence,  and  regardless  of  national  honor,  character,  and 
interest." 

While  he  intended  to  make  another  effort  to  adjust  all  our  differ- 
ences with  France  by  amicable  negotiation,  the  threatening  aspect  of 
affairs  rendered  it  his  indispensable  duty  to  recommend  to  the  con- 
sideration of  Congress  effectual  'measures  cf  defence.  "  The  present 
situation  of  our  country,"  says  he,  in  conclusion,  "  imposes  an  obliga- 
tion on  all  the  departments  of  Government  to  adopt  an  explicit  and 

decided  conduct It  is  impossible  to  conceal  from  ourselves,  or 

the  world,  what  has  been  before  observed,  that  endeavors  have  been 
employed  to  foster  and  establish  a  division  between  the  Government 
and  the  people  of  the  United  States.  To  investigate  the  causes 
which  have  encouraged  this  attempt  is  not  necessary ;  but  to  repel, 
by  decided  and  united  councils,  insinuations  so  derogatory  to  the 
honor,  and  aggressions  so  dangerous  to  the  constitution,  union,  and 
even  independence  of  the  nation,  is  an  indispensable  duty.  ....  Con- 
vinced that  the  conduct  of  this  Government  has  been  just  and  impar- 
tial to  foreign  nations ;  that  those  internal  regulations  "which  have 
been  established  by  land  for  the  preservation  of  peace,  are  in  their 
nature  proper,  and  that  they  have  been  fairly  executed ;  nothing  will 
ever  be  done  by  me  to  impair  the  national  engagements,  to  innovate 
upon  principles  which  have  been  so  deliberately  and  uprightly  estab- 
lished, or  to  surrender  in  any  manner  the  rights  of  the  Government" 

This  energetic  speech  of  the  President  was  not  responded  to  by 
the  Representatives  in  the  same  spirit.  The  original  draft  of  the 
address  intending  to  be  fully  responsive  to  the  speech,  contained  the 
following  clause :  "  Knowing  as  we  do  the  confidence  reposed  by  the 
people  of  the  United  States  in  their  Government,  we  cannot  hesitate 
in  expressing  our  indignation  at  the  sentiments  disclosed  by  the 
President  of  the  Executive  Directory  of  France  in  his  speech  to  the 
Minister  of  the  United  States.  Such  sentiments  serve  to  diseover 
the  imperfect  knowledge  which  France  possesses  of  the  real  opinions 
of  our  constituents."  This  very  pointed  and  spirited  paragraph  w«« 


MR.  ADAMS  ELECTED  PRESIDENT. 

stricken  out  by  a  vote  of  forty '-eight  to  forty-six,  and  the  following 
substituted  in  its  place  :  "  Any  sentiments  tending  to  derogate  from 
the  confidence  ;  such  sentiments,  wherever  entertained,  serve  to  evince 
an  imperfect  knowledge  of  the  real  opinion  of  our  constituents." 

The  address  contained  the  following  paragraph :  "  We  there- 
fore receive,  with  the  utmost  satisfaction,  your  information  that  a 
fresh  attempt  at  negotiation  will  be  instituted ;  and  we  cherish  the 
hope  that  a  mutual  spirit  of  conciliation,  and  a  disposition  on  the 
part  of  the  United  States  to  place  France  on  grounds  similar  to  those 
of  other  countries,  in  their  relation  and  connection  with  us,  if  any 
irregularities  shall  be  found  to  exist,  will  produce  an  accommodation 
compatible  with  the  engagements,  rights,  duties,  and  honor  of  the 
United  States."  A  motion  was  made  to  strike  out  the  latter  part  of 
this  clause,  in  regard  to  France.  It  was  negatived  by  a  vote  of 
forty-nine  to  fifty.  Thus  it  seems  that  there  were  forty-nine  mem- 
bers opposed  to  placing  France  on  similar  grounds  to  those  of  other 
countries,  in  their  relation  and  connection  with  us. 

A  motion  was  then  made  to  strike  out  the  whole  paragraph. 
QVL\J  forty-one  voted  for  this  proposition ;  so  that  there  were  at  least 
that  many  opposed  to  any  farther  negotiation,  or  conciliation  with 
France. 

A  motion  was  made  to  strike  from  the  address  the  following  pa- 
ragraph :  "  Believing,  with  you,  that  the  conduct  of  the  Government 
has  been  just  and  impartial  to  foreign  nations ;  that  the  laws  for 
the  preservation  of  peace  have  been  proper,  and  that  they  have  been 
fairly  executed,  the  representatives  of  the  people  do  not  hesitate  to 
declare,  that  they  will  giv:-  their  most  cordial  support  to  the  execu- 
tion of  principles  so  deliberately  and  uprightly  established."  This 
motion  was  made  by  Mr,  Gallatin,  who  was  a  native  of  Geneva,  and 
spoke  English  with  a  very  broken  accent.  It  was  opposed  by  Mr. 
Allen,  who  said  he  was  sure  such  a  motion  could  never  pass  while 
there  was  a  drop  of  American  blood  in  the  House,  and  an  American 
accent  to  say  no.  Forty-five  voted  to  strike  out,  thereby  expressing 
their  belief  that  the  Government  had  not  been  just  and  impartial  to 
foreign  nations — that  laws  proper  for  the  preservation  of  peace  had 
not  been  enacted,  nor  fairly  executed. 

The  House  of  Representatives  was  composed  of  one  hundrecj 
members,  leaving  out  the  Speaker ;  ninety-nine  remained  to  vote  on 


106  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

all  questions.  Fifty  made  the  majority.  Thus  the  reader  will  per- 
ceive that  a  very  large  and  powerful  minority  were  opposed  to  all 
the  measures  of  the  administration.  Much  the  larger  portion  of  its 
friends  were  desirous  of  no  further  attempts  at  negotiation  with 
France,  and  were  prepared  to  push  matters  to  the  extremity  of  war ; 
but  the  two  or  three  timid,  vacillating,  and  as  it  was  asserted,  venal  men, 
necessary  to  make  the  majority,  could  not  be  relied  on.  All  the  la- 
bors of 'Congress,  after  a  two  months'  session,  resulted  in  a  perfect 
abortion.  A  few  insignificant  acts  of  a  defensive  character  were 
passed,  but  nothing  energetic  or  decisive  was  done. 

The  republican  party,  or  French  partisans  as  they  were  called, 
were  reproached  for  this  failure.  General  Washington  had  long  be- 
fore said  they  were  the  friends  of  war  and  confusion ;  it  was  now 
asserted  that  they  were  prepared  to  sacrifice  the  independence  of 
their  own  country  to  the  ambition  of  France.  Had  it  been  merely 
a  subject  of  foreign  policy  that  divided  them  from  the  administra- 
tion, it  might  be  a  question  how  far  they  were  justified  in  giving  the 
least  countenance  to  the  indignities  and  the  atrocities  of  the  French 
Government.  But  it  must  be  remembered  that  great  principles, 
deep  and  radical,  not  only  in  regard  to  the  interpretation  of  the 
Constitution,  but  the  basis  and  design  of  all  government,  divided 
them  from  the  party  of  the  administration.  They  were  firmly  im- 
pressed with  the  belief  that  the  latter  desired  to  absorb  all  the  pow- 
ers distributed  among  the  States,  and  left  to  the  people,  into  the 
federal  head ;  to  concentrate  them  in  the  Executive,  and  then  to  con- 
solidate and  confirm  these  usurpations  by  a  close  alliance  with  Great 
Britain,  whose  government  and  policy  were  to  be  taken  as  a  model 
for  our  own ;  and  that  all  their  measures,  the  British  treaty,  disgrace 
of  Randolph,  recall  of  Monroe,  and  unconciliating  temper  towards 
France,  were  taken  with  a  view  to  the  consummation  of  these  great 
designs.  Thus  impressed,  it  could  not  be  expected  that  those  men 
would  yield  to  the  policy  of  the  administration.  The  lasting  welfare 
of  the  country  was  of  more  importance  than  the  removal  of  a  mere 
temporary  shadow  that  overhung  the  shield  of  its  fame.  They  saw 
the  administration  in  a  dilemma  ;  they  did  not  consider  it  their  duty 
to  extricate  them  from  it.  that  they  might  pursue  measures  detri- 
mental to  the  interests  of  the  country. 

Mr.  Adams  never  pursued  any  well-digested  plan  of  any  sort 


MR.  ADAMS  ELECTED  PRESIDENT.  107 

He  was  the  creature  of  impulse.  His  first  impulse,  as  we  have  «een, 
was  to  send  Madison  and  Gerry  to  France.  This  feeling  he  yielded 
to  the  wishes  of  his  counsellors,  who  were  evidently  for  war.  The 
representatives  of  the  people  were  called  together  to  second  these 
designs.  But  falling  far  short  of  the  expectations  of  those  who  had 
advised  the  call,  the  President  was  compelled  to  fall  back  on  his  ori- 
ginal plan,  and  resort  once  more  to  negotiation.  But  it  was  now  too 
late.  He  found  himself  in  this  awkward  position.  He  had  said  to 
France,  I  was  indignant  at  your  insults  and  malicious  attempts  to 
divide  the  people  from  their  government,  and  intended  to  repel  them 
with  .becoming  spirit ;  but  when  I  called  on  the  popular  branch  of 
governmentj  those  who  more  immediately  represented  the  feelings 
and  wishes  of  the  people,  to  furnish  me  the  means,  I  found  that  a 
very  formidable  minority  were  of  your  way  of  thinking ;  very  few 
prepared  to  retaliate  your  insults  with  war,  and  a  large  majority  dis- 
posed to  conciliate  you  by  further  negotiations.  I  am  compelled  to 
yield  to  their  wishes,  as  they  are  the  war-making  power ;  and  as  a 
token  of  my  sincerity,  I  send  you  three  envoys — Messrs.  Pinckney, 
Marshall,  and  Dana — gentlemen,  one  of  whom  you  know,  of  high- 
toned  character,  great  devotion  to  my  administration  and  the  policy 
of  my  predecessor — indignant  at  the  insults  you  have  offered  their 
government,  hostile  to  your  principles,  shocked  at  your  merciless 
barbarities  at  home  and  abroad,  and  prepared  with  unyielding  energy 
and  spirit  to  demand  redress  for  the  depredations  you  have  com- 
mitted on  our  commerce,  and  the  injuries  you  have  done  to  our 
seamen. 

What  could  have  been  expected  from  such  a  mission  but  disap- 
pointment and  additional  insult  ?  It  is  true  Mr.  Dana  resigned,  and 
Gerry  was  put  in  his  place  ;  but  the  majority  of  the  commission  were 
precisely  such  men  as  were  the  least  agreeable  to  the  Directory.  It 
was  just  as  well  known  to  Barras.  Merlin,  and  Talleyrand,  as  it  was 
to  Gallatin,  Madison,  and  Jefferson,  that  the  administration  were  in 
a  difficulty  from  which  they  could  not  easily  escape.  They  saw 
plainly  from  the  proceedings  and  the  debates  of  Congress,  that  Mr. 
Adams  would  be  compelled  to  yield  to  the  republican  party,  or  make 
war  on  France,  and  ally  himself  with  England,  or  retire  in  disgrace. 
A  war  with  France,  and  a  consequent  alliance  with  England,  they 
knew  would  not  be  attempted  with  so  formidable  an  opposition  a>> 


108  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

the  late  Congress  had  displayed.  They  had  every  reason  to  expec^ 
that  by  a  steady  resistance  to  the  overtures  of  the  administration, 
they  would  finally  secure  a  triumph  to  their  friends  in  America. 
Governments  are  conducted  by  men ;  men  are  influenced  by  human 
motives,  too  often  by  the  basest  passions  and  prejudices — (Quam 
parva  sapientia  regitur  mundus.)  Judging  from  these  premises,  it 
was  preposterous  in  Mr.  Adams  to  suppose  that  his  embassy  would 
be  received  by  the  Directory  in  any  other  than  the  haughtiest 
spirit.  The  defeat  of  such  a  mission  must  have  been  foreseen  from 
the  beginning.  Pickering,  "VYolcott  and  Company  had  too  much 
political  sagacity  not  to  have  anticipated  it.  And  perhaps  it  is  not 
uncharitable  to  suppose,  that  it  was  projected  with  the  view  of  creat- 
ing additional  causes  of  irritation  on  the  part  of  France. 


CHAPTEK   XIX. 

THE  X.  Y.  Z.  BUSINESS. 

THE  envoys  arrived  in  Paris  about  the  first  of  October,  1797.  OH 
the  eighth  they  were  introduced  to  the  minister,  M.  Talleyrand,  and 
produced  their  letters  of  credence.  The  minister  informed  them 
that  he  was  engaged  in  preparing  for  the  Executive  Directory,  a 
report  relative  to  the  situation  of  the  United  States  with  regard  to 
France ;  and  that  when  it  was  finished  he  would  let  them  know  what 
steps  were  to  follow.  They  then  retired  with  the  promise  that  cards 
of  hospitality,  in  a  style  suitable  to  their  official  character,  should  be 
furnished  them.  No  further  notice  was  taken  of  them  for  ten  days. 
They  complained  to  unofficial  persons  that  they  had  been  treated 
with  great  slight  and  disrespect  since  their  arrival.  Talleyrand,  on 
the  other  hand,  complained  that  they  had  not  been  to  see  him.  He 
sent  his  private  secretary,  Mr.  Z.,  to  wait  on  them.  They  had  not 
yet  been  received  by  the  Directory ;  and,  of  course,  their  Minister  of 
Foreign  Affairs  could  not  recognize  them  publicly  as  ambassadors. 
But  he  did  all  in  his  power  to  do :  he  sent  his  secretary,  who  in- 
formed them  that  M.  Talleyrand,  Minister  of  Foreign  Relations. 


THE  X.  Y.  Z.  BUSINESS.  109 

professed  to  be  well  disposed  towards  the  United  States ;  tad  ex- 
pected to  have  seen  the  American  Ministers  frequently  in  their  pri- 
vate capacities ;  and  to  have  conferred  with  them  individually  on  the 
objects  of  their  mission  ;  and  had  authorized  him  to  make  the  com- 
munication. This,  from  the  circumstances  in  which  the  parties  were 
placed,  seems  not  to  have  been  an  unreasonable  expectation  on  the 
part  of  M.  Talleyrand.  But  two  of  the  envoys  excused  themselves 
on  the  ground  of  etiquette.  General  Pinckney  and  General  Marshall 
expressed  their  opinion,  that,  not  being  acquainted  with  M.  Talley- 
rand, they  could  not,  with  propriety,  call  on  him ;  but  that,  accord- 
ing to  the  custom  of  France,  he  might  expect  this  of  Mr.  Gerry,  from 
a  previous  acquaintance  in  America.  This  Mr.  Gerry  reluctantly 
complied  with,  and  appointed  a  day  for  an  interview.  While  thus 
standing  oft  in  this  ceremonious  manner,  and  unrecognized  by  the 
Government,  our  envoys  had  some  strange  adventures.  In  the 
morning  of  October  the  eighteenth,  Mr.  "W  *  *  *  *,  of  the  house 
of********,  called  on  General  Pinckney,  and  informed  him  that 
a  Mr.  X.  who  was  in  Paris,  and  whom  the  General  had  seen,  *  *  *  * 
*  *  *  *,  was  a  gentleman  of  considerable  credit  and  reputation,  *  *  * 
*****,  and  that  we  might  place  great  reliance  on  him.  In  the 
evening  of  the  same  day,  Mr.  X.,  the  gentleman  so  mysteriously  an- 
nounced, called  on  General  Pinckney,  and  after  having  sat  some 
time,  whispered  him,  that  he  had  a  message  from  M.  Talleyrand  to 
communicate  when  he  was  at  leisure.  General  Pinckney  immediately 
withdrew  with  him  into  another  room ;  and  when  they  were  alone 
Mr.  X.  said,  that  he  was  charged  with  a  business  in  which  he  was  a 
novice ;  that  he  had  been  acquainted  with'  M.  Talleyrand,  ****** 
*,  and  that  he  was  sure  he  had  a  great  regard  for  America 
and  its  citizens;  and  was  very  desirous  that  a  reconciliation  should 
be  brought  about  with  France ;  that  to  effectuate  that  end,  he  was 
ready,  if  it  was  thought  proper,  to  suggest  a  plan,  confidentially,  that 
M.  Talleyrand  expected  would  answer  the  purpose.  General  Pinck- 
ney said  he  would  be  glad  to  hear  it.  Mr.  X.  replied,  that  the  Di- 
rectory, and  particularly  two  of  the  members  of  it,  were  exceedingly 
irritated  at  some  passages  of  the  President's  speech  at  the  opening 
of  Congress  in  May,  and  desired  that  they  should  be  softened ;  and 
that  this  step  would  be  necessary  previous  to  our  reception ;  that, 
besides  this,  a  sum  of  money  was  required  for  the  pocket  of  the  Di- 


110  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

rectory  and  ministers  (about  fifty  thousand  pounds  sterling),  which 
would  be  at  the  disposal  of  M.  Talleyrand  j  and  that  a  loan  would 
also  be  insisted  on.  Mr.  X.  said,  if  we  acceded  to  these  measures, 
M.  Talleyrand  had  no  doubt  that  all  our  difficulties  with  France 
might  be  accommodated.  At  the  same  time,  he  said  his  communi- 
cation was  not  immediately  with  M.  Talleyrand,  but  through  another 
gentleman,  in  whom  M.  Talleyrand  had  great  confidence. 

Next  day  Mr.  X.,  and  Mr.  Y.,  the  confidential  friend  alluded 
to,  called  on  the  envoys.  Mr.  Y.,  having  been  introduced  as  the  con 
fidential  friend  of  M.  Talleyrand,  commenced  the  conversation,  and 
proceeded  pretty  much  in  the  same  strain  as  Mr.  X.  on  the  day  pre- 
ceding. He  said  the  minister  could  not  see  them  himself,  as  they 
had  not  been  received  by  the  Directory,  but  had  authorized  his  friend 
Mr.  Y.  to  communicate  certain  propositions,  and  to  promise  on  his 
part,  that  if  they  could  be  considered  as  the  basis  of  the  proposed 
negotiation,  he  would  intercede  with  the  Directory  to  acknowledge 
them,  and  to  give  them  a  public  audience.  Mr.  Y.  stated  explicitly 
and  repeatedly  that  he  was  clothed  with  no  authority ;  that  he  was 
not  a  diplomatic  character ;  that  he  was  not  ********;  ne  was 
only  the  friend  of  M.  Talleyrand,  and  trusted  by  him.  He  then 
read  tl  e  parts  of  the  President's  speech  that  were  objectionable,  and 
dilated  very  much  upon  the  keenness  of  the  resentment  it  had  pro- 
duced, and  expatiated  largely  on  the  satisfaction  he  said  was  indis- 
pensably necessary  as  a  preliminary  to  negotiation.  '•  But,"  said  he, 
u  gentlemen,  I  will  not  disguise  from  you  that  this  satisfaction  being 
made,  the  essential  part  of  the  treaty  remains  to  be  adjusted :  II  faut 
d3  1'argent — il  faut  beaucoup  d'argent;"  you  must  pay  money — you 
tnust  pay  a  great  deal  of  money.  He  said  that  the  reception  of  the 
money  might  be  so  disguised  as  to  prevent  its  being  considered  a 
breach  of  neutrality  by  England  ^  and  thus  save  us  from  being  em- 
broiled with  that  power.  Concerning  the  twelve  hundred  thousand 
livres  (£50.000),  little  was  said. 

Next  day  (October  21st)  Mr.  X.  and  Mr.  Y.  again  called  on  the 
envoys,  and  commenced  their  private  and  unofficial  negotiation.  It  was 
explained  more  fully,  how  the  loan  might  be  accomplished  by  the 
purchase  of  certain  Dutch  inscriptions  held  by  the  French  govern- 
ment ;  and  it  was  delicately  intimated,  that  if  the  envoys  would  search 
a  little,  they  might  find  means  to  soothe  the  angry  feelings  of  Mer- 


THE  X.  Y.  Z.  BUSINESS.  HI 

lin  and  Company,  and  avert  the  demand  concerning  the  President's 
speech. 

The  envoys  replied,  that  the  proposition  of  a  loan  in  the  form  of 
Dutch  inscriptions,  or  in  any  other  form,  was  not  within  the  limits 
of  their  instructions,  and  that  upon  this  point  the  Government  must 
be  consulted ;  and  one  of  the  American  ministers  would,  for  the  pur- 
pose, forthwith  embark  for  America. 

Mr.  Y.  seemed  disappointed  at  this  conclusion.  He  said  the  en- 
voys treated  the  money  part  of  the  proposition  as  if'it  had  proceeded 
from  the  Directory ;  whereas,  in  fact,  it  did  not  even  proceed  from 
the  minister,  but  was  only  a  suggestion  from  himself,  as  a  substitute 
to  be  proposed  by  them,  in  order  to  avoid  the  painful  acknowledg- 
ment that  the  Directory  had  determined  to  demand. 

These  unofficial  gentlemen,  X.  and  Y.,  who,  the  envoys  admitted, 
had  brought  no  testimonials  of  their  speaking  any  thing  from  autho- 
rity, continued  their  visits  from  day  to  day,  and  urged  their  propo- 
sitions with  all  the  earnestness  and  eloquence  they  possessed.  They 
told  the  envoys  that  France  had  just  concluded  a  treaty  with  the 
Emperor  of  Austria ;  and  that  the  Directory,  since  this  peace,  had 
taken  a  higher  and  more  decided  tone  with  respect  to  the  United 
States,  and  all  other  neutral  nations,  than  had  been  before  taken ; 
that  it  had  been  determined  that  all  nations  should  aid  them,  or  be 
considered  and  treated  as  their  enemies.  They  expatiated  on  the 
power  and  violence  of  France,  urged  the  danger  of  our  situation,  and 
pressed  the  policy  of  softening  them,  and  of  thereby  obtaining  time. 

While  these  strange  conferences  were  held  with  men  unconnected 
with  the  Government,  and  one  a  foreigner,  Mr.  Gerry,  on  the  28th  of 
October,  according  to  appointment,  paid  his  first  visit  to  the  minis- 
ter since  the  day  of  their  presentation.  The  others,  standing  on 
etiquette,  refused  to  go.  After  the  first  introduction,  M.  Talleyrand 
began  the  conference.  He  said  the  Directory  had  passed  an  arrete, 
which  he  offered  for  perusal,  in  which  they  had  demanded  of  the 
envoys  an  explanation  of  some  parts,  and  a  reparation  for  others,  of 
the  President's  speech  to  Congress,  of  the  16th  of  May  last.  He 
was  sensible,  he  said,  that  difficulties  would  exist  on  the  part  of  the 
envoys  relative  to  this  demand  ;  but  that  by  their  offering  money,  he 
thought  he  could  prevent  the  effect  of  the  arrete.  It  having  been 
stated  that  the  envoys  had  no  such  power,  M.  Talleyrand  replied,  they 


112  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

can  in  such  case  take  a  power  on  themselves,  and  proposed  that  they 
should  make  a  loan.  Mr.  Gerry  then  stated  that  the  uneasiness  of 
the  Directory  resulting  from  the  President's  speech,  was  a  subject 
unconnected  with  the  objects  of  their  mission ;  that  the  powers  of 
the  envoys,  as  they  conceived,  were  adequate  to  the  discussion  and 
adjustment  of  all  points  of  real  difference  between  the  two  nations  , 
that  they  could  alter  and  amend  the  treaty,  or,  if  necessary,  form  a 
new  one ;  that  as  to  a  loan,  they  had  no  powers  whatever  to  make 
one  ;  but  that  they  could  send  one  of  their  number  for  instructions 
on  this  proposition,  if  deemed  expedient.  M.  Talleyrand,  in  answer, 
said  he  should  be  glad  to  confer  with  the  other  envoys  individually  ; 
but  that  this  matter  about  the  money  must  be  settled  directly,  with- 
out sending  to  America ;  that  he  would  not  communicate  the  arr6te 
for  a  week ;  and  that  if  they  could  adjust  the  matter  about  the 
speech,  an  application  would,  nevertheless,  go. to  the  United  States  for 
a  loan.  In  this  private  interview  between  M.  Talleyrand  and  ono  of 
the  envoys,  that  minister  intimates  that  a  loan  will  be  asked,  and  will 
be  expected  to  be  granted  on  the  part  of  the  United  States  ;  but  not 
the  slightest  allusion  is  made  to  a  douceur  for  the  use  of  the  members 
of  the  Directory. 

On  the  llth  of  November  the  envoys  transmitted  an  official  letter 
for  the  first  time  to  the  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs,  in  which  they 
state  that  his  declaration  at  the  time  of  their  arrival,  that  a  report 
on  American  affairs  was  then  preparing,  and  would,  in  a  few  days 
b?  laid  before  the  Directory,  whose  decision  thereon  should,  without 
deiay.  be  made  known,  had  hitherto  imposed  silence  on  them.  For 
this  communication  they  had  waited  with  that  anxious  solicitude  which 
so  interesting  an  event  could  not  fail  to  excite,  and  with  that  respect 
which  was  due  to  the  government  of  France.  They  disclosed  their 
full  powers  to  treat  on  all  differences  between  the  two  nations ;  and 
expressed  their  anxiety  to  commence  the  task  of  restoring  that  friend- 
ship, that  mutual  interchange  of  good  offices,  which  it  was  alike  their 
wish  and  their  duty  to  effect  between  the  citizens  of  the  two  repub- 
lics. Having  received  no  answer,  on  the  21st  they  sent  their  secre- 
tary to  wait  on  the  minister,  and  inquire  of  him  whether  he  had 
communicated  the  letter  to  the  Directory,  and  whether  an  answer 
might  be  expected.  He  replied  that  he  had  submitted  the  letter, 
and  that  when  he  was  directed  what  steps  to  pursue,  they  should  be 
informed. 


THE  X.  Y.  Z.  BUSINESS.  113 

On  the  24th  of  December  the  envoy8  wrote  to  tlie  Secretary  of 
State,  that  they  had  received  no  answer  to  their  official  letter  to 
the  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs,  dated  the  llth  of  November;  but 
that  reiterated  attempts  had  been  made  to  engage  them  in  negotia- 
tion with  persons  not  officially  authorized.  They  further  stated  it 
as  their  opinion,  that  if  they  were  to  remain  six  months  longer,  un- 
less they  were  to  stipulate  the  payment  of  money,  and  a  great  deal 
of  it,  in  some  shape  or  other,  they  would  not  be  able  to  effectuate  the 
object  of  their  mission,  nor  would  they  even  be  officially  received. 

The  President  of  the  United  States,  in  a  message  to  Congress, 
March  19th,  1798,  stated  that  the  dispatches  from  the  envoys  ex- 
traordinary to  the  French  Republic  had  been  received,  examined, 
maturely  considered,  and  that  he  perceived  no  ground  cf  expectation 
that  the  objects  of  their  mission  could  be  accomplished,  on  terms 
compatible  with  the  safety,  honor,  or  the  essential  interests  of  the 
nation. 

On  the  27th  of  January,  1798,  the  envoys  addressed  a  letter  to 
the  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs,  on  the  subject  of  a  late  law,  author- 
izing the  capture  of  neutral  vessels,  on  board  of  which  any  produc- 
tions of  Great  Britain  or  its  possessions  should  be  laden  showing 
how  incompatible  such  law  was  with  the  rights  of  neutral  nations 
and  the  treaty  between  France  and  America,  its  direct  tendency  to 
destroy  the  remaining  commerce  of  this  country,  and  the  particular 
hardships  to  which  it  would  subject  the  agricultural  as  well  as 
commercial  interests  of  their  countrymen,  from  the  peculiar  situa- 
tion of  the  United  States.  They  added,  that  under  existing  circum- 
stances, they  could  no  longer  resist  the  conviction,  that  the  demand « 
of  France  rendered  it  entirely  impracticable  to  effect  the  objects  of 
their  mission.  On  the  19th  of  February,  having  received  no  answer 
to  this  communication,  they  sent  their  secretary  to  know  of  the  min- 
ister whether  .Jie  had  any  response  to  make.  He  replied  that  he  had 
none,  as  the  Directory  had  taken  no  order  on  the  subject.  At  length, 
on  the  27th  of  February,  for  the  first  time  since  their  arrival  in 
Paris,  the  envoys  solicited  a  personal  interview  on  the  subject  of 
their  mission.  The  minister  promptly  acceded  to  the  request,  and 
fixed  on  the  2d  day  of  March  for  the  interview.  On  that  occasion, 
the  minister  said,  that,  without  doubt,  the  Directory  wished  very 
sincerely,  on  the  arrival  of  the  envoys,  to  see  a  solid  friendship  es- 


114  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

tablished  between  France  and  the  United  States,  and  had  manifested 
this  disposition,  by  the  readiness  with  which  orders  for  their  pass- 
ports were  given.  That  the  Directory  had  been  extremely  wounded 
by  the  last  speech  of  General  Washington,  made  to  Congress  when 
about  to  quit  the  office  of  President  of  the  United  States ;  and  by 
the  first  and  last  speech  of  Mr.  Adams.  That  explanations  of  these 
speeches  were  expected  and  required  of  us.  He  said,  that  the  ori- 
ginal favorable  disposition  of  the  Directory  had  been  a  good  deal  al- 
tered by  the  coldness  and  distance  which  the  envoys  had  observed. 
That  instead  of  seeing  him  often,  and  endeavoring  to  remove  the 
obstacles  to  a  mutual  approach,  tliey  had  not  once  waited  on  him. 
In  this  state  of  things  some  proof,  he  said,  would  be  required  on  the 
part  of  the  United  States,  of  a  friendly  disposition,  previous  to  a 
treaty  with  them.  The  envoys  ought  to  search  for,  and  propose 
some  means  which  might  furnish  this  proof.  In  this  he  alluded  very 
intelligibly  to  a  loan.  He  said  he  must  exact  from  them,  on  the 
part  of  his  Government,  some  proposition  of  this  sort ;  that  to  prove 
their  friendship,  there  must  be  some  immediate  aid,  or  something 
which  might  avail  them ;  that  the  principles  of  reciprocity  would  re- 
quire it.  This  once  done,  he  said,  the  adjustment  of  complaints 
would  be  easy ;  that  would  be  matter  of  inquiry ;  and  if  France  had 
done  wrong,  it  would  be  repaired ;  but  that  if  this  was  refused,  it 
would  increase  the  distance  and  coldness  between  the  two  republics. 
It  was  replied  that  the  envoys  had  no  power  to  make  a  loan.  One 
of  them,  Mr.  Gerry,  then  observed,  that  the  Government  of  France 
must  judge  for  itself ;  but  that  it  appeared  to  him,  that  a  treaty  on 
liberal  principles,  such  as  those  on  which  the  treaty  of  commerce  be- 
tween the  two  nations  was  first  established,  would  be  infinitely  more 
advantageous  to  France  than  the  trifling  advantages  she  could  de- 
rive from  a  loan.  Such  a  treaty  would  produce  a  friendship  and  at- 
tachment on  the  part  of  the  United  States  to  France,  which  would 
be  solid  and  permanent,  and  produce  benefits  far  superior  to  those  of 
a  loan,  even  if  they  had  powers  to  make  it.  To  this  observation,  M. 
Talleyrand  made  no  reply.  Nor  did  he  express  any  sentiment  as  to 
the  propriety  of  one  of  the  envoys  going  home  to  consult  the  Gov- 
ernment on  the  expediency  of  giving  powers  to  negotiate  a  loan. 
He  had  already  expressed  his  opinion  that  they  had  the  power,  or 
might  assume  it,  without  violating  their  instructions. 


THE  X.  Y.  Z.  BUSINESS.  115 

On  the  18th  of  March,  M.  Talleyrand  addressed  a  letter  to  the 
envoys  in  answer  to  theirs  of  the  17th  January.  In  this  he  elabo- 
rately reviews  the  whole  course  of  the  two  Governments,  and  justifies 
France  in  every  particular.  It  might  appear  incredible,  ho  said, 
that  the  Republic,  and  her  alliance,  were  sacrificed  at  the  moment 
when  she  had  redoubled  her  regards  for  her  ally ;  and  that  the  cor- 
responding demonstrations  of  the  Federal  Government  had  no  other 
object  but  to  keep  her,  as  well  as  her  Government,  in  a  false  security. 
And  yet  it  is  now  known,  that,  at  this  very  period,  Mr.  Jay, 
who  had  been  sent  to  London  solely,  as  it  was  then  said,  to  nego- 
tiate arrangements  relative  to  the  depredations  committed  upcn  the 
American  commerce  by  the  cruisers  of  Great  Britain,  signed  a  treaty 
of  amity,  navigation  and  commerce,  the  negotiation  and  signing  of 
which  had  been  kept  a  profound  secret  at  Paris  and  at  Philadelphia. 
Observing  that,  in  this  treaty,  every  thing  having  been  calculated  to 
turn  the  neutrality  of  the  United  States  to  the  disadvantage  of  the 
French  Republic,  and  to  the  advantage  of  England  ;  that  the  Federal 
Government  having  in  this  act  made  to  Great  Britain  concessions 
the  most  unheard  of,  the  most  incompatible  with  the  interests  of  the 
United  States,  the  most  derogatory  to  the  alliance  which  subsisted 
between  the  said  States  and  the  French  Republic ;  the  latter  was 
perfectly  free,  in  order  to  avoid  the  inconveniences  of  the  treaty  of 
London,  to  avail  itself  of  the  preservative  means  with  which  the  laws 
of  nature,  the  law  of  nations,  and  prior  treaties  furnished  it.  Such 
were  the  reasons  which  had  produced  the  decrees  of  the  Directory,  of 
which  the  United  States  complained. 

He  then  proceeded  to  declare  that  newspapers,  known  to  be  under 
the  immediate  control  of  the  Cabinet,  had,  since  the  treaty,  redoubled 
their  invectives  and  calumnies  against  the  Republic  and  against  her 
principles,  her  magistrates  and  her  envoys.  Pamphlets,  openly  paid 
for  by  the  minister  of  Great  Britain,  had  reproduced  in  every  form 
those  insults  and  calumnies.  The  Government  itself  was  intent  on 
encouraging  this  scandal  in  its  public  acts.  The  Executive  Directory 
had  been  denounced  in  a  speech  delivered  by  the  President  as  cn« 
deavoring  to  propagate  anarchy  and  division  within  the  United  States, 
In  fine,  he  said,  one  could  not  help  discovering  in  the  tone  of  the 
speech  and  of  the  publications  which  had  just  been  pointed  to,  a 
latent  enmity  that  only  wanted  an  opportunity  to  break  out.  Facts 


LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

being  thus  established,  it  was  disagreeable,  he  said,  to  be  obliged  tc 
think  that  the  instructions  under  which  the  commissioners  acted, 
had  not  been  drawn  up  with  the  sincere  intention  of  attaining  pacific 
ends.  The  intentions  which  he  had  attributed  to  the  Government  of 
the  United  States,  were  so  little  disguised,  that  nothing  seemed  to 
have  been  neglected  at  Philadelphia  to  manifest  them  to  every  eye. 
And  it  was  probably  with  this  view  that  it  was  thought  proper  to  send 
to  the  French  Republic,  persons  whose  opinions  and  connections  were 
too  well  known  to  hope  from  them  dispositions  sincerely  conciliatory. 
Penetrated  with  the  justice  of  these  reflections,  and  thw'ir  conse- 
quences, the  Executive  Directory  had  authorized  him  to  express  him- 
self with  all  the  frankness  which  became  the  French  nation.  It  was 
only  to  smooth  the  way  of  discussions  that  he  had  entered  into  the 
preceding  explanations.  It  was  with  the  same  view  that  he  declared 
to  the  commissioners  and  envoys  extraordinary,  that,  notwithstand- 
ing the  kind  of  prejudice  which  had  been  entertained  with  respect  to 
them,  the  Executive  Directory  was  disposed  to  treat  with  that  one  of 
the  three  whose  opinions,  presumed  to  be  more  impartial,  promised, 
in  the  course  of  the  explanations,  more  of  that  reciprocal  confidence 
which  was  indispensable. 

To  the  communication  of  Talleyrand,  the  envoys  returned  a  very 
elaborate  reply,  in  which  they  reviewed  all  the  points  of  difficulty 
raised  by  him.  endeavored  to  disabuse  his  mind  as  to  the  motives  of 
the  Government  of  the  United  States,  and  the  prejudices  which  he 
imagined  to  exist  in  the  minds  of  the  envoys  themselves,  and  con- 
cluded by  declaring  that  no  one  of  them  was  authorized  to  take  upon 
himself  a  negotiation  indirectly  intrusted  by  the  tenor  of  their  powers 
and  instructions  to  the  whole ;  nor  were  there  any  two  of  them  who 
could  propose  to  withdraw  themselves  from  the  task  committed  to 
them  by  their  Government,  while  there  remained  a  possibility  of  per- 
forming it. 

The  very  day  the  answer  of  the  envoys  was  sent  to  the  minister 
(3d  April)  Mr.  Gerry  received  a  note  from  him  in  which  he  said : — 
"  I  suppose  that  Messrs.  Pinckney  and  Marshall  have  thought  it  use- 
ful and  proper,  in  consequence  of  the  intimations  given  in  the  end  of 
my  note  of  the  28th  Ventose  last  (18th  March),  and  the  obstacle 
which  their  known  opinions  have  interposed  to  the  desired  reconcilia- 
tion, to  quit  the  territory  of  the  Republic.  On  this  supposition,  1 


THE  X,  Y.  Z.  BUSINESS.  117 

have  the  honor  to  point  out  to  you  the  5th  or  7th  of  this  decade,  to 
resume  our  reciprocal  communications  upon  the  interests  of  the 
French  Republic  and  the  United  States  of  America." 

Mr.  Gerry  replied  (April  4th).  that  as  his  colleagues  we're  expected 
to  quit  the  territory  of  France,  he  had  no  authority  to  act  in  their  ab- 
sence. He  could  only  confer  informally,  he  said,  and  unaccredited,  on 
any  subject  respecting  their  mission,  and  communicate  to  the  Govern- 
ment of  the  United  States  the  result  of  such  conferences,  being  in  his 
individual  capacity  unauthorized  to  give  them  an  official  stamp. 
Nevertheless,  every  measure  in  his  power,  he  said,  and  in  conformity 
with  the  duty  he  owed  his  country,  should  be  zealously  pursued,  to 
restore  harjiony  and  a  cordial  friendship  between  the  two  republics. 

In  consequence  of  the  above  intimation  from  the  minister,  Messrs. 
Marshall  and  Pinckney  soon  left  Paris.  In  a  letter  to  the  President, 
dated  the  16th  of  April,  Mr.  Gerry  said  he  had  expected  his  passports 
with  his  colleagues,  but  was  informed  that  the  Directory  would  not 
consent  to  his  leaving  France  ;  and,  to  bring  on  an  immediate  rupture 
by  adopting  this  measure,  contrary  to  their  wishes,  would  be  in  his 
mind  unwarrantable,  and  therefore  he  concluded  to  remain. 

Thus  ended  this  extraordinary  mission  ;  a  conclusion  which  must 
have  been  foreseen — must  have  been  anticipated  by  those  who  pro- 
jected it.  So  soon  as  the  dispatches  containing  those  transactions,  of 
which  the  above  is  intended  to  be  a  faithful  though  succinct  nar- 
rative, were  made  known  to  the  public,  the  political  barometer  at 
once  rose  to  the  storm  point.  At  the  time  of  their  reception,  Con- 
gress was  debating  the  proposition,  that  it  is  inexpedient  to  resort  to 
war  against  tJte  French  Republic.  It  was  expected  to  be  carried  by 
a  majority  of  two  or  three  ;  but  it  was  now  laid  aside,  and  the  most 
vigorous  war  measures  introduced.  "  The  most  artful  misrepresen- 
tations of  the  contents  of  those  papers,"  says  Mr.  Jefferson,  April 
6th,  K  were  published  yesterday,  and  produced  such  a  shock  in  the 
republican  mind  as  had  never  been  since  our  independence.  We 
are  to  dread  the  effects  of  this  dismay  till  their  fuller  information. 
The  spirit  kindled  up  in  the  towns  is  wonderful.  These  and  New 
Jersey  are  pouring  in  their  addresses,  offering  life  and  fortune.  The 
answers  of  the  President  are  more  thrasonic  than  the  addresses. 
Nor  is  it  France  alone,  but  his  own  fellow-citizens,  against  whom 
his  threats  are  extended.  TJw  delusions,  says  he,  and  misrepresent 


LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

tations  which  have  misled  so  many  citizens  must  be  discountenanced 

ly  authority,  as  well  as  by  the  citizens  at  large At 

present  the  warhawks  talk  of  Septembrizing,  deportation,  and  the 
examples  of  quelling  sedition  set  by  the  French  Executive.  Early 
in  April  the  war  party,  with  passionate  exclamation,  declared  that 
they  would  soon  pass  a  citizens'  bill,  an  alien  bill,  and  a  sedition  bill, 
with  the  view  of  disfranchising  such  men  as  Gallatin,  banishing  Yol- 
ney,  Collot,  and  other  unfortunate  Frenchmen  who  had  taken  refuge 
in  the  country,  and  of  silencing  Bache,  Carey,  and  other  republican 
presses." 

The  excitement  spread  far  and  wide  auiong  the  people.  The  jry 
was,  millions  for  defence,  not  a  cent  for  tribute.  This  broad,  compre- 
hensive, self-evident  proposition  to  a  brave  and  independent  people, 
soon  became  the  watchword  of  the  multitude :  millions  for  defence, 
not  a  cent  for  tribute.  This  happy  and  pithy  appeal  to  the  pride  of 
a  nation  was  level  to  the  capacity  of  all ;  every  body  could  under- 
stand it ;  and,  what  was  more  important,  every  body  could  feel  it. 
'Twas  vain  to  attempt  to  reason  down  this  excited  feeling  of  national 
pride.  'Twas  vain  to  tell  the  people  that  France  had  demanded  no  tri- 
bute— that  our  envoys  had  never  held  but  one  interview  with  the  minis- 
ter of  foreign  affairs,  and  that  the  only  proposition  on  that  occasion  was 
the  bare  suggestion  that  the  United  States,  as  proof  of  her  friend- 
ship, might  make  a  loan  to  France  in  her  present  necessities,  by  way 
of  reciprocity  for  a  similar  loan  made  to  us  in  the  war  of  revolution, 
when  our  credit  and  very  existence  were  dependent  on  the  timely 
aid  then  extended  to  us  ;  that  the  demand  of  tribute  was  made  by  a 
couple  of  swindlers,  unconnected  with  the  Government,  who  had  im- 
posed on  the  credulity  of  our  envoys,  and  who,  in  fact,  encouraged 
the  intrigue,  that  they  might  make  political  capital,  in  order  to  cre- 
ate the  very  excitement  it  had  occasioned ;  that  the  only  obstacle  in 
the  way  of  an  amicable  settlement  of  all  our  differences  with  France 
was  the  intemperate  speeches  of  the  President,  the  haughty,  reserved 
and  unconciliatory  temper  of  the  envoys  themselves  ;  that  France  had 
only  done  what  she  had  a  right  to  do  according  to  the  laws  of  nations, 
to  show  her  displeasure  to  ministers  plenipotentiary  who  were  disa* 
greeable  to  her,  who  were  hostile  to  her  principles,  unfriendly  to  her 
Government,  and  of  such  a  temper  as  not  to  be  able  to  secure  her 
confidence ;  that  she  had  only  signified  her  desire  that  those  envoys 


THE  X.  Y.  Z.  BUSINESS.  Hg 

should  depart,  and  the  one  in  whom  she  had  confidence  might  remain, 
with  whom  she  was  ready  to  negotiate  on  terms  of  the  utmost  fair- 
ness and  equality.  'Twas  vain  to  state  the  plain  facts  to  an  excited 
multitude.  Millions  for  defence,  not  a  cent  for  tribute,  was  the  ready 
and  comprehensive  answer.  The  fever  was  up,  and  must  run  its 
course.  The  multitude  are  not  only  fond  of  broad  and  comprehen- 
sive phrases  that  will  serve  them  on  all  occasions,  and  save  the  neces- 
sity of  thought,  but  they  must  always  have  some  sign,  or  outward 
symbol  of  their  feelings.  On  this  occasion  the  black  cockade  of  Eng- 
land was  mounted  as  a  badge  of  hostility  to  the  tri-color  of  France. 
The  handwriting,  it  was  said,  at  the  bottom  of  an  address  is  seen 
but  by  few  persons ;  whereas  a  cockade  will  be  seen  by  the  whole 
city,  by  the  friends  and  the  foes  of  the  wearer  ;  it  v;ill  be  the  visible 
sign  of  the  sentiments  of  his  heart,  and  will  prove  that  he  is  not 
ashamed  to  avow  those  sentiments.  Persons  who  marched  to  the 
President's  house  to  present  their  warlike  addresses  were  encouraged 
to  wear  the  American  cockade.  Those  who  dare  not  designate  them- 
selves, they  were  told,  by  this  lasting  mark  of  resolution,  may,  indeed, 
walk  up  Market-street,  but  their  part  of  the  procession  will  only 
serve  to  recall  to  our  minds  the  old  battered  French  gasconade — 

:!  The  King  of  France,  with  forty  thousand  men, 
Marched  up  the  hill,  and  then — marched  down  again." 

Congress,  under  the  war-excitement,  passed  in  rapid  succession,  a 
stamp-act,  an  excise  law,  an  act,  entering  into  minute  and  vexatious 
details,  laying  a  direct  tax  on  lands,  slaves,  houses,  and  other  pro- 
perty ;  two  acts  authorizing  the  President  to  borrow  large  sums  of 
money  at  usurious  interest ;  several  acts  authorizing  the  purchasing 
of  vessels,  creating  a  naval  armament,  and  a  navy  department-  in  the 
Government ;  acts  prohibiting  the  exportation  of  arms,  and  author- 
izing the  purchase  of  cannon,  and  the  fortification  of  ports  and  har- 
bors ;  acts  creating  additional  regiments  in  the  army,  augmenting 
those  in  existence,  and  authorizing  the  President  to  call  out  and  or- 
ganize a  provisional  army  of  ten  thousand  men,  if  in  his  opinion 
there  existed  an  imminent  danger  of  invasion ;  acts  prohibiting  all 
intercourse  with  France  or  her  dependencies,  and  authorizing  the 
capture  of  all  French  armed  vessels  ;  an  act  making  it  lawful  for  the 
President  of  the  United  States  to  cause  all  such  aliens  as  he  shall 


120  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

judge  dangerous  to  the  peace  and  safety  of  the  United  States,  01 
shall  have  reasonable  grounds  to  suspect  are  concerned  in  any  trea- 
sonable or  secret  machinations  against  the  Government  thereof,  to 
depart  out  of  the  territory  of  the  United  States ;  and  an  act  declar- 
ing, that  if  any  person  shall  write,  print,  utter,  or  publish,  or  aid  in 
the  same,  any  false,  scandalous,  and  malicious  writings  against  the 
Government  of  the  United  States,  Congress,  or  the  President,  with 
intent  to  defame,  or  bring  them  into  contempt  or  disrepute,  being 
thereof  convicted  before  any  court  of  the  United  States,  shall  be 
punished  by  fine  and  imprisonment.  To  crown  all  these  vast  mili- 
tary preparations,  General  Washington  was  appointed  Commander- 
in-chief  of  the  Army.  "  We  must  have  your  name,"  said  the  Presi- 
dent, in  a  letter  to  him,  "  if  you  will  in  any  way  permit  us  to  use  it. 
There  will  be  more  efficiency  in  it  than  in  many  an  army."  With- 
out waiting  for  an  answer,  on  the  2d  of  July  he  nominated  to  the 
Senate,  "  George  Washington,  of  Mount  Vernon,  to  be  Lieutenant- 
General  and  Commander-in-chief  of  all  the  armies,  raised  and  to  be 
raised  in  the  United  States." 

Washington  accepted  the  appointment ;  and  in  his  reply  to  the 
President,  said  :  "  It  was  not  possible  for  me  to  remain  ignorant  of, 
or  indifferent  to,  recent  transactions.  The  conduct  of  the  Directory 
of  France  towards  our  country,  their  insidious  hostilities  to  its  Gov- 
ernment, their  various  practices  to  withdraw  the  affections  of  the 
people  from  it,  the  evident  tendency  of  their  arts,  and  those  of  their 
agents,  to  countenance  and  invigorate  opposition,  their  disregard  of 
solemn  treaties  and  the  laws  of  nations,  their  war  upon  our  defence- 
less commerce,  their  treatment  of  our  minister  of  peace,  and  their, 
demands,  amounting  to  tribute,  could  not  fail  to  excite  in  me  corre- 
sponding sentiments  with  those  which  my  countrymen  had  so  gene- 
rally expressed  in  their  affectionate  addresses  to  you.  Believe  me, 
sir,  no  one  can  more  cordially  approve  of  the  wise  and  prudent  mea- 
sures of  your  administration.  They  ought  to  inspire  universal  confi- 
fidence,  and  will  no  doubt,  combined  with  the  state  of  things,  call 
from  Congress  such  laws  and  means  as  will  enable  you  to  meet  the 
full  force  and  extent  of  the  crisis.  Satisfied,  therefore,  that  you  have 
sincerely  wished  and  endeavored  to  .avert  war,  and  exhausted  to  the 
last  drop  the  cup  of  reconciliation,  we  can  with  pure  hearts  appeal  to 
Heaven  for  the  justice  of  our  cause,  and  may  confidently  trust  the 


THE  X.  Y.  Z.  BUSINESS.  121 

filial  result  to  that  kind  Providence,  which  has  heretofore,  and  so 
often,  signally  favored  the  people  of  these  United  States." 

The  war  excitement  was  kept  up  through  the  summer  and  au- 
tumn. The  republican  party  found  it  difficult  to  separate  in  the 
public  mind  the  principles  for  which  they  contended,  from  the  acts 
of  the  French  Directory.  Having  been  regarded  through  the  coun- 
try as  the  French  party,  they  had  now  to  bear  much  of  the  odium 
that  was  attached  to  the  French  cause.  The  war  fever  began  to 
abate  as  winter  approached.  Mr.  Gerry,  our  envoy,  who  remained 
in  France  after  the  departure  of  his  colleagues,  and  other  eminent 
citizens  of  the  United  States,  had  now  returned  from  Europe,  and 
reported  that  the  French  Directory  were  in  a  most  friendly  temper 
towards  the  United  States,  and  were  prepared  to  treat  with  any  min- 
ister they  might  send,  on  terms  of  perfect  reciprocity.  The  Virginia 
legislature,  early  in  the  session  of  1798-9,  passed  a  series  of  resolu- 
tions denouncing  the  Alien  and  Sedition  Laws  as  unconstitutional. 
The  heavy  taxes  also  began  to  work  their  usual  effect  on  the  public 
mind.  It  was  soon  perceived  that  some  effort  must  be  made  to  pre- 
vent the  popular  current  from  turning  against  the  administration. 
The  great  object  was  to  keep  up  the  majority  in  Congress,  so  as  to 
continue  their  war  measures.  The  spring  elections  of  1799  were 
coming  on,  and  every  effort  was  made  by  both  sides  to  influence 
them.  It  was  perceived  that  the  future  destiny  of  the  country  de- 
pended on  the  result.  Virginia  was  the  great  battle-ground :  all 
eyes  were  turned  in  that  direction. 

There  was  the  stronghold  of  republicanism — there  were  its  re 
nowned  chiefs  to  be  found — Jefferson,  Madison,  Monroe,  Giles, 
Taylor,  'besides  a  host  of  others  of  less  fame,  but  equal  zeal  in 
the  cause.  There,  also,  was  Washington,  who  had  thrown  himself 
into  the  opposite  scale,  and,  with  energy,  exerted  all  his  influence 
to  give  preponderance  to  the  side  he  espoused.  No  man  did 
more  to  bring  out  influential  characters  to  represent  the  State,  both 
in  Congress  and  the  legislature.  ''  At  such  a  crisis  as  this,"  said  he. 
"  when  every  thing  dear  and  valuable  to  us  is  assailed ;  when  this 
party  hangs  upon  the  wheels  of  government  as  a  dead  weight,  op- 
posing every  measure  that  is  calculated  for  defence  and  self-preserva- 
tion ;  abetting  the  nefarious  views  of  another  nation  upon  our  rights ; 
preferring,  as  long  as  they  dare  contend  openly  against  the  spirit  and 


122  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

resentment  of  the  people,  the  interest  of  France  to  the  welfare  of 
their  own  country ;  justifying  the  former,  at  the  expense  of  the  lat- 
ter ;  when  every  act  of  their  own  government  is  tortured,  by  con- 
structions they  will  not  bear,  into  attempts  to  infringe  and  trample 
upon  the  constitution,  with  a  view  to  introduce  monarchy ;  when  the 
most  unceasing  and  the  purest  exertions,  which  were  making  to 
maintain  a  neutrality,  proclaimed  by  the  executive,  approved  un- 
equivocally by  Congress,  by  the  State  legislatures,  nay,  by  the 
people  themselves,  in  various  meetings,  and  to  preserve  the  country 
in  peace,  are  charged  with  being  measures  calculated  to  favor  Great 
Britain  at  the  expense  of  France  ;  and  all  those  who  had  any  agency 
in  it,  are  accused  of  being  under  the  influence  of  the  former,  and  her 
pensioners ;  when  measures  are  systematically  and  pertinaciously 
pursued,  which  must,  eventually,  dissolve  the  Union,  or  produce  co- 
ercion ;  I  say,  when  these  things  have  become  so  obvious,  ought 
characters  who  are  best  able  to  rescue  their  country  from  the  pend- 
ing evil,  to  remain  at  home  ?  Rather  ought  they  not  to  come  for- 
ward, and,  by  their  talents  and  influence,  stand  in  the  breach, 
which  such  conduct  has  made  on  the  peace  and  happiness  of  this 
country  ?" 

By  such  persuasions  as  this,  General  Lee  was  induced  to  offer 
himself  as  a  candidate  for  Congress  in  the  "Westmoreland  district — 
Westmoreland,  the  birth-place  of  "Washington  !  On  the  other  hand, 
by  the  persuasions  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  Dr.  Walter  Jones  came  out  in 
opposition  to  him.  The  canvass  between  these  two  champions  of 
adverse  wishes  and  sentiments,  was  very  animated.  In  colloquial 
eloquence  and  irony,  no  man  could  surpass  Dr.  Jones ;  but  he  was 
overmatched  by  his  antagonist,  in  popular  address  and  public  elo- 
quence. In  the  Richmond  district,  John  Clopton,  the  sitting  mem- 
ber, and  a  republican,  was  opposed  by  General  Marshall,  the  late 
envoy  to  France,  and,  by  all  odds,  the  ablest  champion  of  the 
federal  cause  in  Virginia.  But  the  great  field  of  contest — the  cita- 
del that  must  be  carried — was  the  State  legislature.  That  body  had 
recently  pronounced  the  Alien  and  Sedition  Laws  unconstitutional. 
The  great  object  was  now  to  obtain  a  majority  to  reverse  that  de- 
cision. It  was  well  known  that  Mr.  Madison  would  be  in  the  next 
legislature,  with  his  matchless  logic,  to  develope,  explain  and  enforce 
the  doctrines  of  the  resolutions  recently  passed.  Some  one  must  be 


THE  X.  Y.  Z.  BUSINESS.  123 

found  to  oppose  him.  General  "Washington  found  the  man — that 
man  was  Patrick  Henry.  And  by  him  the  trembling  old  warrior 
was  induced  to  buckle  on  the  harness  for  his  last  battle.  In  a  con- 
fidential letter,  dated  15th  January,  1799,  Washington  says:  "It 
would  be  a  waste  of  time  to  attempt  to  bring  to  the  view  of  a  person 
of  your  observation  and  discernment,  the  endeavors  of  a  certain 
party  among  us  to  disquiet  the  public  mind  with  unfounded  alarms ; 
to  arraign  every  act  of  the  administration  ;  to  set  the  people  at  vari- 
ance with  their  government ;  and  to  embarrass  all  its  measures. 
Equally  useless  would  it  be  to  predict  what  must  be  the  inevitable 
consequences  of  such  a  policy,  if  it  cannot  be  arrested.  Unfortu- 
nately, and  extremely  do  I  regret  it,  the  State  of  Virginia  has  taken 
the  lead  in  this  opposition.  I  have  said  the  State,  because  the  con- 
duct of  its  legislature  in  the  eyes  of  the  world  will  authorize  the  ex- 
pression. I  come  now,  my  good  sir,  to  the  object  of  my  letter,  which 
is  to  express  the  hope,  and  an  earnest  wish,  that  you  will  come  for- 
ward at  the  ensuing  elections  (if  not  for  Congress,  which  you  may 
think  would  take  you  too  long  from  home)  as  a  candidate  for  repre- 
sentative in  the  General  Assembly  of  this  Commonwealth.  Your 
weight  of  character  and  influence  in  the  House  of  Representatives 
would  be  a  bulwark  against  such  dangerous  sentiments  as  are  de- 
livered there  at  present.  It  would  be  a  rallying-point  for  the  timid, 
and  an  attraction  for  the  wavering.  In  a  word,  I  conceive  it  to  be  of 
immense  importance,  at  this  crisis,  that  you  should  be  there ;  and  I 
would  fain  hope  that  all  minor  considerations  will  be  made  to  yield 
to  the  measure."  All  minor  considerations  were  made  to  yield ;  and 
the  old  veteran,  bowed  with  age  and  disease,  was  announced  as  a  can- 
didate to  represent  the  county  of  Charlotte  in  the  General  Assembly 
of  Virginia.  Powhatan  Boiling  was  the  candidate  for  Congress,  on 
the  federal  side ;  he  was  opposed  by  John  Randolph.  On  March 
court  day,  Patrick  Henry  and  John  Randolph  met,  for  the  first  time, 
on  the  hustings  at  Charlotte  Court  House — the  one  the  champion 
9f  the  Federal — the  other  the  champion  of  the  Republican  cause. 


124  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 


CHAP  TEE   XX. 

PATRICK  HENRY. 

PATRICK  HENRY,  the  advocate  of  the  Alien  and  Sedition  Laws,  the 
defender  of  federal  measures  leading  to  consolidation !  Let  the 
reader  look  back  and  contemplate  his  course  in  the  Virginia  Con- 
vention, called  to  ratify  the  Constitution — let  him  hear  the  eloquent 
defence  of  the  Articles  of  Confederation,  which  had  borne  us  safely 
through  so  many  perils,  and  which  needed  only  amendment,  not 
annihilation — let  him  witness  the  ardent  devotion  to  the  State  gov- 
ernment as  the  bulwark  of  liberty — the  uncompromising  opposition 
to  the  new  Government,  its  consolidation,  its  destruction  of  State 
independence,  its  awful  squinting  towards  monarchy — let  him  behold 
the  vivid  picture  drawn  by  the  orator  of  the  patriot  of  seventy-six, 
and  the  citizen  of  eighty-eight;  then  it  was  liberty,  give  me  liberty  ! 
now  the  cry  was  energy,  energy,  give  me  a  strong  and  energetic 
government — then  let  him  turn  and  see  the  same  man,  in  little  more 
than  ten  years,  stand  forth,  his  prophecies  all  tending  to  rapid  fulfil- 
ment, the  advocate  of  the  principles,  the  defender  of  the  measures 
that  had  so  agitated  his  mind  and  awakened  his  fears — let  the  reader 
meditate  on  these  things,  and  have  charity  for  the  mutations  of 
political  opinion  in  his  own  day,  which  he  so  often  unfeelingly 
denounces. 

It  is  true  that  Patrick  Henry  had  been  in  retirement  since  the 
adoption  of  the  new  Constitution,  and  had  no  part  in  the  organization 
of  those  parties  which  had  arisen  under  it,  but  it  is  certain  that  they 
took  their  origin  in  those  principles  which  on  the  one  side  he  so  elo- 
quently defended,  and  on  the  other  so  warmly  deprecated.  Federal- 
ist and  Republican  were  names  unknown  in  his  day ;  but  from  his 
past  history  no  one  could  mistake  the  inclination  of  his  feelings,  or 
the  conclusions  of  his  judgment  on  the  great  events  transpiring 
around  him.  Up  to  1795  he  was  known  to  be  on  the  republican  side. 
In  a  letter,  dated  the  27th  of  June  in  that  year,  he  says :  "  Since  the 
adoption  of  the  present  Constitution  I  have  generally  moved  in  a 
narrow  circle.  But  in  that  I  have  never  omitted  to  inculeate  a  strict 


PATRICK  HENRY.  125 

adherence  to  the  principles  of  it Although  a  democrat 

myself,  I  like  not  the  late  democratic  societies.  As  little  do  I  like 
their  suppression  by  law."  On  another  occasion  he  writes :  "  The 
treaty  (Jay's  treaty)  is,  in  my  opinion,  a  very  bad  one  indeed  .... 
Sure  I  am,  my  first  principle  is,  that  from  the  British  we  have  every 
thing  to  dread,  when  opportunities  of  oppressing  us  shall  offer.'* 
He  then  proceeds  to  express  his  concern  at  the  abusive  manner  in 
which  his  old  commander-in-chief  was  treated ;  and  that  his  long  and 
great  services  were  not  remembered  as  an  apology  for  his  mistakes 
in  an  office  to  which  he  was  totally  unaccustomed. 

A  man  of  his  talents,  his  eloquence,  his  weight  of  character  ana 
influence  in  the  State,  was  well  worth  gaming  over  to  the  side  of  the 
administration.  Some  of  the  first  characters  in  Virginia  undertook 
to  accomplish  that  end.  Early  in  the  summer  of  1794,  General  Lee, 
then  governor  of  Virginia,  and  commander-in-chief  of  the  forces 
ordered  out  against  the  whisky  insurrection,  had  frequent  and 
earnest  conferences  with  him  on  public  affairs.  He  was  at  first  very 
impracticable.  It  seems  that  the  old  man  had  been  informed  that 
General  Washington,  in  passing  through  the  State  on  his  return  from 
the  South  in  the  summer  of  1791,  while  speaking  of  Mr.  Henry  on 
several  occasions,  considered  him  a  factious  and  seditious  character. 
General  Lee  undertook  to  remove  these  impressions,  and  combated 
his  opinions  as  groundless ;  but  his  endeavors  were  unavailing.  He 
seemed  to  be  deeply  and  sorely  affected.  General  Washington  de- 
nied the  charge.  All  he  had  said  on  the  occasion  alluded  to  was, 
that  he  had  heard  Mr.  Henry  was  acquiescent  in  his  conduct,  and 
that,  though  he  could  not  give  up  his  opinion  respecting  the  Consti- 
tution, yet,  unless  he  should  be  called  upon  by  official  duty,  he  would 
express  no  sentiment  unfriendly  to  the  exercise  of  the  powers  of  a 
government,  which  had  been  chosen  by  a  majority  of  the  people. 

It  was  a  long  time  before  General  Lee  had  an  opportunity  of 
communicating  to  Mr.  Henry  the  kind  feelings  of  Washington  to- 
wards him.  In  June,  1795,  about  a  year  after  the  subject  had  been 
broached  to  him,  Mr.  Henry  writes :  "  Every  insinuation  that  taught 
me  to  believe  I  had  forfeited  the  good  will  of  that  personage,  to 
whom  the  world  had  agreed  to  ascribe  the  appellation  of  good  and 
great,  must  needs  give  me  pain ;  particularly  as  he  had  opportunities 
of  knowing  my  character  both  in  public  and  in  private  life.  The  inti- 


126  .       LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

mation  now  given  me,  that  there  was  no  ground  to  believe  I  had 
incurred  his  censure,  gives  very  great  pleasure."  In  inclosing  Mr. 
Henry's  letter  to  General  "Washington  for  perusal,  Lee  thus  writes 
(17th  July,  1795):  "I  am  very  confident  that  Mr.  Henry  possesses 
the  highest  and  truest  regard  for  you,  and  that  he  continues  friendly 
to  the  General  Government,  notwithstanding  the  unwearied  efforts 
applied  for  the  end  of  uniting  him  to  the  opposition ;  and  I  must 
think  he  would  be  an  important  official  acquisition  to  the  Govern- 
ment." 

One  month  and  two  days  from  this  date  (19th  August)  as  the 
reader  remembers,  Edmund  Randolph  resigned  the  office  of  Secre- 
tary of  State.  On  the  9th  of  October  it  was  tendered  to  Patrick 
Henry.  In  his  letter  of  invitation  General  "Washington  stated  that 
the  office  had  been  offered  to  others ;  but  it  was  from  a  conviction 
that  he  would  not  accept  it.  But  in  a  conversation  with  General 
Lee,  that  gentleman  dropped  sentiments  that  made  it  less  doubtful. 
"  I  persuade  myself,  sir,"  said  the  President,  "  it  has  not  escaped 
your  observation  that  a  crisis  is  approaching  that  must,  if  it  cannot 
be  arrested,  soon  decide  whether  order  and  good  government  shall 
be  preserved,  or  anarchy  and  confusion  ensue." 

This  letter  of  invitation  was  inclosed  to  Mr.  Carrington,  a  confi- 
dential friend  of  Washington,  with  instructions  to  hold  it  back  till 
he  could  hear  from  Colonel  Innis,  to  whom  the  attorney-generalship 
had  been  offered.  But  on  consultation  with  General  Marshall,  ano- 
ther confidential  friend,  they  were  so  anxious  to  make  an  impression 
on  Patrick  Henry,  and  gain  him  over,  if  possible,  by  those  marks  of 
confidence,  that  they  disobeyed  orders,  reversed  the  order  in  which 
the  letters  were  to  be  sent,  and  dispatched  Mr.  Henry's  first,  by  ex- 
press. 

"  In  this  determination  we  were  governed,"  say  they,  "  by  the  fol- 
lowing reasons."  (We  give  the  reasons  entire,  that  the  reader  may 
see  that  great  men  and  statesmen  in  those  days  were  influenced  by  the 
same  motives  they  are  now,  and  that  men  are  the  same  in  every  age.) 
"  First,  his  non-acceptance,  from  domestic  considerations  may  be  cal- 
culated on.  In  this  event,  be  his  sentiments  on  either  point  what 
they  may,  he  will  properly  estimate  your  letter,  and  if  he  has  an^ 
asperities,  it  must  tend  to  soften  them,  and  render  him,  instead  of  a 
silent  observer  of  the  present  tendency  of  things,  in  some  degree 


PATRICK  HENRY.  127 

active  on  the  side  of  government  and  order.  Secondly,  should  he 
feel  an  inclination  to  go  into  the  office  proposed,  we  are  confident — 
very  confident — he  has  too  high  a  sense  of  honor  to  do  so  with  senti- 
ments hostile  to  either  of  the  points  in  view.  This  we  should  rely 
on,  upon  general  grounds  ;  but  under  your  letter  a  different  conduct 
is,  we  conceive  from  our  knowledge  of  Mr.  Henry,  impossible. 
Thirdly,  we  are  fully  persuaded  that  a  more  deadly  blow  could  not 
be  given  to  the  faction  in  Virginia,  and  perhaps  elsewhere,  than  that 
gentleman's  acceptance  of  the  office  in  question,  convinced  as  we  are 
of  the  sentiments  he  must  carry  with  him.  So  much  have  the  op- 
posers  of  government  held  him  up  as  their  oiucle,  even  since  he  has 
ceased  to  respond  to  them,  that  any  event  demonstrating  his  active 
support  to  government  could  not  but  give  the  party  a  severe  shock." 

A  very  good  reason  for  disobeying  instructions,  and  making  the 
first  demonstration  on  so  important  a  personage.  Mr.  Henry  did  not 
accept  the  appointment,  but  the  impression  intended  to  be  made  was 
nearly  as  complete  as  the  parties  intended. 

"  It  gives  us  pleasure  to  find,"  says  Mr.  Carrington.  "  that 
although  Mr.  Henry  is  rather  to  be  understood  as  probably  not  an 
approver  of  the  treaty,  his  conduct  and  sentiments  generally,  both  as 
to  the  government  and  yourself,  are  such  as  we  calculated  on,  and  that 
he  received  your  letter  with  impresssions  which  assure  us  of  his  dis- 
countenancing calumny  and  disorder  of  every  description." 

These  great  movements  somehow  got  wind,  and  came  to  the 
ears  of  the  leader  of  the  faction  they  were  designed  to  crush.  In  a 
letter  addressed  to  Monroe,  dated  July  10th,  1796,  Jefferson  says : 
"Most  assiduous  court  is  paid  to  Patrick  Henry.  He  has  been 
offered  every  thing,  which  they  knew  he  would  not  accept.  Some 
impression  is  thought  to  be  made  :  but  we  do  not  believe  it  is  radi- 
cal. If  they  thought  they  could  count  upon  him,  they  would  run 
him  for  their  Vice-President,  their  first  object  being  to  produce  a 
schism  in  this  State."  A  move  was  now  made  to  prevent  the  old 
man  from  going  over  altogether.  In  November  following,  the 
democratic  legislature  of  Virginia  elected  him,  for  the  third  time, 
governor  of  the  State.  In  his  letter  declining  an  acceptance  of 
the  office,  he  merely  expresses  his  acknowledgments  and  grati- 
tude for  the  signal  honor  conferred  on  him,  excuses  himself  on  the 
ground  that  he  could  not  persuade  himself  that  his  abilities  were 


128  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

commensurate  to  the  duties  of  the  office,  but  let  fall  no  expression 
that  could  indicate  his  present  political  inclinations. 

Early  in  January,  1799,  soon  after  the  passage  of  the  resolutions 
declaring  the  alien  and  sedition  laws  unconstitutional,  and  before  ho 
had  received  the  letter  from  Washington  urging  him  to  become  a  can- 
didate for  the  Virginia  legislature,  Patrick  Henry,  in  writing  to  a 
friend,  thus  expresses  himself :  "  There  is  much  cause  for  lamentar 
tion  over  the  present  state  of  things  in  Virginia.  It  is  possible  that 
most  of  the  individuals  who  compose  the  contending  factions  are  sin- 
cere, and  act  from  honest  motives.  But  it  is  more  than  probable 
that  certain  leaders  meditate  a  change  in  government.  To  effect  this., 
I  see  no  way  so  practicable  as  dissolving  the  confederacy ;  and  I  am 
free  to  own  that,  in  my  judgment,  most  of  the  measures  lately  pur- 
sued by  the  opposition  party  directly  and  certainly  .ead  to  that  end. 
If  this  is  not  the  system  of  the  party,  they  have  none,  and  act  ex- 
tempore" 

In  February  following,  the  President  nominated  Mr.  Henry  as 
one  of  the  Envoys  Extraordinary  and  Ministers  Plenipotentiary  to 
the  French  Republic.  Perhaps  the  very  day  he  appeared  before  the 
people  at  Charlotte  Court,  he  held  the  commission  in  his  pocket.  In 
his  letter  declining  the  appointment,  he  says :  "  That  nothing  short 
of  absolute  necessity  could  induce  me  to  withhold  my  little  aid  from 
an  administration  whose  abilities,  patriotism,  and  virtue,  deserve  the 
gratitude  and  reverence  of  all  their  fellow-citizens." 

In  March,  eighty-nine,  Decius  said,  I  want  to  crush  that  anti- 
federal  champion — the  cunning  and  deceitful  Cromwell,  who,  under 
the  guise  of  amendment,  seeks  to  destroy  the  Constitution,  break  up 
the  confederacy,  and  reign  tJie  tyrant  of  popularity  over  his  own  de- 
voted Virginia.  In  ninety-nine,  we  find  this  anti-federal  champion 
veered  round  to  the  support  of  doctrines  he  once  condemned,  and 
given  in  his  allegiance  to  an  administration,  which  a  majority  of  his 
countrymen  had  declared,  and  all  those  who  had  followed  him  as 
their  oracle  declared,  was  rapidly  hastening  the  Government  into 
consolidation  and  monarchy. 

•  Let  no  man  boast  of  his  consistency.  Such  is  the  subtlety  of 
human  motives,  that,  like  a  deep,  unseen  under-current,  they  uncon- 
sciously glide  us  into  a  position  to-day  different  from  that  we  occu- 
pied yesterday,  while  we  perceive  it  not,  and  stoutly  deny  it. 


MARCH  COJRT.  129 

Patrick  Henry  for  years  was  sorely  afflicted  with  the  belief  that 
the  greatest  and  best  of  mankind  considered  him  a  factious  and  sedi- 
tious character :  to  disabuse  the  mind  of  Washington,  whose  good 
opinion  all  men  desired — to  justify  the  flattering  attentions  of  those 
distinguished  men  who  had  assiduously  cultivated  his  society  and 
correspondence,  and  showered  bright  honors  on  his  head,  he  uncon- 
sciously receded  from  his  old  opinions,  and  embraced  doctrines 
which  he  had,  with  the  clearness  and  power  of  a  Hebrew  prophet, 
portrayed  and  made  bare  in  all  their  naked  deformity. 


CHAPTER    XXI, 

MARCH  COURT — THE    RISING-  AND  THE  SETTING-  SUN. 

IT  was  soon  noised  abroad  that  Patrick  Henry  was  to  address  the 
people  at  March  Court.  Great  was  the  political  excitement — still 
greater  the  anxiety  to  hear  the  first  orator  of  the  age  for  the  last  time. 
They  came  from  far  and  near,  with  eager  hope  depicted  on  every 
countenance.  It  was  a  treat  that  many  had  not  enjoyed  for 
years.  Much  the  largest  portion  of  those  who  flocked  together  that 
day,  ha$  only  heard  from  the  glowing  lips  of  their  fathers  the  won- 
derful powers  of  the  man  they  were  about  to  see  and  hear  for  the  first 
time.  The  college  in  Prince  Edward  was  emptied  not  only  of  its 
students,  but  of  its  professors.  Dr.  Moses  Hogue,  John  H.  Rice, 
Drury  Lacy,  eloquent  men  and  learned  divines,  came  up  to  enjoy  the 
expected  feast.  The  young  man  who  was  to  answer  Mr.  Henry,  if 
indeed  the  multitude  suspected  that  any  one  would  dare  venture  on 
a  reply,  was  unknown  to  fame.  A  tall,  slender,  effeminate  looking 
youth  was  he  ;  light  hair,  combed  back  into  a  well-adjusted  cue — pale 
countenance,  a  beardless  chin,  bright  quick  hazel  eye,  blue  frock,  buff 
small  clothes,  and  fair-top  boots.  He  was  doubtless  known  to  many 
on  the  court  green  as  the  little  Jack  Randolph  they  had  frequently 
seen  dashing  by  on  wild  horses,  riding  a  la  mode  Anglais,  from 
Roanoke  to  Bizarre,  and  back  from  Bizarre  to  Roanoke.  A  few 
knew  him  more  intimately,  but  none  had  ever  heard  him  speak  in 


130  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

public,  or  even  suspected  that  he  could  make  a  speech  rt  My  first 
attempt  at  public  speaking,"  says  he,  in  a  letter  to  Mrs.  Bryan,  his 
niece,  "  was  in  opposition  to  Patrick  Henry  at  Charlotte  March  Court, 
1799 ;  for  neither  of  us  was  present  at  the  election  in  April,  as  Mr. 
Wirt  avers  of  Mr.  Henry."  The  very  thought  of  his  attempting  to 
answer  Mr.  Henry,  seemed  to  strike  the  grave  and  reflecting  men  of 
the  place  as  preposterous.  "  Mr.  Taylor,"  said  Col.  Reid,  the  clerk 
of  the  county,  to  Mr.  Creed  Taylor,  a  friend  and  neighbor  of  Ran- 
dolph, and  a  good  lawyer,  "  Mr.  Taylor,  don't  you  or  Peter  Johnson 
mean  to  appear  for  that  young  man  to-day  ?"  "  Never  mind,"  re- 
plied Taylor,  "  he  can  take  care  of  himself."  His  friends  knew  his 
powers,  his  fluency  in  conversation,  his  ready  wit,  his  polished  satire, 
his  extraordinary  knowledge  of  men  and  affairs ;  but  still  he  was 
about  to  enter  on  an  untried  field,  and  all  those  brilliant  faculties 
might  fail  him,  as  they  had  so  often  failed  men  of  genius  before. 
They  might  well  have  felt  some  anxiety  on  his  first  appearance  upon 
the  hustings  in  presence  of  a  popular  assembly,  and  in  reply  to  a  man 
of  Mr.  Henry's  reputation.  But  it  seems  they  had  no  fear  for  the 
result — he  can  take  care  of  himself.  The  reader  can  well  imagine 
the  remarks  that  might  have  been  made  by  the  crowd  as  he  passed 
carelessly  among  them,  shaking  hands  with  this  one  and  that  one  of 
his  acquaintance.  "  And  is  that  the  man  who  is  a  candidate  for  Con- 
gress?" "Is  he  going  to  speak  against  Old  Pat?"  "Why,  he  is 
nothing  but  a  boy — he's  got  no  beard  !"  "  He  looks  wormy  !"  "  Old 
Pat  will  eat  him  up  bodily !"  There,  also,  was  Powhatan  Boiling, 
the  other  candidate  for  Congress,  dressed  in  his  scarlet  coat— tall, 
proud  in  his  bearing,  and  a  fair  representative  of  the  old  aristocracy 
fast  melting  away  under  the  subdivisions  of  the  law  that  had  abolished 
the  system  of  primogeniture. 

Creed  Taylor  and  others  undertook  to  banter  him  about  his 
scarlet  coat.  "  Very  well,  gentlemen,"  replied  he  coolly,  bristling 
up  with  a  quick  temper,  "  if  my  coat  does  not  suit  you,  I  can  meet 
you  in  any  other  color  that  may  suit  your  fancy."  Seeing  the  gen- 
tleman not  in  a  bantering  mood,  he  was  soon  left  to  his  own  reflec- 
tions. But  the  candidates  for  Congress  were  overlooked  and  forgot- 
ten by  the  crowd  in  their  eagerness  to  behold  and  admire  the  great 
orator,  whose  fame  had  filled  their  imagination  for  eo  many  years. 
"  As  soon  as  he  appeared  on  the  ground,"  says  Wirt,  "  he  was  sur- 


MARCH  COURT.  131 

rounded  by  the  admiring  and  adoring  crowd,  and  whithersoever  he 
moved,  the  concqurse  followed  him.  A  preacher  of  the  Baptist 
church,  whose  piety  was  wounded  by  this  homage  paid  to  a  mortal, 
asked  the  people  aloud,  why  they  thus  followed  Mr.  Henry  about  ? 
"  Mr.  Henry,"  said  he,  "  is  not  a  god  !"  "  No,"  said  Mr.  Henry,  deeply 
affected  by  the  scene  and  the  remark,  "  no,  indeed,  my  friend  ;  I  am 
but  a  poor  worm  of  the  dust — as  fleeting  and  unsubstantial  as  the 
shadow  of  the  cloud  that  flies  over  your  fields,  and  is  remembered 
no  more."  The  tone  with  which  this  was  uttered,  and  the  look  which 
accompanied  it,  affected  every  heart,  and  silenced  every  voice. 

Presently  James  Adams  rose  upon  a  platform  that  had  been 
erected  by  the  side  of  the  tavern  porch  where  Mr.  Henry  was  seated, 
and  proclaimed — "  0  yes  !  0  yes  !  Colonel  Henry  will  address  the 
people  from  tnis  stand,  for  the  last  time  and  at  the  risk  of  his  life !" 
The  grand-jury  were  in  session  at  the  moment,  they  burst  through 
the  doors,  some  leaped  the  windows,  and  came  running  up  with  the 
crowd,  that  they  might  not  lose  a  word  that  fell  from  the  old  man's 
lips. 

While  Adams  was  lifting  him  on  the  stand,  "  Why  Jimmy,"  says 
her  "  you  have  made  a  better  speech  for  me  than  I  can  make  for  my- 
self." "  Speak  out,  father,"  said  Jimmy,  "  and  let  us  hear  how  it  is." 

Old  and  feeble,  more  with  disease  than  age,  Mr.  Henry  rose  and 
addressed  the  people  to  the  following  effect : — (Wirt's  Life  of  Patrick 
Henry,  page  393.)  He  told  them  that  the  late  proceedings  of  the 
Virginia  Assembly  had  filled  him  with  apprehensions  and  alarm ; 
that  they  had  planted  thorns  upon  his  pillow ;  that  they  had  drawn 
him  from  that  happy  retirement  which  it  had  pleased  a  bountiful 
Providence  to  bestow,  and  in  which  he  had  hoped  to  pass,  in  quiet, 
the  remainder  of  his  days  ;  that  the  State  had  quitted  the  sphere  in 
which  she  had  been  placed  by  the  Constitution ;  and  in  daring  to 
pronounce  upon  the  validity  of  federal  laws,  had  gone  out  of  her 
jurisdiction  in  a  manner  not  warranted  by  any  authority,  and  in  the 
highest  degree  alarming  to  every  considerate  mind ;  that  such  oppo- 
sition, on  the  part  of  Virginia,  to  the  acts  of  the  General  Govern- 
ment, must  beget  their  enforcement  by  military  power ;  that  this 
would  probably  produce  civil  war ;  civil  war,  foreign  alliances ;  and 
that  foreign  alliances  must  necessarily  end  in  subjugation  to  the 
powers  called  in.  He  conjured  the  people  to  pause  and  consider 
10 


132  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

well,  before  they  rushed  into  such  a  desperate  condition,  from  which 
there  could  be  no  retreat.  He  painted  to  their  imaginations,  Wash- 
ington, at  the  head  of  a  numerous  and  well  appointed  army,  inflict- 
ing upon  them  military  execution.  "  And  where  (he  asked)  are  our 
resources  to  meet  such  a  conflict  ?  Where  is  the  citizen  of  America 
who  will  dare  to  lift  his  hand  against  the  father  of  his  country  ?"  A 
drunken  man  in  the  crowd  threw  up  his  arm  and  exclaimed  that  he 
dared  to  do  it.  "  No,"  answered  Mr.  Henry,  rising  aloft  in  all  his 
majesty,  '-you  dare  not  do  it ;  in  such  a  parricidal  attempt,  the  steel 
would  drop  from  your  nerveless  arm." 

Proceeding,  he  asked  "  Whether  the  county  of  Charlotte  would 
have  any  authority  to  dispute  an  obedience  to  the  laws  of  Virginia ;" 
and  he  pronounced  Virginia  to  be  to  the  Union  what  the  county  of 
Charlotte  was  to  her.  Having  denied  the  right  of  a  State  to  decide 
upon  the  constitutionality  of  federal  laws,  he  added,  that  perhaps  it 
might  be  necessary  to  say  something  of  the  laws  in  question.  His 
private  opinion  was,  that  they  were  good  and  proper.  But  whatever 
might  be  their  merits,  it  belonged  to  the  people,  who  held  the  reins 
over  the  head  of  Congress,  and  to  them  alone,  to  say  whether  they 
were  acceptable  or  otherwise  to  Virginians ;  and  that  this  must  be 
done  by  way  of  petition.  That  Congress  were  as  much  our  represen- 
tatives as  the  Assembly,  and  had  as  good  a  right  to  our  confidence. 
He  had  seen,  with  regret,  the  unlimited  power  over  the  purse  and 
sword  consigned  to  the  General  Government ;  but  that  he  had  been 
overruled,  and  it  was  now  necessary  to  submit  to  the  constitutional 
exercise  of  that  power.  "  If,"  said  he,  "  I  am  asked  what  is  to  be 
done  when  a  people  feel  themselves  intolerably  oppressed,  my  answer 
is  ready — overturn  the  Government.  But  do  not,  I  beseech  you. 
carry  matters  to  this  length  without  provocation.  Wait,  at  least, 
until  some  infringement  is  made  up  m  your  rights,  and  which  cannot 
otherwise  be  redressed ;  for  if  ever  you  recur  to  another  change,  you 
may  bid  adieu  forever  to  representative  government.  You  can  never 
exchange  the  present  government  but  for  a  monarchy.  If  the  admin- 
istration have  done  wrong,  let  us  all  go  wrong  together  rather  than 
split  into  factions,  which  must  destroy  that  Union  upon  which  cur 
existence  hangs.  Let  us  preserve  our  strength  for  the  French,  the 
English,  the  Germans,  or  whoever  else  shall  dare  to  invade  our  terri- 
tory, and  not  exhaust  it  in  civil  commotions  and  intestine  wars." 


MARCH  COURT.  133 

When  he  concluded,  his  audience  were  deeply  affected ;  it  is  said  that 
they  wept  like  children,  so  powerfully  were  they  moved  by  the  em- 
phasis of  his  language,  the  tone  of  his  voice,  the  commanding  expres- 
sion of  his  eye,  the  earnestness  with  which  he  declared  his  design  to 
exert  himself  to  allay  the  heart-burnings  and  jealousies  which  had 
been  fomented  in  the  State  legislature,  and  the  fervent  manner  in 
which  he  prayed  that  if  he  were  deemed  unworthy  to  effect  it,  that  it 
might  be  reserved  to  some  other  and  abler  hand  to  extend  this  bless- 
ino-  over  the  community.  As  he  concluded,  he  literally  sunk  into 
the  arms  of  the  tumultuous  throng :  at  that  moment  John  H.  Rice 
exclaimed,  "  the  sun  has  set  in  all  his  glory  !"' 

Randolph  rose  to  reply.  For  some  moments  he  stood  in  silence, 
his  lips  quivering,  his  eye  swimming  in  tears ;  at  length  he  began  a 
modest  though  beautiful  apology  for  rising  to  address  the  people  in 
opposition  to  the  venerable  father  who  had  just  taken  his  seat ;  it 
was  an  honest  difference  of  opinion,  and  he  hoped  to  be  pardoned 
while  he  boldly  and  freely,  as  it  became  the  occasion,  expressed  his 
sentiments  on  the  great  questions  that  so  much  divided  and  agitated 
the  minds  of  the  people. 

"  The  gentleman  tells  you,"  said  he,  "  that  the  late  proceedings 
of  the  Virginia  Assembly  have  filled  him  with  apprehension  and 
alarm.  He  seems  to  be  impressed  with  the  conviction,  that  the  State 
has  quitted  the  sphere  in  which  she  was  placed  by  the  Constitution ; 
and  in  daring  to  pronounce  on  the  validity  of  federal  laws,  has  gone 
out  of  her  jurisdiction  in  a  manner  not  warranted  by  any  authority. 
I  am  sorry  the  gentleman  has  been  disturbed  in  his  Tepo^e  ;  still 
more  grieved  am  I,  that  the  particular  occasion  to  which  he  alludes 
should  have  been  the  cause  of  his  anxiety.  I  once  cherished  the 
hope  that  his  alarms  would  have  been  awakened,  had  Virginia  failed 
to  exert  herself  in  warding  off  the  evils  he  so  prophetically  warned 
us  of  on  another  memorable  occasion.  Her  supineness  and  inactivity, 
now  that  those  awful  squintings  towards  monarchy,  so  eloquently 
described  by  the  gentleman,  are  fast  growing  into  realities,  I  had 
hoped  would  have  planted  thorns  in  his  pillow,  and  awakened  him  to 
a  sense  of  the  danger  now  threatening  us,  and  the  necessity  of  exert- 
ing once  more  his  powerful  faculties  in  warning  the  people,  and 
rousing  them  from  their  fatal  lethargy. 

"  Has  the  gentleman  forgotten  that  we  owe  to  him  those  obnox- 


134  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

ious  principles,  as  he  now  would  have  them,  that  guided  the  Legisla« 
ture  in  its  recent  course  ?  He  is  alarmed  at  the  rapid  growth  ol 
the  seed  he  himself  hath  sowed — he  seems  to  be  disappointed 
that  they  fell,  not  by  the  wayside,  but  into  vigorous  and  fruitful 
soil.  He  has  conjured  up  spirits  from  the  vasty  deep,  and  growing 
alarmed  at  the  potency  of  his  own  magic  wand,  he  would  say  to  them, 
f  Down,  wantons  !  down  !'  but,  like  Banquo's  ghost,  I  trust  they  will 
not  down.  But  to  drop  metaphor — In  the  Virginia  Convention, 
that  was  called  to  ratify  the  Constitution,  this  gentleman  declared 
that  the  government  delineated  in  that  instrument  was  peculiar  in 
its  nature — partly  national,  partly  federal.  In  this  description  he  hit 
upon  the  true  definition — there  are  certain  powers  of  a  national  cha- 
racter that  extend  to  the  people  and  operate  on  them  without  regard 
to  their  division  into  States — these  powers,  acting  alone,  tend  to 
consolidate  the  government  into  one  head,  and  to  obliterate  State 
divisions  and  to  destroy  State  authority ;  but  there  are  other  powers, 
many  and  important  ones,  that  are  purely  federal  in  their  nature — 
that  look  to  the  States,  and  recognize  their  existence  as  bodies  poli- 
tic, endowed  with  many  of  the  most  important  attributes  of  sove- 
reignty. These  two  opposing  forces  act  as  checks  on  each  other,  and 
keep  the  complicated  system  in  equilibrium.  They  are  like  the  cen- 
trifugal and  centripetal  forces  in  the  law  of  gravitation,  that  serve  to 
keep  the  spheres  in  their  harmonious  courses  through  the  universe. 

"  Should  the  Federal  Government,  therefore,  attempt  to  exercise 
powers  that  do  not  belong  to  it — and  those  that  do  belong  to  it  are 
few,  specified,  well-defined — all  others  being  reserved  to  the  people 
and  to  the  States — should  it  step  beyond  its  province,  and  encroach 
on  rights  that  have  not  been  delegated,  it  is  the  duty  of  the  States  to 
interpose.  There  is  no  other  power  that  can  interpose.  The  counter- 
weight, the  opposing  force  of  the  State,  is  the  only  check  to  over- 
action  known  to  the  system. 

"  In  questions  of  meum  et  tuwni,  where  rights  of  property  are  con- 
cerned, and  some  other  cases  specified  in  the  Constitution,  I  grant  you 
that  the  Federal  Judiciary  may  pronounce  on  the  validity  of  the  law. 
But  in  questions  involving  the  right  to  power,  whether  this  or  that 
power  has  been  delegated  or  reserved,  they  cannot  and  ought  not  to 
be  the  arbiter ;  that  question  has  been  left,  as  it  always  was,  and 
always  must  be  Uft,  to  be  determined  among  sovereignties  in  tho  best 


MARCH  COURT.  135 

way  they  can.  Political  wisdom  has  not  yet  discovered  any  infallible 
mathematical  rule,  by  which  to  determine  the  assumptions  of  power 
between  .those  who  know  no  other  law  or  limitation  save  that  imposed 
on  them  by  their  own  consent,  and  which  they  can  abrogate  at 
pleasure.  Pray  let  me  ask  the  gentleman — and  no  one  knows  bet- 
ter than  himself— who  ordained  this  Constitution  ?  "Who  denned  its 
powers,  and  said,  thus  far  shalt  thou  go,  but  no  farther  ?  Was  it  not 
the  people  of  the  States  in  their  sovereign  capacity '?  Did  they  com- 
mit an  act  of  suicide  by  so  doing  ? — an  act  of  self-annihilation  ?  No, 
thank  God,  they  did  not ;  but  are  still  alive,  and,  I  trust,  are  be- 
coming sensible  of  the  importance  of  those  rights  reserved  to  them, 
and  prohibited  to  that  government  which  they  ordained  for  their 
common  defence.  Shall  the  creature  of  the  States  be  the  sole  judge 
of  the  legality  or  constitutionality  of  its  own  acts,  in  a  question  of 
power  between  them  and  the  States  ?  Shall  they  who  assert  a  right, 
be  the  sole  judges  of  their  authority  to  claim  and  to  exercise  it? 
Does  not  all  power  seek  to  enlarge  itself? — grow  on  that  it  feeds 
upon  ?  Has  not  that  been  the  history  of  all  encroachment,  all  usurpa- 
tion ?  If  this  Federal  Government,  in  all  its  departments,  then,  is  to 
be  the  sole  judge  of  its  own  usurpations,  neither  the  people  nor  the 
States,  in  a  short  time,  will  have  any  thing  to  contend  for;  this 
creature  of  their  making  will  become  their  sovereign,  and  the  only 
result  of  the  labors  of  our  revolutionary  heroes,  in  which  patriotic 
band  this  venerable  gentleman  was  most  conspicuous,  will  have  been 
a  change  of  our  masters — New  England  for  Old  England — for  which 
change  I  cannot  find  it  in  my  heart  to  thank  them. 

"  But  the  genthman  has  taught  me  a  very  different  lesson  from 
that  he  is  now  disposed  to  enjoin  on  us.  I  fear  that  time  has  wrought 
its  influence  on  him,  as  on  all  other  men;  and  that  age  makes 
him  willing  to  endure  what  in  former  years  he  would  have  spurned 
with  indignation.  I  have  learned  my  first  lessons  in  his  school.  Be 
is  the  high-priest  from  whom  I  received  the  little  wisdom  my  poor 
abilities  were  able  to  carry  away  from  the  droppings  of  the  political 
sanctuary.  He  was  the  inspired  statesman  that  taught  me  to  be 
jealous  of  power,  to  watch  its  encroachments,  and  to  sound  the  alarm 
on  the  first  movement  of  usurpation. 

t:  Inspired  by  his  eloquent  appeals — encouraged  by  his  example — 
alarmed  by  the  rapid  strides  of  Federal  usurpation,  of  which  he  had 


136  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

warned  them — the  legislature  of  Virginia  has  nobly  stepped  forth  in 
defence  of  the  rights  of  the  States,  and  interposed  to  arrest  that  en- 
croachment and  usurpation  of  power  that  threaten  the  destruction  of 
the  Republic. 

"  And  what  is  the  subject  of  alarm  ?  What  are  the  laws  they  have 
dared  to  pronounce  upon  as  unconstitutional  and  tyrannical?  The 
first,  is  a  law  authorizing  the  President  of  the  United  States  to  order 
any  alien  he  may  judge  dangerous,  any  unfortunate  refugee  that  may 
happen  to  fall  under  his  royal  suspicion,  forthwith  to  quit  the  coun- 
try. It  is  true  that  the  law  says  he  must  have  reasonable  grounds  to 
suspect.  Who  is  to  judge  of  that  reason  but  himself?  Who  can 
look  into  his  breast  and  say  what  motives  have  dominion  there? 
'Tis  a  mockery  to  give  one  man  absolute  power  over  the  liberty  of  an- 
other, and  tlwi  ask  him,  when  the  power  is  gone,  and  cannot  ie  re- 
called, to  exercise  it  reasonably  !  Power  knows  no  other  check  but 
power.  Let  the  poor  patriot  who  may  have  fallen  under  the  frowns 
of  government,  because  he  dared  assert  the  rights  of  his  countrymen, 
seek  refuge  on  our  shores  of  boasted  liberty ;  the  moment  he  touches 
the  soil  of  freedom,  hoping  here  to  find  a  period  to  all  his  persecu- 
tions, he  is  greeted,  not  with  the  smiles  of  welcome,  or  the  cheerful 

voice  of  freemen,  but  the  stern  demands  of  an  officer  of  the  law — the 

« 

executor  of  a  tyrant's  will— who  summons  him  to  depart.  What 
crime  has  he  perpetrated?  Vain  inquiry!  He  is  a  suspected  per- 
son. He  is  judged  dangerous  to  the  peace  of  the  country — rebel- 
lious at  home,  he  may  be  alike  factious  and  seditious  here.  What 
remedy  ?  What  hope  ?  He  who  condemns  is  judge — the  sole  judge 
in  the  first  and  the  last  resort.  There  is  no  appeal  from  his  arbi- 
trary will.  Who  can  escape  tin  suspicion  of  a  jealous  and  vindictive 
mind? 

"  The  very  men  who  fought  your  battles,  who  spent  their  fortunes, 
and  shed  their  blood  to  win  for  you  that  independence  that  was  once 
your  boast,  may  be  the  first  victims  of  this  tyrannical  law.  Kosci- 
usko  is  now  on  your  shores  ;  though  poor  in  purse  and  emaciated  in 
body,  from  the  many  sacrifices  he  has  made  in  your  cause,  he  has 
yet  a  proud  spirit  that  loves  freedom,  and  will  speak  boldly  of  op- 
pression. Is  not  this  enough  to  bring  him  under  the  frowns  of 
power,  and  to  cause  the  mandate  to  be  issued,  ordering  him  to  de- 
part from  the  country  ?  What  may  be  true  of  one  to  whom  we  owe 


MARCH  COURT.  137 

so  much,  has  already  been  fulfilled  in  the  person  of  many  a  patriot, 
scholar,  and  philosopher,  whose  only  crime  was,  that  of  seeking  re- 
fuge from  oppression  and  wrong,  on  these  shores  of  boasted  freedom. 
"  And  what  is  that  other  law  that  so  fully  meets  the  approbation  of 
my  venerable  friend  ?  It  is  a  law  that  makes  it  an  act  of  sedition, 
punishable  by  fine  and  imprisonment,  to  utter  or  write  a  sentiment 
that  any  prejudiced  judge  or  juror  may  think  proper  to  construe  into 
disrespect  to  the  President  of  the  United  States.  Do  you  understand 
me  ?  I  dare  proclaim  to  the  people  of  Charlotte  my  opinion  to  be, 
that  John  Adams,  so-called  President,  is  a  weak-minded  man,  vain, 
jealous,  and  vindictive ;  that  influenced  by  evil  passions  and  preju- 
dices, and  goaded  on  by  wicked  counsel,  he  has  been  striving  to  force 
the  country  into  a  war  with  our  best  friend  and  ally.  I  say  that  I 
dare  repeat  this  before  the  people  of  Charlotte,  and  avow  it  as  my 
opinion.  But  let  me  write  it  down,  and  print  it  as  a  warning  to 
my  countrymen.  What  then  ?  I  subject  myself  to  an  indictment  fort 
sedition  !  I  make  myself  liable  to  be  dragged  away  from  my  home 
and  friends,  and  to  be  put  on  my  trial  in  some  distant  Federal  Court, 
before  a  judge  who  receives  his  appointment  from  the  man  that  seeks 
my  condemnation  ;  and  to  be  tried  by  a  prejudiced  jury,  who  have 
been  gathered  from  remote  parts  of  the  country,  strangers  to  me,  and 
any  thing  but  my  peers ;  and  have  been  packed  by  the  minions  o! 
power  for  my  destruction.  Is  the  man  dreaming  !  do  you  exclaim  ? 
Is  this  a  fancy'  picture,  he  has  drawn  for  our  amusement  ?  I  am  no 
fancy  man,  people  of  Charlotte  !  I  speak  the  truth — I  deal  only  in 
stern  realities !  There  is  such  a  law  on  your  Statute  Book  in  spite 
of  your  Constitution — in  open  contempt  of  those  solemn  guarantees 
that  insure  the  freedom  of  speech  and  of  the  press  to  every  Ame- 
rican citizen.  Not  only  is  there  such  a  statute,  but,  with  shame 
be  it  spoken,  even  England  blushes  at  your  sedition  law.  Would 
that  I  could  stop  here,  and  say  that,  though  it  may  be  found 
enrolled  among  the  the  public  archives,  it  is  a  dead  letter.  Alas  ! 
alas !  not  only  does  it  exist,  but  at  this  hour  is  most  rigidly  enforced, 
not  against  the  ordinary  citizen  only,  but  against  men  in  official  sta- 
tions, even  those  who  are  clothed  by  the  people  with  the  sacred  du- 
ties of  their  representatives — men,  the  sanctity  of  whose  persons  can- 
not be  reached  by  any  law  known  to  a  representative  government, 
fcre  hunted  down,  condemned,  and  incarcerated  by  this  odious,  tyran- 


138  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

nical,  and  unconstitutional  enactment.  At  this  moment,  while  I  am 
addressing  you,  men  of  Charlotte  !  with  the  free  air  of  heaven  fan- 
ning iny  locks — and  God  knows  how  long  I  shall  be  permitted  to  en- 
joy that  blessing — a  representative  of  the  people  of  Vermont — Mat- 
thew Lyon  his  name — lies  immured  in  a  dungeon,  not  six  feet  square, 
where  he  has  dragged  out  the  miserable  hours  of  a  protracted  winter, 
for  daring  to  violate  the  royal  maxim  that  the  king  can  do  no 
wrong.  This  was  his  only  crime — he  told  his  people,  and  caused  it 
to  be  printed  for  their  information,  that  the  President,  *  rejecting 
men  of  age.  experience,  wisdom,  and  independency  of  sentiment.' 
appointed  those  who  had  no  other  merit  but  devotion  to  their  mas- 
ter :  and  he  intimated  that  the  '  President  was  fond  of  ridiculous 
pomp,  idle  parade,  and  selfish  avarice.'  I  speak  the  language  of  the 
indictment.  I  give  in  technical  and  official  words  the  high  crime 
with  which  he  was  charged.  He  pleaded  justification — I  think  the 
lawyers  call  it — and  offered  to  prove  the  truth  of  his  allegations. 
But  the  court  would  allow  no  time  to  procure  witnesses  or  counsel : 
he  was  hurried  into  trial  all  unprepared ;  and  this  representative  of 
the  people,  for  speaking  the  truth  of  those  in  authority,  was  ar- 
raigned like  a  felon,  condemned,  fined,  and  imprisoned.  These  are 
the  laws,  the  venerable  gentlemen  would  have  you  believe,  are  not 
only  sanctioned  by  the  Constitution,  but  demanded  by  the  necessity 
of  the  times — laws  at  which  even  monarchs  blush — banishing  from 
your  shores  the  hapless  victim  that  only  sought  refuge  from  oppres- 
sion, and  making  craven,  fawning  spaniels,  aye  !  dumb  dogs,  of  your 
own  people  !  He  tells  you,  moreover,  that  if  you  do  not  agree  with 
him  in  opinion — cannot  consent  that  these. vile  enactments  are  either 
constitutional  or  necessary — your  only  remedy,  your  only  hope  of  re- 
dress, is  in  petition. 

"  Petition !  "Whom  are  \ve  to  petition  ?  But  one  solitary  member 
from  Virginia,  whose  name  is  doomed  to  everlasting  infamy,  dared 
to  record  his  vote — dared  to  record,  did  I  say  ?  I  beg  pardon — but 
one  who  did  nQt  spurn  from  them  this  hideous  offspring  of  a  tyrant's 
lust.  "Whom,  then,  I  repeat,  are  we  to  petition  ?  those  who  are  the 
projectors  of  these  measures,  who  voted  for  them,  and  forced  them 
upon  you  in  spite  of  your  will  ?  Would  not  these  men  laugh  at  your 
petition,  and,  in  the  pride  and  insolence  of  new-born  power,  trample 
it  under  their  feet  with  disdain  ?  Shall  we  petition  his  majesty,  who, 


MARCH  COURT.  139 

by  virtue  of  these  very  law?,  holds  your  liberties  in  his  sacred  hands  1 
I  tell  you  he  would  spurn  your  petition  from  the  foot  of  the  throne, 
as  those  of  your  fathers,  on  a  like  occasion,  were  spurned  from  the 
throne  of  George  the  Third  of  England.  From  whose  lips  do  we 
hear  that  word  petition — an  abject  term,  fit  only  for  the  use  of  sub- 
jects and  of  slaves  ?  Can  it  be  that  he  is  now  willing  to  petition  and 
to  supplicate  his  co-equals  in  a  common  confederacy,  who  proudly 
disdained  entreaty  and  supplication  to  the  greatest  monarch  on 
earth — whose  fleets  covered  our  seas,  whose  armies  darkened  our 
shores — sent  over  to  bind  and  to  rivet  those  chains  that  had  been  so 
long  forging  for  our  unfettered  limbs  !  Has  age  so  tamed  his  proud 
spirit  that  he  will  gently  yield  to  a  domestic  usurper  what  he  scorned 
to  grant  to  a  foreign  master  ?  I  fear  he  has  deceived  himself,  and 
would  deceive  you ;  let  not  his  siren  song  of  peace  lull  you  into  a 
fatal  repose.  For  what  is  this  large  standing  army  quartered  on  the 
country?  why  those  recruiting  officers  insulting  every  hamlet  and 
village  with  their  pride  and  insolence,  and  decoying  the  honest 
farmer  from  his  labor,  to  become  the  idle,  corrupt,  and  profligate 
drone  of  a  military  camp  ?  Why  this  large  naval  establishment  1 
"Why  such  burthensome  and  odious  taxes  imposed  on  the  industry  of 
the  country?  Why  those  enormous  loans  at  usurious  interest  in 
times  of  peace ;  and,  above  all,  why  those  unconstitutional  laws  to 
banish  innocence — to  silence  inquiry — stifle  investigation,  and  to 
make  dumb  the  complaining  mouths  of  the  people  ?  Are  these  vast 
preparations  in  consequence  of  some  imminent  peril  overhanging  the 
country  ?  Are  we  threatened  with  war  ?  With  whom  ?  with  France  ? 
France  has  showed  that  this  wicked  administration  cannot  drive 
her  into  a  war  with  her  ancient  friend  and  ally.  She  has  almost 
compelled  them  to  keep  a  minister  of  peace  within  her  borders,  and 
offered  them  almost  any  terms  of  conciliation  consistent  with  justice 
and  dignity.  Yet  do  you  see  any  abatement  in  the  warlike  energies 
of  the  Government  ? 

"  For  what,  I  ask,  are  these  vast  and  hostile  preparations  ?  Let  the 
late  pretended  whisky  insurrection  in  the  western  counties  of  Penn- 
sylvania answer  the  question.  I  am  no  alarmist ;  but  I  cannot  close 
my  eyes  to  the  truth  when  I  see  it  glaring  before  me.  These 
c;  provisional"  armies,  as  they  have  chosen  to  call  them,  are  meant  for 
you ;  they  are  intended,  not  to  meet  the  troops  of  France,  which 


140  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

know  will  never  insult  the  soil  of  this  republic,  but  to  awe  you,  the 
people,  into  submission,  and  to  force  upon  you,  by  a  display  of  mili- 
tary power,  the  destructive  measures  of  this  vaulting  and  ambitious 
administration.  And  yet  the  gentleman  tells  you  we  must  wait  until 
some  infringement  is  made  on  our  rights  !  Your  Constitution  broken, 
your  citizens  dragged  to  prison  for  daring  to  exercise  the  freedom 
of  speech,  armies  levied,  and  you  threatened  with  immediate  inva- 
sion for  your  audacious  interference  with  the  business  of  the  Federal 
Government ;  and  still  you  are  told  to  wait  for  some  infringement  of 
your  rights  !  How  long  are  we  to  wait  ?  Till  the  chains  are  fastened 
upon  us.  and  we  can  no  longer  help  ourselves  1  But  the  gentleman 
says  your  course  may  lead  to  civil  war,  and  where  are  your  resources  ? 
I  answer  him  in  his  own  words,  handed  down  by  the  tradition  of  the 
past  generation,  and  engraven  on  the  hearts  of  his  grateful  country- 
men. I  answer,  in  his  own  words :  '  Shall  we  gather  strength  by 
irresolution  and  inaction  ?  Shall  we  acquire  the  means  of  effectual 
resistance  by  lying  supinely  on  our  backs,  and  hugging  the  delusive 
phantom  of  hope,  until  our  enemies  shall  have  bound  us  hand  and 
foot  ?  Sir,  we  are  not  weak,  if  we  make  a  proper  use  of  those  means 
which  the  God  of  nature  hath  placed  in  our  power.  The  battle,  sir, 
is  not  to  the  strong  alone  ;  it  is  to  the  vigilant,  the  active,  the 
brave.' 

"  But  we  are  not  only  to  have  an  invading  army  marching  into  our 
borders,  but  the  gentleman's  vivid  imagination  has  pictured  "Wash- 
ington at  the  head  of  it,  coming  to  inflict  military  chastisement  on 
his  native  State ;  and  who,  exclaims  he,  would  dare  lift  his  hand 
against  the  father  of  his  country  ?  Sternly  has  he  rebuked  one  of 
you  for  venturing,  in  the  outburst  of  patriotic  feeling,  to  declare  that 
he  would  do  it.  I  bow  with  as  much  respect  as  any  man  at  the  name 
of  Washington.  I  have  been  taught  to  look  upon  it  with  a  venera- 
tion little  short  of  that  of  my  Creator.  But  while  I  love  Caesar,  I 
love  Rome  more.  Should  he,  forgetful  of  the  past,  grown  ambitious  of 
power,  and,  seduced  by  the  artful  machinations  of  those  who  seek  to 
use  his  great  name  in  the  subjugation  of  his  country,  lift  a  parricidal 
hand  against  the  bosom  of  the  State  that  gave  him  birth  and  crowned 
him  with  his  glory,  because  she  has  dared  to  assert  those  rights  that 
belong  to  her,  not  by  the  laws  of  nature,  but  those  rights  that  have 
been  reserved  to  her  by  this  very  Constitution  that  she  partly  ordained^ 


MARCH  COURT.  141 

and  without  which  she  must  drag  out  an  existence  of  helpless  and 
hopeless  imbecility,  I  trust  there  will  be  found  many  a  Brutus  to 
avenge  her  wrongs.  I  promise,  for  one,  so  help  me  God  !  — and  it  is 
in  no  boastful  spirit  I  speak — that  I  will  not  be  an  idle  spectator  of 
the  tyrannical  and  murderous  tragedy,  so  long  as  I  have  an  arm  to 
wield  a  weapon,  or  a  voice  to  cry  shame  !  Shame  on  you  for  inflict- 
ing this  deadly  blow  in  the  bosom  of  the  mother  that  gave  you  exist- 
ence, and  cherished  your  fame  as  her  own  brightest  jewel." 

We  do  not  pretend,  reader,  to  give  you  the  language  of  John 
Randolph  on  this  occasion  ;  nor  are  we  certain  even  that  the  thoughts 
are  his.  We  have  nothing  but  the  faint  tradition  of  near  fifty  years  to 
go  upon ;  and  happy  are  we  if  all  our  researches  have  enabled  us  to 
make  even  a  tolerable  approximation  to  what  was  said.  He  spoke  for 
three  hours ;  all  that  time  the  people,  standing  on  their  feet,  hung  with 
breathless  silence  on  his  lips.  His  youthful  appearance,  boyish  tones, 
clear,  distinct,  thrilling  utterance ;  his  graceful  action,  bold  expres- 
sions, fiery  energy,  and  manly  thoughts,  struck  them  with  astonish- 
ment. A  bold  genius  and  an  orator  of  the  first  order  suddenly  burst 
upon  them,  and  dazzled  them  with  his  power  and  brilliancy.  A 
prophet  was  among  them,  and  they  knew  it  not.  When  he  concluded, 
an  old  planter,  turning  to  his  neighbor,  exclaimed ;  "  He's  no  bug- 
eater  now,  I  tell  you."  Dr.  Hogue  turned  from  the  stand,  and  went 
away,  repeating  to  himself  these  lines  from  the  "  Deserted  Village  :" 

"  Amazed,  the  gazing  rustics  ranged  around, 
And  still  they  gazed,  and  still  the  wonder  grew, 
That  one  small  head  could  carry  all  he  knew." 

Mr.  Henry,  turning  to  some  by-stander,  said :  "  I  haven't  seen 
the  little  dog  before,  since  he  was  at  school ;  he  was  a  great  atheist 
then."  He  made  no  reply  to  the  speech  ;  but,  approaching  Mr.  Ran- 
dolph, he  took  him  by  the  hand,  and  said :  «  Young  man,  you  call  me 
father ;  then,  my  son,  I  have  somewhat  to  say  unto  thee  (holding  both 
his  hands) — keep  justice^  keep  truth,  and  you  will  live  to  think  dif- 
ferently." 

They  dined  together,  and  Randolph,  ever  after  venerated  the 
memory  of  his  friend,  who  died  in  a  few  weeks  from  that  day. 

They  were  both  elected  in  April ;  the  one  to  Congress,  the  other 
to  the  State  Legislature;  and,  doubtless,  many  of  the  good  free- 


142  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

holders  of  Charlotte  voted  for  both.  Who  can  blame  them  ?  Happy 
people  of  Charlotte !  it  was  your  lot  to  behold  the  bright  golden  sun- 
set of  the  great  luminary  whose  meridian  power  melted  away  the 
chains  of  British  despotism  and  withered  up  the  cankered  heart  of 
disaffected  Toryism ;  then,  turning  with  tearful  eyes  from  the  last 
rays  of  the  sinking  orb,  to  hail,  dawning  on  the  same  horizon,  another 
sun,  just  springing,  as  it  were,  from  the  night  of  chaos,  mounting 
majestically  into  his  destined  sphere,  and  driving  clouds  and  darkness 
before  his  youthful  beams. 


CHAPTEK    XXII. 

FRANCE   AND  THE  ADMINISTEATION. 

ME.  ADAMS  saved  the  country  from  a  war  with  France,  and  a  con- 
sequent alliance  with  Great  Britain,  and  all  the  unimaginable  events 
that  must  have  followed  that  connection ;  but  in  so  doing  he  destroyed 
his  party,  and  defeated  his  own  re-election.  No  one,  to  our  know- 
ledge, has  ever  attributed  these  results  to  a  foreseen  and  predeter- 
mined self-sacrifice  on  his  part  for  the  good  of  the  country.  Those 
who  were  associated  with  him  and  knew  him  best  attribute  his  course 
to  far  other  causes.  Before  we  proceed  with  our  narrative,  we  will 
give  the  reader  a  further  insight  into  the  character  of  this  man,  so 
necessary  to  understand  the,  complicated  history  of  those  times.  A 
mere  detail  of  facts,  without  a  knowledge  of  the  causes  that  produced 
them,  or  the  character  and  motives  of  the  men  that  acted  them,  can 
afford  no  instruction  to  the  student  of  history.  Without  some  such 
insight,  the  battle  of  the  frogs  or  the  wars  of  the  giants  would  be 
equally  as  instructive  as  the  Punic  Wars  or  the  conflicts  in  the  forum. 

What  we  say  of  Mr.  Adams  is  drawn  from  cotemporary  history, 
and  in  the  language  of  those  who  were  most  intimately  associated 
him.  The  reader  is  already  aware  of  his  course  before  and  during 
the  negotiations  for  the  treaty  of  Paris,  in  1782,  and  Dr.  Franklin's 
opinion  of  his  character. 

General  Hamilton,  a  very  good  judge,  said  of  him  while  President, 
and  during  the  great  events  we  are  now  discoursing  of,  and  in  explana- 


FRANCE  AND  THE  ADMINISTRATION.  143 

tion  of  their  causes,  that  he  possessed  patriotism  and  integrity,  and 
even  talents,  of  a  certain  kind ;  but  that  he  did  not  possess  the  talents 
adapted  to  the  administration  of  government,  and  that  there  were 
great  and  intrinsic  defects  in  his  character,  which  unfitted  him  for 
the  office  of  Chief  Magistrate.  With  all  his  virtues,  he  was  tainted 
with  a  disgusting  egotism,  a  distempered  jealousy,  and  an  ungovern- 
able indiscretion  of  temper.  When  he  and  General  Washington 
were  run  together  as  candidates  for  the  presidential  and  vice- 
presidential  office,  it  was  thought  all-important  to  secure  the  first 
office  to  General  Washington  (a  majority  at  that  time  determining 
the  question),  by  dropping  a  few  votes  from  Mr.  Adams.  He  com- 
plained of  this  as  unfair  treatment — said  he  ought  to  have  been  per- 
mitted to  take  an  equal  chance  with  General  Washington.  When,  at 
a  subsequent  period,  he  and  Mr.  Pinekney  were  on  the  same  ticket, 
it  was  thought,  by  the  federal  party,  that  the  success  of  their  cause 
ought  not  to  be  hazarded  by  dropping  any  of  the  votes ;  it  was  not  a 
matter  of  such  importance  that  Mr.  Adams  or  Mr.  Pinekney  should 
be  elected  President,  as  that  Mr.  Jefferson  should  be  defeated.  He 
was  enraged  with  all  those  who  thought  that  Mr.  Pinekney  ought  to 
have  an  equal  chance  with  himself.  To  this  circumstance,  in  a  great 
measure,  may  be  attributed  the  serious  schism  which,  at  a  subsequent 
period,  grew  up  in  the  federal  party.  Mr.  Adams  never  could  for- 
give the  men  who  were  engaged  in  the  plan,  though  it  embraced  some 
of  his  most  partial  admirers.  He  discovered  bitter  animosity  against 
several  of  them.  His  rage  against  General  Hamilton  was  so  ve- 
hement, that  he  could  not  restrain  himself  within  the  forms  of  civility 
or  decorum,  in  the  presence  of  that  gentleman.  His  jealousy  of  the 
Pinckneys  was  notorious,  and  it  dated  as  far  back  as  the  appointment 
of  Mr.  Thomas  Pinekney,  by  Washington,  as  envoy  to  the  Court  of 
London.  Mr.  Adams  desired  the  appointment  for  himself,  notwith- 
standing the  impropriety — he  being  the  Vice-President — and  next 
he  desired  it  for  his  son-in-law.  In  the  bitterness  of  disappointment, 
he  played  into  the  hands  of  the  opposition  party,  and  charged  upon 
General  Washington  that  the  appointment  had  been  made  under 
British  influence. 

Soon  after  his  own  appointment  of  General  Washington,  in  July, 
1798,  as  Commander-in-Chief  of  all  the  armies  of  the  United  States, 
he  became  jealous  of  the  overshadowing  influence  of  that  great 


144:  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

character,  and  did  all  he  could,  consistently  with  his  station,  to  thwart 
the  plans,  to  delay  and  derange  the  measures,  that  Washington 
thought  most  essential  to  the  service. 

His  conduct  in  the  appointment  of  general  officers,  proved  that 
he  was  fickle,  inconsistent,  and  under  the  baneful  influence  of  a  dis- 
tempered jealousy. 

With  the  country  in  imminent  danger  of  a  war  ;  with  Washing- 
ton and  Hamilton  and  C.  C.  Pinckney  at  the  head  of  her  armies,  it 
was  natural  that  those  who  felt  themselves  responsible  for  the  mea- 
sures that  had  brought  the  nation  into  that  predicament,  should  look 
to  those  great  men  as  their  guides,  instead  of  the  impulsive,  aimless, 
and  unsteady  character,  nominally  at  the  head  of  affairs.  Even  his 
own  cabinet  had  more  frequent,  intimate,  and  confidential  communi- 
cations, on  all  public  affairs,  with  the  head  of  the  army  than  with 
himself.  He  did  not  fail  to  perceive  this ;  and  soon  became  enraged 
with  his  own  counsellors.  Not  long  afterwards,  some  of  them  were 
dismissed.  A  prominent  charge  against  McHenry  was,  that  the 
Secretary,  in  a  report  to  the  House  of  Representatives,  had  eulogized 
General  Washington,  and  had  attempted  to  eulogize  General  Hamil- 
ton, which  was  adduced  as  one  proof  of  a  combination,  in  which  the 
Secretary  was  engaged,  to  depreciate  and  injure  him,  the  President. 
Here,  then,  was  the  secret.  His  jealous  and  distempered  fancy, 
stimulated  by  evil  counsel,  had  conjured  up  a  formidable  conspiracy, 
in  which  his  cabinet  were  implicated,  the  object  of  which  was  to  de- 
preciate and  injure  him,  and  to  exalt  Hamilton  or  Pinckney  above 
him.  To  this  cause  may  be  attributed  his  extraordinary  course  in 
regard  to  French  affairs ;  and  those  fatal  aberrations,  as  they  were 
called  by  his  friends,  that  resulted  in  peace  with  the  French  nation, 
but  in  the  destruction  of  himself  and  of  his  party. 

We  now  proceed  with  the  current  of  events,  down  to  the  meeting 
of  Congress,  in  1798. 

As  our  object  is  not  a  history  of  the  country,  but  only  of  those 
leading  causes  of  history,  a  knowledge  of  which  is  essential  to  under- 
stand the  position  jf  political  characters  who  figured  at  the  time,  we 
shall  confine  ourselves  to  a  development  of  French  affairs,  because 
they  absorbed  all  others,  gave  weight  to  the  political  atmosphere,  and 
indicated,  by  the  elevation  or  depression  of  the  barometer,  the  advance 


FRANCE  AND  THE  ADMINISTRATION.  145 

or  retrograde  position  of  the  two  great  parties  that  divided  men  and 
controlled  the  politics  of  the  country. 

The  reader  is  already  aware,  that  on  the  departure  of  Messrs. 
Pinckney  and  Marshall  from  Paris,  in  the  spring  of  1798,  Mr.  Gerry 
was  induced  to  remain ;  but  he  obstinately  persisted  in  refusing  to 
enter  into  any  negotiation;  About  the  last  of  May,  1798,  the 
X.  Y.  Z.  dispatches,  which  had  been  published  in  America,  found 
their  way  to  the  hands  of  the  French  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs, 
M.  Talleyrand.  He  immediately  inclosed  the  very  strange  publica- 
tion, as  he  called  it,  to  Mr.  G-erry,  and  added :  "  I  cannot  observe 
without  surprise  that  intriguers  have  profited  of  the  insulated  con- 
dition in  which  the  envoys  of  the  United  States  have  kept  vheinselves 
to  make  proposals  and  hold  conversations,  the  object  of  which  was, 
evidently,  to  deceive  you."  He  demanded  the  names  of  the  parties 
implicated,  and  to  be  informed  whether  any  of  the  citizens  attached 
to  his  service,  and  authorized  by  him  to  see  the  envoys,  told  them  a 
word  which  had  the  least  relation  to  the  disgusting  proposition  which 
was  made  by  X.  and  Y.,  to  give  any  sum  whatever  for  corrupt  distri- 
bution. 

Mr.  Gerry  disclosed  the  names  of  the  parties.  Two  of  them,  the 
most  conspicuous  characters,  X.  and  Y.,  were  foreigners,  and  unknown 
to  the  French  Government ;  the  third,  Mr.  Z.,  made  himself  known, 
and  proved  that  the  part  he  had  acted  was  wholly  honorable.  Mr. 
Gerry  added,  further,  that  in  regard  to  the  citizens  attached  to  the 
employments  of  M.  Talleyrand,  and  authorized  by  him  to  see  the  en- 
voys on  official  communications,  not  a  word  had  fallen  from  any  of 
them  which  had  the  least  relation  to  the  proposition  made  by  X.  and 
Y.  in  their  informal  negotiations,  to  pay  money  for  corrupt  purposes. 

It  is  not  at  all  improbable  that  members  of  the  Directory,  whose 
term  of  office  was  exceedingly  precarious,  and  even  Talleyrand  him- 
self, were  not  too  virtuous  to  receive  a  douceur,  or  a  bribe,  to  secure 
their  influence  in  the  negotiation  of  a  treaty ;  but  that  they  were,  in 
a  roundabout  way,  actually  fishing  for  one  on  this  occasion,  depends 
solely  on  the  statement  of  the  two  principal  actors  in  the  business, 
who,  in  a  most  remarkable  degree,  gained  the  confidence  of  the  envoys, 
but  who  were,  in  fact,  foreigners,  unknown  to  the  Government,  and 
corrupt  persons,  who  fled  the  country  on  the  discovery  of  the  plot 
There  is  not  one  corroborating  circumstance  to  strengthen  their  story 


146  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 


Mr.  Gerry  admits  that  every  member  of  the  Government  with  whom 
they  communicated  acted  with  the  utmost  propriety ;  and  that  no 
corrupt  proposition  came  either  from  them  or  M.  Talleyrand. 

Napoleon,  in  his  Revelations  from  St.  Helena,  in  giving  a  history 
of  these  transactions,  says :  "  Certain  intriguing  agents,  with  which 
sort  of  instruments  the  office  of  foreign  relations  was  at  that  period 
abundantly  supplied,  insinuated  that  the  demand  of  a  loan  would  be 
desisted  from,  upon  the  advance  of  twelve  hundred  thousand  francs, 
to  be  divided  between  the  Director  Barras  and  the  Minister  Talley- 
rand." This  whole  narrative  of  Bonaparte,  when  carefully  examined, 
is  obviously  drawn  from  public  documents ;  just  such  materials  as  we 
have  before  us  at  this  time.  There  is  not  the  slightest  evidence  that 
he  had  any  personal  knowledge  of  the  transactions,  and  that  he  knew 
from  any  other  source  than  common  report  growing  out  of  the  publi- 
cations of  the  day,  that  Barras,  or  Talleyrand,  had,  through  intriguing 
agents,  made  an  overture  for  a  bribe. 

Notwithstanding  the  publication  of  those  X.  Y.  Z.  dispatches,  so 
questionable  in  their  character  and  design,  so  well  calculated  to  irri- 
tate, yet  the  French  Government  would  not  be  excited  into  a  feeling 
of  hostility.  a  As  to  the  French  Government,"  says  Talleyrand,  on 
the  10th  of  June,  "superior  to  all  personalities,  to  all  the  manoeuvres 
of  its  enemies,  it  perseveres  in  the  intention  of  conciliating  with  sin- 
cerity all  the  differences  which  have  happened  between  the  two  coun- 
tries. I  confirm  it  to  you  anew."  He  then  jfroposes  to  proceed  with 
Mr.  Gerry  on  the  business  of  negotiation,  discards  any  further  demand, 
for  a  loan,  and  res-ts  the  whole  negotiation  on  three  simple  proposi- 
tions, which  might  have  been  speedily  and  satisfactorily  adjusted : 
and  he  urged  on  Mr.  Gerry  to  send  home  for  authority  to  conclude 
the  treaty,  if  he  did  not  feel  that  he  was  already  clothed  with  suffi- 
cient power  for  the  purpose.  But  he  strangely  persisted  in  doing 
neither  one  thing  nor  another :  he  would  not  send  home  and  ask  for 
instruments  necessary  to  the  negotiation,  nor  for  a  successor  to  be 
put  in  his  stead  for  that  purpose,  nor  would  he  enter  into  a  full  de- 
scription of  all  the  points  necessarily  involved  in  a  treaty,  that  he 
might  lay  before  his  Government  the  terms  of  one  he  had  informally 
entered  into,  for  their  ratification  or  rejection.  He  had  it  in  his 
power,  by  a  firm  and  manly  course  of  statesmanship,  to  throw  upon 
the  administration  the  responsibility  of  closing  at  once  all  subjects 


FRANCE  AND  THE  ADMINISTRATION. 

:f  difference  with  the  French  Republic,  or  by  rejecting  a  favorable 
treaty,  to  involve  the  country  in  war  with  that  formidable  power. 
His  only  thought  seems  to  have  been  to  avoid  doing  any  thing  that 
might  hurt  the  feelings  of  his  late  colleagues,  and  to  devise  means  to 
get  home.  He  never  ceased  begging  Talleyrand  to  let  him  go  home. 
Talleyrand  never  ceased  begging  him  to  stay,  and  to  attend  to  the 
important  and  pressing  affairs  of  his  country.  At  length,  finding 
Mr.  Gerry  wholly  impracticable,  he  sent  him  his  passports  about  the 
last  of  July,  and  added,  "As  long  as  I  could  natter  myself,  sir,  with 
fulfilling  the  wish  of  the  Executive  Directory,  by  endeavoring  with 
you  to  establish  the  good  understanding  between  the  French  Repub- 
lic and  the  United  States,  I  used  my  efforts,  both  in  our  conferences 
and  in  my  correspondence  with  you,  to  smooth  the  paths,  to  establish 
the  basis,  to  enter  on  the  business,  and  to  convince  you  of  the  utility 
of  your  presence  in  Paris.  It  is  in  your  character  of  Envoy  of  the 
American  Government  I  received  you  and  wrote  to  you ;  it  depended 
on  yourself  to  be  publicly  received  by  the  Executive  Directory.  .  .  . 
You  cannot  dissemble,  that  if  nothing  prevented  you  from  pursuing 
with  me  the  examining  and  reconciling  of  the  grievances  which  divide 
the  two  countries,  we  should  not  long  stand  in  need  of  any  thing  but 

the  respective  ratifications When  scarcely  informed  of  the 

departure  of  Messrs.  Pinckney  and  Marshall,  I  endeavored  in  every 
conference  I  afterwards  had  with  you  to  demonstrate  to  you  the 
urgency,  the  propriety,  and  the  possibility  of  an  active  negotiation. 
I  collected  your  ideas ;  they  differed  from  my  own — I  endeavored  to 
reconcile  them.  On  the  18th  June  I  transmitted  to  you  a  complete 
plan  of  the  negotiations.  On  the  27th  I  sent  you  my  first  note  for 
discussion  upon  one  of  the  points  of  the  treaty ;  you  declined  answer- 
ing it.  On  the  Gth  of  July  I  sent  you  two  others.  In  vain  J[  accom- 
panied these  documents  with  the  most  cordial  invitation  rapidly  to 
run  over  with  me  this  series  of  indispensable  discussions  upon  all  our 
grievances.  You  have  not  even  given  me  an  opportunity  of  proving 
what  liberality  the  Executive  Directory  would  use  on  the  occasion, 
You  never  ivrote,  in  fact,  but  for  your  departure."  In  a  postscript, 
dated  three  days  later,  and  after  receiving  advices  from  America 
giving  an  account  of  the  warlike  acts  of  Congress,  passed  in  May  and 
June,  M.  Talleyrand  adds :  "  It  seems  that,  hurried  beyond  every 

limit,  your  Government  no  longer  preserves  appearances." 

11 


148  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

(He  then  citos  the  various  acts  that  have  been  passed.)  "  The  long- 
suffering  of  the  Executive  Directory,"  continues  he,  "is  about  to 
manifest  itself  in  the  most  unquestionable  manner.  Perfidy  will  no 
longer  be  able  to  throw  a  veil  over  the  pacific  dispositions,  which  it 
has  never  ceased  to  manifest.  It  is  at  the  very  moment  of  this  fresh 
provocation,  which  would  appear  to  leave  no  honorable  choice  but 
war,  that  it  confirms  the  assurances  I  have  given  you  on  its  behalf. 
It  is  yet  ready,  it  is  as  much  disposed  as  ever,  to  terminate  by  a  can- 
did negotiation  the  differences  which  subsist  between  the  two  coun- 
tries. Such  is  its  repugnance  to  consider  the  United  States  as 
enemies,  that  notwithstanding  their  hostile  demonstrations,  it  means 
to  wait  until  it  be  irresistibly  forced  to  it  by  real  hostilities.  Since 
you  will  depart,  sir,  hasten,  at  least,  to  transmit  to  your  Government 
this  solemn  declaration." 

Mr.  Gerry  did  hasten  to  lay  these  declarations  before  his  Govern- 
ment on  the  first  day  of  October,  and  added,  that  from  the  best  in- 
formation he  could  obtain  relative  to  the  disposition  of  tlie  Executive 
Directory,  they  were  very  desirous  for  a  reconciliation  between  the 
Republics. 

No .  sooner  had  Mr.  Gerry  left  the  shores  of  France,  than  M. 
Talleyrand  opened  a  correspondence  on  American  affairs  with  M. 
Pichon,  Secretary  of  Legation  of  the  French  Republic,  near  the 
Batavian  Republic,  and  requested  that  gentleman  to  give  copies  of 
the  same  to  the  American  minister,  Mr.  Murray,  doubtless  with  an 
expectation  that  they  would  be  forwarded  to  the  President  of  the 
United  States.  In  his  letter  of  August  the  28th,  just  twenty 
days  from  the  departure  of  Mr.  Gerry,  he  says :  "  I  see  between 
France  and  the  United  States  no  clashing  of  interests,  no  motives  of 
jealousy.  Where  is,  therefore,  the  cause  of  the  misunderstanding, 
which,  if  France  did  not  show  herself  the  wisest,  would  bring  from 
this  moment  a  great  rupture  between  the  two  Republics  ?  There  are 
neither  incompatible  interests,  nor  projects  of  aggrandizement,  which 
divide  them.  Lately,  distrust  has  done  all  the  mischief.  The  Gov- 
ernment of  the  United  States  has  believed  that  France  wished  to  have 
revolutionized  America ;  France  has  believed  that  the  Government 
of  the  United  States  wished  to  throw  itself  into  the  arms  of  England. 
It  i&  because  acrimony,  having  mingled  itself  with  distrust,  neither' 
side  has  taken  true  conciliatory  means.  It  has  been  supposed,  in  the 


FRANCE  AND  THE  ADMINISTRATION.  14.9 

United  States,  that  the  French  Government  temporized,  in  order  to 
strike  with  greater  safety.  Hence  followed  a  crowd  of  measures, 
each  one  more  aggravating  than  the  other.  In  France,  it  has  been 
supposed  that  the  Government  of  the  United  States  wished  only  to 
support  the  appearances  of  negotiation.  Thence  there  was  a  certain 
insisting  on  pledges  of  good  faith.  Let  us  substitute  calmness  to 
passions,  confidence  to  suspicions,  and  we  shall  soon  agree.  I  have 
made  my  efforts  to  wind  up  a  negotiation,  in  this  manner,  with  Mr. 
Gerry.  My  correspondence  with  him,  until  the  day  of  his  departure, 
is  a  curious  monument  of  advances  from  me,  and  of  evasions  from 
him.  I  wished  to  encourage  Mr.  Gerry,  by  the  marks  of  regard 
which  his  good  intention  deserved,  though  I  cannot  dissemble  to 
myself  that  he  had  been  wanting  decision,  at  the  moment  when  he 
might  easily  have  settled  every  thing  properly."  In  a  word,  he 
winds  up  with  giving  Mr.  Murray,  through  M.  Pichon,  the  most 
solemn  assurances  that  a  new  plenipotentiary  would  be  received  with- 
out hesitation,  and  that  an  act  of  confidence  towards  them  would  en- 
courage confidence  on  their  part.  This  letter,  so  unequivocal  in  its 
nature,  and  another,  of  a  like  tenor,  making  more  direct  overtures,  if 
possible,  towards  re-opening  negotiations,  must  have  reached  the 
President  before  the  meeting  of  Congress  in  December.  The  Presi, 
dent  had  other  unequivocal,  though  less  direct,  evidences  of  the 
pacific  disposition  of  the  French  Directory.  Dr.  George  Logan,  a 
native  of  Pennsylvania,  while  in  France,  was  introduced  to  the 
Director  Merlin,  and  afterwards  visited  him  on  the  footing  of  a  pri- 
vate friend.  On  one  of  these  occasions,  Merlin  informed  him  that 
France  had  not  the  least  intention  to  interfere  in  the  public  affairs  of 
the  United  States  ;  that  his  country  had  acquired  great  reputation  in 
having  assisted  America  to  become  a  free  republic,  and  that  they 
never  would  disgrace  their  own  revolution  by  attempting  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  United  States.  Dr.  Logan  returned  home  e&rly  in  No- 
vember, and  hastened  to  communicate  what  he  thought  good  news,  to 
the  Secretary  of  State.  He  was  coldly  received  by  Mr.  Pickering, 
and  informed  that  his  news  was  of  no  importance.  General  Wash- 
ington was  at  the  seat  of  government  about  the  time  (Nov.,  1798), 
arranging  his  military  operations  with  Generals  Hamilton,  Pinckney, 
and  the  Secretary  of  War.  Dr.  Logan  called  on  him.  His  recep- 
tion was  even  more  cold  and  repulsive  than  that  of  the  Secretary. 


150  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

When  Logan  repeated  to  him  the  conversation  with  Merlin,  he  re> 
plied,  that  it  was  very  singular  ;  that  he,  who  could  only  be  viewed 
as  a  private  character,  unarmed  with  proper  powers,  and  presump- 
tively unknown  in  France,  could  effect  what  three  gentlemen  of  the 
first  respectability  in  our  country,  specially  charged  under  the 
authority  of  the  Government,  were  unable  to  do.  "  You,  sir,"  with 
some  emphasis  on  the  word,  "  were  more  fortunate  than  our  envoys, 
for  they  would  neither  be  received  nor  heard  by  M.  Merlin,  nor  the 
Directory." 

It  is  very  evident  that  General  Washington,  at  that  time,  was 
highly  exasperated  with  France  ;  that  all  his  feelings  were  enlisted 
against  her ;  and  that,  had  he  been  at  the  head  pf  affairs,  it  would 
have  taken  much  more  than  Talleyrand's  overtures  to  have  induced 
him  to  recommence  negotiations.  Had  Washington  been  President 
in  1798,  or  Hamilton,  or  Pinckney,  or  had  Mr.  Adams  yielded  more 
readily  to  the  counsel  of  his  cabinet,  who  were  wholly  under  the  influ- 
ence of  the  Triumvirate,  the  United  States  would  unquestionably  have 
been  involved  in  a  war  with  the  French  Republic.  But  Mr.  Adams, 
whether  from  the  motives  assigned,  or  from  higher  patriotic  consider- 
ations, refused  the  dictation,  and  saved  the  country  from  so  calami- 
tous a  war  as  that  would  have  been  with  the  French  Republic.  Just 
before  the  meeting  of  Congress,  he  arrived  in  Philadelphia,  from  his 
seat  at  Quincy.  The  tone  of  his  mind  seeme'd  to  have  been  raised. 
rather  than  depressed.  It  was  suggested  to  him  (by  the  military 
conclave — says  Mr.  Jefferson)  that  it  might  be  expedient  to  insert  in 
the  speech  to  Congress,  a  sentiment  of  this  import — that  after  the  re- 
peatedly rejected  advances  of  this  country,  its  dignity  required  that 
it  should  be  left  with  France,  in  future,  to  make  the  first  overture  ; 
that  if.  desirous  of  reconciliation,  she  should  evince  the  disposition 
by  sending  a  minister  to  this  Government,  he  would  be  received  with 
the  respect  due  to  his  character,  and  treated  with  in  the  frankness  of 
a  sincere  desire  of  accommodation. 

The  suggestion  was  received  in  a  manner  both  indignant  and  in- 
temperate. Mr.  Adams  declared  as  a  sentiment,  which  he  had  adopt- 
ed on  mature  reflection,  That  if  France  should  send  a  minister  to- 
morrow^ Jie  ivould  order  him  back  the  next  day. 

So  imprudent  an  idea  was  easily  refuted.  But  yet,  in  less  than 
forty-eight  hours  from  this  extraordinary  sally,  the  mind  of  Mr. 


FRANCE  AND  THE  ADMINISTRATION. 

Adams  underwent  a  total  revolution.  He  resolved  not  only  to  insert 
in  his  speech  the  sentiment  which  had  been  proposed  to  him,  but  to . 
go  farther,  and  to  declare,  that  if  France  would  give  explicit  assur- 
ances of  receiving  a  minister  from  this  country,  with  due  respect, 
he  would  send  one. 

In  vain  was  this  extension  of-  the  sentiment  opposed  by  all  his 
ministers,  as  being  equally  incompatible  with  good  policy  and  with 
the  dignity  of  the  nation.  He  obstinately  persisted,  and  the  decla- 
ration was  introduced.  The  reader  may  account  for  this  change  in 
the  mind  of  the  President  in  two  ways.  In  the  first  place,  we  may 
presume  that  he  knew  nothing  of  the  dispatches  containing  the  cor- 
respondence of  Mr.  Gerry  with  M.  Talleyrand,  which  might  have 
been  received  in  his  absence ;  but  that  on  perusing  the  correspon- 
dence, he  was  forcibly  struck  with  the  fact  that  a  reconciliation  with 
France  depended  solely  on  him.  That  correspondence  presented  the 
business  in  this  light :  France  says — Two  of  the  ministers  you  sent 
to  treat  with  me  are  personally  offensive,  on  account  of  their  hostile 
opinions  and  haughty  demeanor,  a  sentiment,  according  to  the  laws 
of  nations,  we  have  a  right  to  express,  without  giving  offence  to  you. 
I  early  expressed  a  desire  that  those  gentlemen  would  depart,  and  a 
readiness  to  open  negotiation  with  the  third,  who  evinced  better  dis- 
positions towards  conciliation.  I  told  him  to  send  home  for  addi- 
tional powers,  if  he  doubted  his  authority  to  act  alone,  or  to  inform 
his  Government  that  another  minister  would  be  received  to  treat  in 
his  stead,  or  to  agree  informally  on  the  terms  of  a  treaty,  which  he 
might  submit  for  consideration  on  his  return  to  the  United  States. 
But  declining  to  act  on  the  one  or  the  other  of  these  propositions, 
and  still  insisting  on  his  return  home,  I  then  told  him  distinctly  to 
say  to  his  Government,  France  has  no  cause  of  quarrel  with  America, 
does  not  desire  war,  and  is  ready  to  receive  in  good  faith  a  minister 
of  peace,  whenever  one  may  be  sent.  Such  was  the  attitude  of  the 
subject  exhibited  by  the  dispatches  of  Mr.  Gerry. 

It  was  impossible  for  a  President  of  the  United  States  to  under- 
stand them,  and  then  to  take  upon  himself  the  responsibility  of  re- 
jecting those  overtures  of  peace.  In  this  way  we  may  account  for  the 
sudden  change  in  the  mind  of  Mr.  Adams,  and  do  credit  to  his  firm- 
ness and  patriotism.  But  is  it  reasonable  to  suppose  that  he  was 
ignorant  of  those  dispatches,  or  their  contents,  till  so  late  a  period  ? 


152  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

Mr.  Gerry  had  arrived,  and  communicated  them  to  the  State  Depart* 
meat  on  the  first  day  of  October.  He  himself  was  an  intimate  per- 
sonal friend  of  the  President,  and  lived  in  the  same  State  and  neigh- 
borhood. The  most  reasonable  conclusion,  therefore,  is,  that  Mr. 
Adams  was  well  informed  on  the  whole  subject  when  he  arrived  in 
Philadelpha,  and  that  the  change  in  his  course  was  produced  by  the 
motives  assigned  at  the  time — that  is,  a  jealousy  of  Hamilton  and 
Pinckney,  and  a  belief  that  a  plot  was  on  foot  in  which  his  cabinet 
were  implicated,  to  degrade  and  injure  him,  and  to  exalt  the  one  or 
the  other  of  those  military  characters  in  his  place. 

But,  notwithstanding  this  apparent  change  in  his  mind  towards 
the  most  pacific  measures,  he  kept  back  from  Congress  those  impor- 
tant dispatches  of  Mr.  Gerry,  and  other  information  of  a  pacific  kind, 
till  the  18th  of  January,  1799.  They  were  then  accompanied  by  an 
elaborate  report  of  the  Secretary  of  State,  in  which  he  says  the 
points  chiefly  meriting  attention  are  the  attempts  of  the  French  Go- 
vernment ;  1.  To  exculpate  itself  from  the  charge  of  corruption ;  2. 
To  detach  Mr.  Gerry  from  his  colleagues,  and  to  inveigle  him  into  a 
separate  negotiation ;  and  3.  Its  design,  if  the  negotiation  failed,  and 
a  war  should  take  place  between  the  United  States  and  France,  to 
throw  the  blame  of  the  rupture  on  the  United  States.  The  Secre- 
tary labors  to  keep  up  the  spirit  of  distrust  towards  France,  and  to  prove 
that  all  the  overtures  of  her  minister  are  insincere,  merely  intended 
to  deceive  the  United  States,  and  to  gain  time.  "  Warmly  profes- 
sing its  desire  of  reconciliation,"  says  he  in  conclusion,  "  it  gives  no 
evidence  of  its  sincerity ;  but  proofs,  in  abundance,  demonstrate  that 
it  is  not  sincere.  From  standing  erect,  and  in  that  commanding  atti- 
tude requiring  implicit  obedience,  cowering,  it  renounces  some  of  its 
unfounded  demands.  But  I  hope  we  shall  remember  that  the  tiger 
crouches  before  he  leaps  upon  his  prey"  A  very  different  temper  this 
from  that  of  the  President  in  his  opening  speech  to  Congress  in  De- 
cember ;  nor  does  it  show  a  very  harmonious  co-operation  between 
the  Chief  Magistrate  and  his  ministers. 

Just  one  month  from  the  communication  of  the  Secretary's  report 
to  Congress — that  is,  on  the  18th  of  February,  the  President  nomi- 
nated William  Vans  Murray  as  envoy  to  the  French  Republic.  This 
measure  was  taken  without  any  previous  consultation  with  his  minis- 
ters. The  nomination  was;  to  each  of  them,  even  to  the  Secretary 


FRANCE  AND  THE  ADMINISTRATION.  153 

of  State,  his  constitutional  counsellor  in  such  affairs,  the  first  notice 
of  the  project.  The  nomination  was  accompanied  with  a  letter  of 
Talleyrand  to  M.  Pichon,  dated  28th  September,  1798;  and  the 
second,  of  like  tenor,  giving  assurances  that  a  minister  from  the 
United  States  would  be  received  and  accredited. 

The  precipitate  nomination  of  Mr.  Murray  brought  Mr.  Adams 
into  an  awkward  predicament.  He  found  it  necessary  to  change  his 
plan  in  its  progress,  and,  instead  of  ^ne,  to  nominate  three  envoys, 
and  to  superadd  a  promise,  that,  though  appointed,  they  should  not 
leave  the  United  States  till  further  and  more  perfect  assurances  were 
given  by  the  French  Government.  This  remodification  of  the  mea- 
sure was  a  virtual  acknowledgment  that  it  had  been  premature.  It 
argued  either  instability  of  views,  or  want  of  sufficient  consideration 
beforehand. 

General  Washington  disapproved  very  highly  of  the  measure. 
He  was  immediately  informed  of  it  by  the  Secretary  of  State :  and 
in  reply,  said — "The  unexpectedness  of  the  event  communicated 
in  your  letter  of  the  21st  ultimo  did,  as  you  may  suppose,  sur- 
prise me  not  a  little.  But  far,  very  far  indeed  was  this  surprise 
short  of  what  I  experienced  the  next  day,  when,  by  a  very  intelligent 
gentleman,  immediately  from  Philadelphia,  I  was  informed  that  there 
had  been  no  direct  overture  from  the  Government  of  France  to  that 
of  the  United  States  for  a  negotiation ;  on  the  contrary,  that  M.  Tal- 
leyrand was  playing  the  same  loose  and  round-about  game  he  had 
attempted  the  year  before  with  our  wrongs ;  and  which,  as  in  that 
case,  might  mean  any  thing  or  nothing,  as  would  subserve  his  purpose 
best." 

The  speculations  of  the  Republicans  on  the  other  hand  were  to 
the  following  effect.  "  I  inform  you,"  says  Mr.  Jefferson  in  a  letter 
to  Madison,  "  of  the  nomination  of  Murray.  There  is  evidence  that 
the  letter  of  Talleyrand  was  known  to  one  of  the  Secretaries,  and 
therefore  probably  to  all ;  the  nomination,  however,  is  declared  by 
one  of  them  to  have  been  kept  secret  from  them  all.  He  added  that 
he  was  glad  of  it,  as,  had  they  been  consulted,  the  advice  would  have 
been  against  making  the  nomination.  To  the  rest  of  the  party,  how- 
ever, the  whole  was  a  secret  till  the  nomination  was  announced. 
Never  did  a  party  show  a  stronger  mortification,  and  consequentlyt 
that  war  had  been  their  object.  Dana  declared  in  debate  (as  I  have 


154  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

from  those  who  were  present),  that  we  had  done  every  thing  which 
might  provoke  France  to  a  war ;  that  we  had  given  her  insults  which 
no  nation  ought  to  have  borne ;  and  yet  she  would  not  declare  war 
The  conjecture  as  to  the  Executive  is,  that  they  received  Talleyrand's 
letter  before  or  about  the  meeting  of  Congress :  that  not  meaning  to 
meet  the  overture  effectually,  they  kept  it  secret,  and  let  all  the  war 
measures  go  on ;  but  that  just  before  the  separation  of  the  Senate, 
the  President,  not  thinking  he  could  justify  the  concealing  such  an 
overture,  nor  indeed  that  it  could  be  concealed,  made  a  nomination, 
hoping  that  his  friends  in  the  Senate  would  take  on  their  own  shoul- 
ders the  odium  of  rejecting  it ;  but  they  did  not  choose  it.  The 
Hamiltonians  would  not,  and  the  others  could  not,  alone.  The  whole 
artillery  of  the  phalanx,  therefore,  was  played  secretly  on  the  Presi- 
dent, and  he  was  obliged  himself  to  take  a  step  which  should  parry 
the  overture  while  it  wears  the  face  of  acceding  to  it.  (Mark  that  I 
state  this  as  conjecture ;  but  founded  on  workings  and  indications 
which  have  been  under  our  eyes.)  Yesterday,  therefore  (25th  Feb.), 
he  sent  in  a  nomination  of  Oliver  Ellsworth,  Patrick  Henry,  and 
William  Tans  Murray,  Envoys  Extraordinary  and  Ministers  Pleni- 
potentiary to  the  French  Republic,  but  declaring  the  two  former 
should  not  leave  this  country,  till  they  should  receive  from  France 
assurances  that  they  should  be  received  with  the  respect  due  by  the 
laws  of  nations  to  their  character.  This,  if  not  impossible,  must 
keep  off  at  least  the  day  so  hateful  and  so  fatal  to  them,  of  reconcilia- 
tion, and  leave  more  time  for  new  projects  of  provocation." 

The  truth  is,  the  friends  of  the  Government  were  not  agreed  as 
to  ulterior  measures.  Some  were  for  immediate  and  unqualified  war — 
of  this  class  were  Hamilton  and  most  of  the  military  gentry — others 
were  for  a  more  mitigated  course:  the  dissolution  of  treaties,  pre- 
paration of  force  by  land  and  sea,  partial  hostilities  of  a  defensive 
tendency ;  leaving  to  France  the  option  of  seeking  accommodation, 
or  proceeding  to  open  war.  As  most  of  the  responsibility  rested 
on  members  of  Congress,  this  latter  course  was  preferred  by  them, 
and  prevailed.  Either  course  was  consistent  with  itself  and  admit- 
ted of  a  steady  line  of  policy.  But  the  President,  having  no  fixed 
object,  and  governed  by  the  impulse  of  the  moment,  came  athwart  all 
their  plans  and  destroyed  them.  Notwithstanding  the  modifications 
of  his  embassy,  it  was  very  evident  that  most  of  the  federal  members 


FRANCE  AND  THE  ADMINISTRATION.  155 

of  both  branches  of  Congress  carried  home  with  them  a  settled  dis- 
like to  the  measure.  They  regarded  it  as  ill-timed,  built  upon  too 
slight  grounds,  and,  therefore,  humiliating  to  the  United  States ;  as 
calculated  to  revive  French  principles,  strengthen  the  party  against 
Government,  and  produce  changes  in  the  sentiments  and  conduct  of 
some  of  the  European  powers,  that  might  materially  affect  the  in- 
terests and  growing  commercial  prospects  of  the  United  States. 

Before  the  envoys  departed,  intelligence  was  received  of  a  new 
revolution  in  the  French  Government,  and  the  expulsion  of  two  of  the 
Directory.  -This  was  thought  to  be  a  valid  motive  for  delay — at 
least  till  it  could  be  known  whether  the  new  Directory  wo'Jild  ratify 
the  assurances  of  the  old  one.  When  the  news  of  the  revolution  in 
the  Directory  arrived,  Mr.  Adams  was  at  his  seat  in  Massachusetts. 
His  ministers  addressed  to  him  a  joint  letter,  communicating  the  in 
telligence,  and  submitting  to  his  consideration,  whether  that  even! 
ought  to  suspend  the  projected  mission.  In  a  letter  which  he  after- 
wards wrote  from  the  same  place,  he  directed  the  preparation  of  a 
draft  of  instructions  for  the  envoys,  and  intimated  that  their  depar 
ture  would  be  suspended  for  some  time. 

Shortly  after,  about  the  middle  of  October  1799,  he  came  to  th« 
seat  of  government,  when  he  adjusted  with  his  ministers  the  tenor 
of  the  instructions  to  be  given  ;  but  observed  a  profound  silence  on 
the  question  whether  it  was  expedient  that  the  mission  should  pro- 
ceed. The  ministers  expected  a  consultation  on  the  great  question, 
whether  the  mission  to  France  would  be  suspended  until  the  fate  of 
its  Government  could  be  known.  But  they  were  disappointed.  The 
President  alone  considered  and  decided.  The  morning  after  the  in- 
structions were  settled,  he  signified  to  the  Secretary  of  State  .tlat 
the  envoys  ivere  immediately  to  depart. 

Though  uncommunicative  to  his  constitutional  advisers,  he  was 
very  free  in  his  conversations  with  the  envoys  as  to  his  expectations 
in  regard  to  their  embassy.  He  told  them  that  the  French  Govern- 
ment would  not  accept  the  terms,  which  they  were  instructed  to  pro- 
pose ;  that  they  would  speedily  return ;  and  that  he  should  have  to 
recommend  to  Congress  a  declaration  of  war.  "But  as  to  the 
French  negotiation  producing  a  war  with  England,"  said  he,  "  if  it  did, 
England  could  not  hurt  us."  «  When,"  Mr.  Ellsworth  says,  "  Pick- 
ering recited  this  last  idea  to  me  and  Mr.  Wolcott,  I  had  not  pa- 


156  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

tience  to  hear  more.  And  yet  the  President  has  several  times,  iu  his 
letters  to  me,  from  Quincy,  mentioned  the  vast  importance  of  keep- 
ing on  good  terms  with  England." 

The  reader  cannot  be  surprised  that  such  a  man  should  work  the 
destruction  of  any  party  that  regarded  him  as  its  head  ;  indeed  that, 
with  him,  there  was  no  such  thing  as  party  ;  either  he  was  elevated 
above  ordinary  mortals,  and  studied  the  good  of  the  country  alone, 
without  regard  to  his  own  interests,  or  sunk  below  the  level  of  com- 
mon-trading politicians  who  care  for  neither  measures  nor  men,  only 
so  far  as  they  may  conspire  to  their  own  personal  elevation. 

When  the  new  Congress,  of  which  John  Randolph  was  a  mem- 
ber, assembled  at  the  Capitol  in  December,  1799,  the  federal  party 
apparently  compact,  and  with  a  majority  of  at  least  twenty  in  the 
House  of  Representatives,  carried  within  it  all  the  elements  of  dis- 
solution. The  death  blow  had  been  given  by  its  own  friends,  and  it 
required  time  only  to  discover  the  causes  of  its  rapid  decay.  When 
the  extraordinary  events  of  which  we  have  spoken  were  made  known 
to  Washington,  on  the  17th  of  November,  1799,  but  a  few  weeks  be- 
fore his  death,  he  would  answer  nothing  to  them,  but  exclaimed,  "  1 
have  been  stricken  dumb!  I  have,  some  time  past,"  says  he,  "  viewed 
the  political  concerns  of  the  United  States  with  an  anxious  and 
painful  eye.  They  appear  to  me  to  be  moving  by  hasty  strides  to  a 
crisis ;  but  in  what  it  will  result,  that  Being  who  sees,  foresees,  and 
directs  all  things,  alone  can  tell.  The  vessel  is  afloat,  or  very  nearly 
so,  and  considering  myself  as  a  passenger  only,  I  shall  trust  to  the 
mariners,  whose  duty  it  is  to  watch,  to  steer  it  into  a  safe  port." 
Thou  great  and  good  man  !  the  ship  is  afloat !  When  first  launched 
upon  the  deep,  thine  own  seamanship  guided  the  untried  vessel  o'er 
many  a  stormy  billow,  with  Scylla  and  Charybdis  on  either  hand; 
thy  wakeful  eye  didst  steer  right  onward ;  but  never  was  it  permit- 
ted thee,  thou  good  Palinurus,  to  see  the  ship  steered  into  a  safe  port ! 
From  amidst  thy  fellow-passengers,  all  weeping  and  gazing  in  the 
heavens,  thou  wert  borne  aloft  in  a  chariot  of  fire,  and,  by  bands  of 
celestial  spirits  heralded  into  realms  of  immortal  glory.  And  now, 
the  old  Iron-sides  having  buffeted  many  a  stormy  sea,  and  riding 
gallantly  with  all  her  banners  streaming,  hails  thee  her  first,  her  best, 
her  greatest  Captain ! 


SCENE  IN  THE  PLAYHOUSE.  157 


CHAPTER   XXIII. 

SCENE    IN    THE    PLAYHOUSE — STANDING    ARMY. 

ON  the  first  day  of  January,  eighteen  hundred^  Washington  was 
dead;  Bonaparte  First  Consul  of  France.  Our  envoys  had  been 
favorably  received.  Every  prospect  of  a  satisfactory  adjustment  of 
the  differences  between  the  two  republics,  and  no  further  need  for 
the  large  army  which  had  been  established,  and  th?  other  vast  and 
expensive  military  preparations  that  had  been  projected  with  so 
much  vigor  under  the  X.  Y.  Z.  excitement.  Accordingly,  on  the  7th 
of  January,  Mr.  Nicholas,  a  leading  member  of  the  republican  party, 
moved  in  the  House  a  resolution  to  repeal  the  act  passed  the  16th  of 
July,  1798,  entitled  "An  act  to  augment  the  army  of  the  United 
States."  The  debate  lasted  for  several  days,  and  was  warm  and  ani- 
mated. On  the  10th  the  motion  was  lost  by  a  vote  of  sixty  to  thirty- 
nine.  It  was  a  strict  party  vote,  and  showed  a  majority  of  twenty- 
one  for  the  federalists.  John  Randolph,  for  the  first  time,  partici- 
pated in  the  debate  this  day.  The  part  he  performed  will  be  given 
in  his  own  words.  "  In  the  course  of  the  debates  upon  the  resolution 
of  Mr.  Nicholas,  I  took  occasion  to  say  that  the  people  of  the  United 
States  ought  not  to  depend  for  their  safety  on  the  soldiers  enlisted 
under  the  laws,  the  repeal  of  which  was  the  object  of  the  resolution, 
and  casually,  but  justly,  applied  to  them  the  epithet  of  ragamuffins. 
I  also  declared  that  standing,  or  mercenary  armies,  were  inconsistent 
with  the  spirit  of  our  Constitution,  or  the  genius  of  a  free  people. 
General  Lee,  and  others,  dilated  upon  these  terms.  He  affirmed  the 
last  to  be  misapplied,  and  defined  the  word  mercenary  so  as  to  give 
it  an  application  only  to  troops  hired  for  the  defence  of  a  country 
other  than  their  own.  In  reply,  I  contended  that  there  was  no  ety- 
mology which  would  warrant  his  construction ;  that  the  term  was  de- 
rived from  a  Latin  word  which  signified  wages,  and  did  not  embrace, 
as  he  had  declared  my  meaning  would  justify,  the  militia,  which  likewise 
receives  pay  when  in  actual  service,  but  was  exclusively  appropri- 
ated to  such  men  (whether  foreigners,  or  otherwise)  as  made  the  art 
military  a  profession  or  trade,  and  was  properly  expressive  of  a  stand- 


158  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

ing  army  who  served  for  wages  and  by  contract,  in  contradistinction 
to  a  militia,  or  patriotic  army,  which  was  composed  of  all  ranks  of 
citizens,  equally  bound  to  fight  the  battles  of  their  country,  and  in 
which  each  contributed  his  share  to  the  public  safety,  and  who  re- 
ceived pay  only  when  in  actual  service,  to  enable  the  poorer  citizen 
to  perform  his  military  duty. 

"  In  consequence  of  my  application  of  these  terms  to  the  existing 
establishment — the  first  of  which  I  confined  to  such  recruits  as  had 
been  picked  up  in  my  own  country — a  party  of  officers,  the  principal 
agents  among  whom  were  a  Captain  M'Knight  and  a  Lieutenant  Mi- 
chael Reynolds,  both  belonging  to  the  marine  corps,  being  apprised 
that  I  was  in  the  playhouse  on  Friday  evening  last  (on  which  day 
the  resolution  was  lost,  about  six  o'clock),  came  into  the  box  where 
I  was,  and  commenced  their  operations  by  frequent  allusions,  aimed 
at  me,  to  what  was  going  on  in -the  house.  The  play  was  The  Stran- 
ger, and  the  after-piece  Bluebeard.  They  asked  one  another  if  the 
soldiers  on  the  stage  did  not  act  very  well  for  mercenaries ;  said  they 
supposed  from  their  color  (Turks)  they  were  Yirginians ;  squeezed 
into  the  seat  with  evident  intention  to  incommode  us,  particularly 
myself;  and  when  we  were  leaving  the  box,  gave  me  a  twitch  by  the 
coat;  but  upon  the  author  being  demanded,  they  had  disappeared. 
On  going  down  stairs,  some  of  the  gentlemen  said  they  tried  to  push 
iis  all  down  in  mass,  and  in  the  street  they  passed  with  a  rude  quick- 
ness, jostling  one  of  the  gentlemen,  and  striking  another's  foot.  In 
their  aim  upon  me  they  were  disappointed.  I  regarded  all  they  said 
with  the  most  perfect  nonchalance ;  was  unmoved  by  their  attempts 
to  insult  me,  except  when  they  offered  personal  violence ;  and  in  con- 
formity to  what  I  thought  my  duty,  laid  a  written  complaint  before 
the  President.  To-day  (Tuesday,  the  14th)  he  sent  it  to  the  House 
with  a  letter,  in  which  he  lays  it  before  us  l  without  any  comment 
upon  its  style.'  I  must  not  omit  telling  you  that  my  feelings  were 
strongly  excited.  A  motion  was  made  to  provide  a  committee  of 
privileges,  to  whom  it  was  to  be  referred.  This  I  opposed,  express- 
ing my  surprise  that  the  letter  had  been  laid  before  us,  a  measure 
which  I  had  not  contemplated  when  I  wrote  it ;  that  I  had  addressed 
it  to  the  authority  whose  particular  duty  it  was  to  suppress  such 
conduct  in  the  military,  and  disclaimed  all  wish  to  throw  myself  upon 
the  protection  of  himself  or  of  that  House ;  that  the  privileges  of 


SCENE  IN  THE  PLAYHOUSE.  159 

Congress  being  expressly  defined  by  the  Constitution,  I  was  unwill- 
ing to  give  my  assent  to  any  measure  which  might  lead  to  enlarge 
them,  and  which,  even  if  we  had  a  right  to  adopt  it,  would  hereafter 
be  prostituted  to  nefarious  designs.  My  objection  was  overruled, 
and  a  committee  appointed  of  seven,  on  which  the  speaker  had  the 
uncommon  goodness  to  nominate  three  republicans. 

"Perhaps  some  misguided  persons  may  be  induced  to  depreciate 
the  motives  by  which  I  have  been  actuated.  I  cannot  help  it.  My 
business  is  to  do  what  I  conceive  right,  careless  of  the  opinion  of  all. 
I  was  delighted  to  find  my  sentiments  upon  this  subject  coincided 
with  those  of  Dr.  Tucker  ;  it  is  no  bad  criterion  of  the  truth  of  any 
opinion  that  it  meets  his  assent.  I  sometimes  look  back  upon  the 
principles  which  once  governed  my  moral  conduct  with  astonishment — 
how  much  to  be  regretted  it  is,  that  the  painted  phantom  of  honor 
should  be  dressed  in  such  captivating  colors  as  to  suffer  few  of  the 
nobler  minds  to  escape  her  contagious  embrace." 

The  letter  addressed  to  the  President,  after  stating  the  affair  in 
the  theatre,  proceeds  thus — "  Having  stated  the  fact,  it  would  be  de- 
rogatory to  your  character  for  me  to  point  out  the  remedy.  So  far 
as  they  relate  to  this  application  addressed  to  you  in  a  public  capaci- 
ty, they  can  only  be  supposed  by  you  to  be  of  a  public  nature.  It  is 
enough  for  me  to  state,  that  the  independence  of  the  legislature  has 
been  attacked,  and  the  majesty  of  the  people,  of  which  you  are  the 
principal  representative,  insulted,  and  your  authority  contemned. 
In  their  name,  I  demand  that  a  provision  commensurate  with  the  evil 
be  made,  and  which  will  be  calculated  to  deter  others  from  any  future 
attempt  to  introduce  the  reign  of  terror  into  our  country.  In  ad- 
dressing you  in  this  plain  language  of  man,  I  give  you,  sir,  the  best 
proof  I  can  afford  of  the  estimation  in  which  I  hold  your  office  and 
your  understanding ;  and  I  assure  you  with  truth,  that  I  am  with  re- 
spect, your  fellow-citizen, 

"  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

"  Chamber  H.  Representatives  Jan.  11. — 24th  Independence. 
"  To  the  President  of  the  U.  States." 

The  reader  perceives  here  none  of  those  courtly  and  unmeaning 
(if  not  worse)  phrases  that  usually  begin  and  end  the  epistles  address- 
ed to  high  functionaries  by  those  who  seek  to  gain  their  favor  by  ob« 


160  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

sequiousness  and  flattery — To  his  Excellency ,  the  President  of  the. 
United  States — Your  most  obedient  and  humble  servant — none  of 
that,  but  an  unvarnished,  straight-forward  statement  of  facts  ;  he  tells 
the  President  that  the  independence  of  the  legislature  has  been  at- 
tacked, the  majesty  of  the  people  insulted,  and  demands  that  he, 
their  chief  representative,  shall  make  some  provision  adequate  to  pre- 
vent the  reign  of  terror  from  being  introduced  into  the  country.  The 
whole  letter  was  conceived  in  a  stern,  independent,  republican  spirit, 
and  ought  not,  we  would  suppose,  to  have  given  offence  to  any  one 
who  understood  and  duly  appreciated  the  term  fellow-citizen. 

This  letter  the  President  thought  proper  on  Jie  14th  of  the 
month  to  communicate  to  the  House — "  As  the  inclosed  letter,"  says 
he,  "  from  a  member  of  your  body,  received  by  me  on  the  night  of 
Saturday  the  llth  inst.,  relates  to  the  privileges  of  the  House,  which 
in  my  opinion  ought  to  be  inquired  into  by  the  House  itself,  if  any 
where.  I  have  thought  proper  to  submit  the  whole  letter  and  its 
tendencies  to  your  consideration,  without  any  other  comments  on  its 
matter  and  style}1  It  is  very  plain  what  he  and  Pickering  thought 
about  both. 

The  committee  appointed  to  take  this  matter  of  privilege  into  con- 
sideration, consisted  of  Messrs.  Chauncey,  Goodrich,  Macon,  Kittera, 
Jones,  Sewell,  Robert  Williams,  and  Bayard — Mr.  Macon  was  ex- 
cused and  Mr.  Hanna  appointed  in  his  stead. 

Messrs.  Goodrich,  Kittera,  Sewell,  and  Bayard,  constituting  the 
majority  of  the  committee,  were  the  most  distinguished  and  influen- 
tial members  of  the  federal  party  in  the  House. 

On  the  18th,  Mr.  Randolph  addressed  the  following  commu- 
nication to  the  Chairman  of  the  Committee : — "  A  mature  considera- 
tion of  the  subject  induces  me  to  suspect,  that  a  refusal  on  my  part 
to  communicate  the  information  requested  by  you  a  few  days  ago, 
could  only  have  originated  in  a  false  delicacy,  under  whose  impulse 
I  am  determined  never  to  act;  I  shall  therefore  proceed  to  state 
some  instances  of  the  misconduct  of  Capt.  M'Knight  and  Lieut.  Rey- 
nolds, on  the  night  of  Friday,  the  1  Oth  instant. 

"  Exclusive  of  repeated  assertions  to  what  passed  in  the  Houso 
of  Representatives  during  the  debate  of  the  preceding  day,  and  a  fre- 
quent repetition  of  some  words  which  fell  from  me  during  that  dis- 
cussion, in  a  manner  so  marked  as  to  leave  no  doubt  on  my  mind,  or 


SCENE  IN  THE  PLAYHOUSE.  161 

that  of  Messrs.  Van  Rensselaer,  Christie,  or  Macon,  of  their  intention 
to  insult  me  personally ;  finding  me  determined  to  take  no  notice 
of  their  ivords,  they  adopted  a  conduct  which  placed  their  designs  be- 
yond every  possibility  of  doubt,  and  which  they  probably  conceived 
to  be  calculated  to  force  me  into  their  measures.  Mr.  Christie  had 
left  his  seat  between  me  and  the  partition  of  the  box ;  after  which, 
Mr.  Van  Rensselaer,  who  sat  on  the  other  side  of  me,  laid  down,  so 
as  to  occupy  a  more  than  ordinary  portion  of  room,  and  occasioned 
my  removal  to  a  part  of  Mr.  Christie's  former  seat,  leaving  a  very 
small  vacancy  between  myself  and  the  partition.  Into  this  Lieut. 
Reynolds  •  suddenly,  and  without  requesting  or  giving  time  for  room 
to  be  made  for  him,  dropped  with  such  violence  as  to  bring  our  hips 
into  contact.  The  shock  was  sufficient  to  occasion  a  slight  degree  of 
pain  on  my  part,  and  for  which  it  is  probable  he  would  in  some  de- 
gree have  apologized,  had  not  the  act  been  intentional.  Just  before 
I  left  the  box,  one  of  them,  I  believe  M-Knight,  gave  me  a  sudden 
and  violent  pull  by  the  cape  of  my  coat.  Upon  my  demanding  who 
it  was,  (this  was  the  first  instance  in  which  I  noticed  their  proceed- 
ings.) no  answer  was  given.  I  then  added,  that  I  had  long  perceived 
an  intention  to  insult  me,  and  that  the  person  offering  it  was  a  pup- 
py. No  reply  that  I  heard  was  made. 

"  It  will  be  impossible  for  me,  sir,  to  specify  the  various  minute 
actions  of  these  persons  and  their  associates,  which  tended  to  the 
same  point.  Suffice  it  to  say,  that  their  whole  deportment  exhibited 
an  insolence,  and  their  every  act  betokened  a  bold  defiance,  which 
can  nether  be  defined  nor  mistaken,  and  which,  according  to  the  gene- 
rally received  opinions  of  the  world,  not .  only  would  have  justified, 
but  demanded  chastisement. 

"  Referring  the  committee  to  the  numerous  and  authentic  ac- 
counts of  this  transaction,  which  the  gentlemen  present  are  so  well 
calculated  to  give,  I  remain  with  respect,  sir, 

"  Your  fellow-citizen, 

"JOHN  RANDOLPH." 

Those  gentlemen,  Mr.  Christie,  Mr.  Macoii,  Mr.  Nicholson,  and 
others,  men  of  great  respectability,  and  members  of  Congress,  did 
confirm  in  every  particular  the  above  statement.  There  rested  not 
the  shadow  of  a  doubt  on  their  mind,  that  Reynolds  and  M'Knight 


162  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

intended  to  insult  Mr.  Randolph,  and  to  inflict  personal  injury  on 
him,  for  words  spoken  in  debate. 

The  only  testimony  in  opposition  to  those  gentlemen  of  such 
high  respectability,  and  Mr.  Randolph's  own  statement,  so  detailed 
and  explicit,  was  the  declaration  of  those  persons  themselves.  Their 
testimony  is  evidently  an  equivocation :  they  say  they  did  not  aro  to 
the  theatre  with  the  intention  of  insulting  Mr.  Randolph.  "I 
did  not  know,"  says  M'Knight,  "  Mr.  Randolph  was  to  be  at  the 
theatre,  nor  do  I  ever  recollect  seeing  him  previous  to  Friday  even- 
ing ;  and,  from  his  youthful  appearance  and  dress,  I  had  no  idea  of 
his  being  a  member  of  the  House  of  Representatives."  All  this  may 
be  very  true,  and  yet  after  reaching  there,  it  is  very  evident  they 
conceived  the  idea  of  insulting  and  injuring  him. 

The  committee,  after  collecting  all  the  evidence  they  could  find 
material  in  the  case,  report  the  following  resolutions  : 

Resolved,  That  this  House  entertains  a  respectful  sense  of  the  re- 
gsrd  which  the  President  of  the  United  States  has  shown  to  its 
rights  and  privileges,  in  his  message  of  the  14th  instant,  accompanied 
by  a  letter  addressed  to  him  by  John  Randolph,  Jun.,  a  member  of 
this  House. 

Resolved^  That  in  respect  to  the  charge  alleged  by  John  Ran- 
dolph, Jun.,  a  member  of  this  House,  in  his  letter  addressed  to  the 
President  of  the  United  States,  on  the  eleventh  instant,  and  by  him 
submitted  to  the  consideration  of  this  House,  that  sufficient  .cause 
does  not  appear  for  the  interposition  of  this  House,  on  the  ground  of 
a  breach  of  its  privileges. 

The  first  resolution  was  passed  without  a  division.  To  the  se- 
cond, several  amendments  were  offered,  going  to  censure  M'Knight 
and  Reynolds,  but  were  rejected.  Then  the  resolution  itself  was  re- 
jected, by  a  majority  of  twelve,  showing  that  even  that  House  were 
not  prepared  to  sacrifice  their  privileges,  which  had  been  so  evidently 
and  wantonly  insulted  and  trampled  on.  The  Speaker  then  ruled 
all  further  action  on  the  subject  out  of  order,  and  so  shoved  it  aside. 

We  leave  Mr.  Randolph's  friend  and  contemporary,  William 
Thompson,  to  make  his  commentaries  on  these  transactions,  the  more 
valuable  as  the  spontaneous  effusions  of  an  ingenuous  and  noble 
mind : — "  The  committee,"  says  he,  "  who  sat  to  examine  the  charge 
ugainst  several  minions  of  executive  power,  which,  of  all  that  can  be 


SCENE  IN  THE  PLAY-HOUSE.  163 

brought  against  men,  was  most  serious,  as  being  most  destructive  to 
the  liberties  of  America — the  committee  who  were  called  on  t3  say 
whether  the  privileges  of  the  House  should  be  prostrated,  as  the  privi- 
leges of  the  people  have  been — the  committee  who  were  called  on  to 
decide  whether  a  set  of  armed  ruffians  should  surround  the  capitol, 
and  dictate  our  laws — this  committee  have  determined,  that  although 
there  were  some  circumstances  (language  of  the  report)  which  deserved 
censure,  yet  they  were  not  of  such  a  nature  as  to  be  considered  a 
breach  of  the  privileges  of  the  House.  Admit  the  meaning  which 
they  wish  to  give  to  some  circumstances,  I  say,  if  there  were  any  cir- 
cumstance, no  matter  how  trivial  in  its  nature  it  may  be,  if  on  the 
most  rigid  inquiry  it  can  be  found  that  a  legislator  is  insulted  for  his 
official  conduct,  that  the  man  who  insults  c  ffers  an  insult  to  the  peo- 
ple ;  and  that  the  men  who  do  not,  when  called  on,  inflict  all  the 
punishment  their  power  licenses,  is  an  enemy,  are  enemies  to  the 
liberty  of  America.  What,  sir,  will  result  from  the  decision  of  that 
committee  ?  The  republicans  are  liable  to  daily  and  hourly  insults — 
the  soldiers  of  Philadelphia  are  to  be  raised  to  a  Pretorian  band — 
our  measures  are  to  be  dictated  by  the  willing  foes  of  our  liberty — 
and  virtuous  opposition  is  to  be  silenced  by  the  bayonet.  Let  me 
not  be  told  that  these  apprehensions  are  ridiculous  ;  I  say  they  are 
grounded  in  the  full  conviction,  that  the  military  mob  is  supported  by 
the  administration,  and  that  administration  will  make  great  sacrifices 
to  their  love  of  power.  I  say  it  is  grounded  on  a  conviction  that  this 
army  is  not  now  kept  up  to  secure  us  from  invasion ;  but  that  it  con- 
templates something,  and  I  fear  that  something  is  injurious  to  my 
country.  That  the  insults  you  received  were  not  offered  to  you  as 
an  individual,  is  certain ;  for  as  an  individual,  separate  from  your 
principles,  I  perceive  they  knew  you  not ;  it  is  certain,  because  your 
words  were  quoted.  Not  content  with  debasing  us  in  fact,  they  wish 
to  debase  us  even  in  appearance — they  cavil  at  your  ivords,  Had 
you  addressed  the  President  in  courtly  style,  they  would  forgive  the 
contents  of  your  letter ;  addressing  him  as  you  have  done,  we  applaud 
the  conduct,  and  we  rejoice  there  is  one  man  left  us  whose  principles 
and  whose  manners  stand  uncorrupted  in  these  corrupted  times. 
I  say  we,  for  I  speak  the  language  of  many;  I  say  we,  for  I 
speak  the  language  of  your  State.  The  persecutions  of  a  faction 
have  made  you  more  dear  to  us.  Not  that  your  merits  are  in- 
12 


1(54  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

creased  by  circumstances,  but  because  this  is  a  glaring  instance 
amongst  many,  that  men  are  persecuted  as  the  organs  of  principles. 
This  committee  have  done  more,  anxious  that  no  opportunity  should 
be  lost  to  liquidate  part  of  the  great  debt  of  adulation,.they  have  inter- 
woven a  motion  of  thanks  to  the  President  for  the  respectful  sense  he 
has  shown  of  their  privileges.  Whither  does  this  lead  1  Is  it  not  to 
be  apprehended,  that  by  this  conduct  your  rights  are  to  be  changed 
irto  courtesy,  that  your  rights  are  to  hang  on  the  nod  of  your  Presi- 
dent? Does  this  man  deserve  thanks  for  the  compliance  with  his 
official  duties  ?  Does  he  deserve  thanks  for  doing  that  for  which  he 
is  paid  by  his  country  ?  The  friends  of  America  look  at  this  affair 
with  wonder  and  with  horror.  The  timid  part  of  the  community  say 
we  will  not  send  a  man  whose  principles  are  obnoxious,  for  fear  of 
consequences ;  the  patriots  of  your  State  say  we  will  send  men  who 
dare  to  speak  the  truth,  no  matter  in  whose  ears  it  is  grating.  But 
it  was  disrespectful  to  call  him  fellow-citizen !  Yes,  he  is  not  a  fel- 
low-citizen, because  he  is  chief  officer,  he  is  alienated  by  promotion. 
There  is  more  truth  in  his  having  been  aliened  than  they  would 
admit.  I  will  forget  for  a  moment  that  I  am  personally  acquainted 
with  you,  and  state,  that  you  evinced  in  this  affair  an  intrepid  cool- 
ness, a  firmness,  and  calmness,  which  must  convince  every  man,  not 
sworn  to  partiality,  that  every  word  of  your  evidence  is  most  rigid 
truth.  But  your  remark  of  mercenary  and  ragamuffin  was  gall- 
ing to  certain  men  in  that  House ;  your  arguments  throughout  the 
whole  were  unanswerable ;  and  your  naked  truths  (for  I  will  adopt 
your  very  appropriate  expression)  were  dangerous  to  men  who,  un- 
veiled, are  damned." 

This  affair  created,  at  the  time,  great  excitement  through  the 
country.  It  was  considered  as  but  one  of  a  series  of  events  that  had 
for  their  end  the  subjugation  of  the  people  to  the  will  of  the  federal 
oligarchy.  The  enormous  public  debt,  which  was  daily  increasing  by 
heavy  loans  at  usurious  interest,  the  funding  system,  the  National 
Bank,  the  recently-created  navy  establishment,  and  large  standing 
army  without  an  enemy  or  the  prospect  of  an  enemy,  the  alien  and 
the  sedition  laws  in  active  operation,  sparing  neither  station  nor  age, 
had  given  an  alarming  and  a  powerful  centralizing  action  to  the 
Government.  And  it  was  thought  that  the  evil  tendencies  of  all  those 
measures  wera  now  consummated  in  the  humiliation  of  the  legisla- 


SCENE  IN  THE  PLAY-HOUSE.  165 

ture  to  executive  authority,  and  its'  tame  submission  to  the  arrogance 
of  military  pride.  The  trivial  occurrence  in  the  theatre,  giving  an 
opportunity  to  the  President  to  display  his  petulant  temper  and  his 
high  sense  of  official  consequence,  and  to  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives to  manifest  their  subservient  spirit,  proved  to  be  a  very  serious 
business.  The  people,  more  sagacious  than  they  have  credit  for 
among  some  politicians,  saw  at  once  the  tendency  of  these  proceedings  ; 
and  Randolph  was  hailed  throughout  the  Union  as  the  champion  of 
the  rights  of  the  people.  The  very  morning  (15th  January)  his  cor- 
respondence with  the  President  appeared  in  the  Philadelphia  papers, 
and  before  any  action  thereon  by  the  House,  he  received  a  communi- 
cation professing  to  convey  the  sentiments  of  a  number  of  respectable 
citizens.  "  It  is  our  decided  opinion,"  say  they,  "  that  the  person  of 
a  delegate  in  Congress  ought  to  be  as  sacred  from  public  or  private 
insult  as  the  person  of  an  ambassador  to  a  foreign  power.  Should  this 
flagrant  violation  of  the  privilege  of  a  member  of  your  House  which 
has  been  offered  to  your  person  be  ivinked  at,  may  not  enterprising 
men  introduce  parties  into  the  House,  which,  by  putting  its  members 
in  bodily  fear,  will  completely  shackle  the  freedom  of  debate,  and 
thereby  injure  the  public  good  ?"  They  then  proceed  to  thank  him  for 
having  the  boldness  candidly  to  avow  tJie  real  sentiments  of  his  heart, 
with  a  huge  capital  R  and  a  tremendous  underscoring  of  the  word  real 
in  the  original  document,  which  is  now  before  us.  We  might  infer  from 
this  that  such  boldness  was  very  unusual  at  that  time.  'And  indeed  it 
was  true.  Madison  had  retired  before  the  storm ;  so  had  Giles  and  the 
plain  blunt-spoken  Finlay,  of  Pennsylvania.  G-allatin  was  still  there  ; 
but  he  was  not  the  man  for  the  crisis ;  he  was  a  foreigner,  modest, 
plain  in  his  elocution,  and  dealt  more  in  facts  and  figures  of  arith- 
metic than  those  bold  metaphors  and  figures  of  speech  so  essential  to 
arouse  and  interest  the  people.  The  whole  House  might  slumber 
under  Gallatin's  demonstrations,  while  one  schrill  echo  of  Randolph's 
voice  would  wake  the  seven  sleepers.  Matthew  Lyon  is  seen  among 
the  silent  voters ;  but  three  months'  imprisonment  last  winter  in  a 
dungeon,  not  six  feet  square,  under  the  sedition  law,  for  daring  to 
publish  words  in  disparagement  of  the  President,  has  cooled  his  Irish 
temper,  and  awed  him  into  silence.  This  Harry  Hotspur,  therefore, 
or  young  cornet  of  horse,  burst  suddenly  among  them  like  a  sky- 
rocket. His  boldness,  his  eloquence,  his  youthful  appearance,  struck 


156  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

them  with  astonishment.  But  who  can  tell  the  effect  of  those  naked 
truths,  which  fell  like  hot  shot  among  the  enemy,  all  intrenched  and 
secure,  as  they  supposed  themselves,  behind  their  formidable  walls  ! 
John  Thompson's  prediction  was  fulfilled  in  the  very  outset  of  his 
career :  He  will  become  an  object  of  admiration  and  terror  to  the  ene- 
mies  of  liberty ! 


CHAPTEE    XXIV. 

MAKE  TO  YOUESELF  AN  IDOL,    AND,   IN   SPITE   OF  THE   DECA- 
LOGUE,  WORSHIP  IT. 

DURING  the  winter  and  spring  of  1800  he  kept  up  a  regular  cor- 
respondence with  his  friend,  William  Thompson,  who,  the  reader 
knows,  had  found  a  home  and  an  asylum  in  his  misfortunes  under  the 
hospitable  roof  of  Bizarre.  The  soothing  temper  he  manifests  towards 
that  unfortunate  youth,  the  sound  advice  he  gave  him,  so  fraught  with 
wisdom  and  a  knowledge  of  human  nature,  and  his  judicious  and 
well-timed  encouragement,  to  arouse  from  his  lethargy  and  become 
the  man  he  was  capable  of  being,  present  the  character  of  John  Ran- 
dolph in  a  pleasing  point  of  view,  and  explain  in  a  measure  those 
traits  of  mind  and  disposition,  known  only  to  a  few,  that  made  him 
such  an  object  of  devoted  friendship  on  the  part  of  those  who  were 
honored  by  his  intimate  regard. 

Tohn  Randolph,  jun    to  his  friend  and  brother,  William  TJiompson. 

PHILADELPHIA,  Dec.  31,  24th  year. 

"  Your  letter  was  peculiarly  acceptable  to  me.  It  relieved  me 
from  considerable  anxiety  on  account  of  your  health,  to  the  ill  state 
of  which  I  attributed  that  suspension  of  our  correspondence,  which 
has  originated  in  the  derangement  of  the  post  office  department ;  it 
contained  assurances  of  that  regard  of  which  I  never  entertained  a 
doubt,  but  which,  nevertheless,  were  extremely  gratifying  to  me  ;  but 
above  all  it  put  my  mind  at  ease  upon  a  subject  which  has  been  pro- 
ductive of  considerable  concern.  I  mean  your  change  of  residence, 
which,  as  you  will  find  by  my  last,  I  understood  you  had  removed 


IDOL- WORSHIP. 

to  Chinquepin  Cliurcli — not  knowing  your  reasons  for  leaving  Bi- 
zarre, I  could  not  combat.  Great,  however,  was  my  surprise  and 
pleasure  to  receive  a  letter  from  Judy  (Mrs.  Richard  Randolph)  and 
yourself;  both  of  which  relieved  my  anxiety  upon  this  head.  I  am, 
moreover,  charmed,  my  friend,  that  you  are  resolutely  bent  upon 
study,  and  have  made  some  progress  therein.  Let  me  conjure  you 
to  adhere  inflexibly  to  this  rational  pursuit.  Your  destiny  is  in  your 
own  hands.  Regular  employment  is  of  all  medicines  the  most  effect- 
ual for  a  wounded  mind.  If  the  sympathy  of  a  friend  who  loves  you 
because  you  are  amiable  and  unfortunate  ;  because  you  are  the  rep- 
resentative of  that  person  (John  Thompson  died  January,  1799)  who 
held  the  first  place  in  his  heart,  and  the  first  rank  in  the  intellectual 
order ;  if  my  uniform  friendship,  my  dear  Thompson,  could  heal  the 
wounds  of  your  heart,  never  should  it  know  a  pang.  Your  situation 
is  of  all  others  the  one  most  eminently  calculated  to  repair,  so  far  as 
it  is  possible,  the  ills  which  you  have  sustained.  An  amiable  woman, 
who  regards  you  as  a  brother,  who  shares  your  griefs,  and  will  admin- 
ister as  far  as  she  can  to  your  consolation,  who  unites  to  talents  of 
the  first  order  a  degree  of  cultivation  uncommon  in  any  country,  but 
especially  in  ours — such  a  woman  is  under  the  same  roof  with  you. 
Cultivate  a  familiarity  with  her ;  each  day  will  give  you  new  and  un 
expected  proof  of  the  strength  of  her  mind,  and  the  extent  of  her 
information.  Books  you  have  at  command;  your  retirement  is 
unbroken.  Such  a  situation  is,  in  my  opinion,  the  best  calculated  for 
a  young  man  (under  any  circumstances)  who  will  study ;  or  even  for 
one  who  is  determined  to  be  indolent.  Female  society,  in  my  eye,  is 
an  indispensable  requisite  in  forming  the  manly  character.  That 
which  is  offered  to  you  is  not  to  be  paralleled,  perhaps,  in  the  world. 
You  call  on  me,  my  friend,  for  advice.  You  bid  me  regard  your 
foibles  with  a  lenient  eye;  you  anticipate  the  joy  which  I  shall 
derive  from  your  success.  I  will  not  permit  myself  to  doubt  of 
it.  You  shall  succeed — you  must.  You  have  it  in  your  power. 
Exertion  only  is  necessary.  You  owe  it  to  the  memory  of  our 
departed  brother,  to  yourself,  to  me,  to  your  country,  to  human- 
ity !  Apprised  that  you  have  foibles  to  eradicate,  the  work  is 
more  than  half  accomplished.  I  will  point  them  out  with  a  friendly 
yet  lenient  hand.  You  will  not  shrink  from  the  probe,  know- 
ing  that  in  communicating  present  pain  your  ultimate  cure  and 


163  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

safety  is  the  object  of  the  friendly  operator.  If  I  supposed  myself 
capable  of  inflicting  intentional  and  wanton  pain  upon  your  feelings, 
I  should  shrink  with  abhorrence  from  myself.  In  the  course  of  my 
strictures  I  may,  perhaps,  appear  abrupt.  I  am  now  pressed  for 
time. 

"  Self-examination,  when  cool  and  impartial,  is  the  best  of  all  cor- 
rectives. It  is  a  general  and  trite  observation  that  man  knows  his 
fellows  better  than  himself.  This  is  too  true ;  but  it  depends  upon 
every  individual  to  exhibit,  in  himself,  a  refutation  of  .this  received 
maxim.  Ketirement  and  virtuous  society  fit  the  mind  for  this  task. 

"  Among  your  foibles  I  have  principally  observed  unsteadiness ;  a 
precipitate  decision,  and  the  want  of  mature  reflection. \generally.  It 
would  be  uncandid  to  determine  your  character  by  these  traits,  which 
originate,  perhaps,  or  are  at  least  heightened,  by  the  uneasiness  which 
preys  upon  your  mind,  which  renders  you  more  than  usually  restless. 
Endeavor,  my  friend,  to  act  less  upon  momentary  imjTulse ;  pause, 
reflect ;  think  much  and  speak  little ;  form  a  steadiness  of  demeanor, 
and  having  once  resolved,  persevere.  Read,  but  do  not  devour,  books. 
Compare  your  information ;  digest  it.  In  short,  according  to  the 
old  proverb,  "  Make  haste  slowly."  There  is  one  point  upon  which 
I  must  enjoin  you  to  beware.  You  appeared  restless,  when  I  saw 
you,  to  change  your  property.  Let  things  stand  as  they  are  a  little. 
Facilis  discensus,  sed  revocare  gradum,  hoc  opus.  (Excuse,  I  beseech 
you,  this  pitiful  display  of  learning.) 

"  The  Due  de  la  Rochefoucault — who,  by  the  by,  is  a  bad  moral 
preceptor — has,  among  others,  this  very  excellent  maxim :  i  We  are 
never  made  so  ridiculous  by  the  qualities  we  possess,  as  by  those 
which  we  affect  to  have,'  I  never  knew  a  man  who  would  not  profit 
of  this  observation.  To  preserve  your  own  esteem,  merit  it.  I  have 
no  fear  that  you  will  ever  render  yourself  unworthy  of  its  greatest 
good.  Yet,  a  man  who  is  so  unfortunate  as  to  lose  his  own  good 
opinion,  is  wrong  to  despair.  It  may  be  retrieved.  He  ought  to  set 
about  it  immediately,  as  the  only  reparation  which  he  can  make  to 
himself  or  society.  The  ill  opinion  of  mankind  is  often  misplaced  ; 
lut  our  own  of  ourselves  never. 

"  Pardon,  my  dear  brother,  this  pedantic  and  didactic  letter.  Its 
sententiousness  is  intolerable,  yet  it  was  almost  unavoidable.  I  had 
written  till  my  fingers  were  cramped.  The  hour  of  closing  the  mail 


IDOL-WORSHIP.  169 

approached,  and  I  was  obliged  to  throw  my  sentiments  into  the  offen- 
sive form  of  dogmas.  That  I,  who  abound  in  foibles,  and,  to  speak 
truth,  vices— that  I  shpuld  pretend  to  dogmatize,  may  appear  to  many 
arrogant  indeed.  Yet,  let  them  recollect  that  we  are  all  frail,  and 
should  sustain  each  other ;  and  that  the  truth  of  a  precept  is  not  de 
termined  by  the  practice  of  him  who  promulges  it.  Go  on,  my  dear 
Thompson,  and  prosper.  I  regret  that  I  am  debarred  the  pleasure  of 
sharing  your  literary  labors,  and  of  that  interchange  of  sentiment 
which  constitutes  one  of  the  chief  sources  of  my  enjoyment.  To  our 
amiable  sister — for  such  she  considers  herself  with  respect  to  you — I 
commit  you,  confident  that  your  own  exertion,  aided  by  her  society, 
will  form  you  such  as  your  friend  will  rejoice  to  behold  you.  Write 
to  him  frequently  I  beseech  you ;  cheer  his  solitary  and  miserable  ex- 
istence with  the  well  known  characters  of  friendship.  Adieu,  my 
dear  brother." 

William  Thompson  to  John  Randolph. 

"  DEAR  JACK, — I  am  not  ceremonious.  I  feel  a  conviction  that 
your  silence  does  not  proceed  from  a  want  of  regard,  but  from  a 
cause  more  important  to  the  world,  to  yourself,  and,  if  possible,  more 
distressing  to  me  than  the  loss  of  that  place  in  your  heart,  on  which 
depends  my  future  prosperity.  I  had  fondly  hoped  that  the  change 
of  scene,  and  the  novelty  of  business,  would  have  dissipated  that  me- 
lancholy which  overhung  you.  To  see  my  friend  return  happy  and 
well,  was  the  only  wish  of  my  heart. 

"  To  the  man  who  is  not  devoted  to  unnatural  dissipations,  a 
great  city  has  no  charms :  it  awakens  the  most  painful  sensations  in 
the  breast  of  the  philanthropist  and  patriot.  It  is  disgusting  to  be- 
hold such  a  mass  of  vice,  and  all  its  attendant  deformities,  cherished 
in  the  bosom  of  an  enlightened  country.  Prostitutions  of  body,  and 
still  greater  prostitution  of  mind,  excite  our  pity  and  hatred.  The 
political  life  has  not  those  attractions  to  the  virtuous  which  it  once 
had,  and  which  it  ought  still  to  have  in  this  country.  The  spirit  of 
party  has  extinguished  the  spirit  of  liberty.  The  enlightened  orator 
must  be  shocked  at  the  willing  stupidity  of  his  auditors.  Our  exer- 
tions are  vain  and  impotent.  Every  man  is  the  avowed  friend  of  a 
party.  Converts  to  reason  are  not  to  be  found  ;  whilst  converts  to 
interest  are  innumerable. 


170  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

"  You  know  I  promised  not  to  visit  Richmond.  I  have  rigidly 
adhered  to  that.  I  felt  a  necessity  of  cooling  doivn.  I  foreboded 
the  acquirement  of  dissipated  habits,  which  would  haunt  me  unceas- 
ingly. I  saw  that  the  patronage  of  the  virtuous  would  awaken  an 
emulation  in  me  to  attain  their  perfection.  I  feel  confident  that  if 
my  friends  bear  a  little  longer  with  my  foibles,  they  will  be  corrected. 
I  look  forward  with  honest  pride  to  the  day  when  I  shall  merit  the 
regard — when,  by  my  conduct  and  by  my  principles,  I  shall  make 
some  retribution  for  the  exalted  generosity  which  I  have  met  with 
from  your  family.  I  am  not  made  of  such  stern  stuff  as  to  resist 
singly  ;  but  the  idea  of  friendship  will  steel  my  heart  against  temp- 
tation. Since  you  left  me,  I  have  been  generally  at  home,  conscious 
how  little  I  merit  regard.  That  which  I  feel  for  ypur  amiable 
family  may  perhaps  appear  presumption,  yet  the  thought  of  losing  it 
is  stinging.  *  *  *  To  your  sister,  your  most  amiable  sister,  I  try  to 
render  myself  agreeable.  There  is  a  gentleness  of  manners,  an  uni- 
formity of  conduct,  and  a  majesty  of  virtue,  which  seem  to  render 
admiration  presumptuous."  . 

John  Randolph  to  his  brother,  William  Thompson. 

"  Your  letter,  my  dear  Thompson,  has  communicated  to  my  heart 
a  satisfaction  to  which  it  has  not  been  at  all  familiar.  It  has  proved 
beyond  dispute  that  the  energies  of  your  mind,  however  neglected  by 
yourself,  or  relaxed  by  misfortune,  have  been  suspended,  but  not  im- 
paired ;  and  that  the  strength  of  your  understanding  has  not  been 
unequal  to  the  ordeal  of  misfortune,  of  which  few  are  calculated  to 
bear  the  test.  Proceed,  my  friend,  in  the  path  in  which  you  now 
move ;  justify  those  lively  hopes  which  I  have  never  ceased  to  enter- 
tain, or  to  express,  of  your  future  attainments  :  in  the  words,  al- 
though not  in  the  sense  of  the  poet,  let  me  exhort  you,  '  carpe  diem.' 
The  past  is  not  in  our  power  to  recall.  The  future  we  can  neither 
foresee  nor  control.  The  present  alone  is  at  our  disposal :  on  the  use 
to  which  it  is  applied,  depends  the  whole  of  what  is  estimable  or 
amiable  in  human  character." 

Poor  Thompson  went  to  Petersburg  about  this  time  (February, 
or  March,  1800),  and  got  entangled  in  a  way  that  most  young  men 
of  his  temper  are  apt  to  be.  He  shall  tell  the  story  in  his  own  way. 
After  getting  back  to  Bizarre,  in  April,  he  thus  writes : 


IDOL-WORSHIP.  171 

*'•'  You  will  be  sarprised,  dear  brother,  when  you  are  informed, 
that  my  stay  in  Petersburg  was  protracted  by  a  circumstance  against 
which  you  warned  me  in  a  letter  some  time  past.  I  allude  to  Mrs. 
B— — .  Nature  has  compensated  for  mental  imperfection,  by  bodily 
perfection  in  that  woman.  And  my  attachment  to  her  corroborates 
a  heresy  in  love,  that  desire  is  a  powerful  ingredient.  Her  mind  is 
not  cultivated,  her  disposition  is  not  calculated  to  make  a  man  of 
my  enthusiasm  in  regard  happy.  Fully  aware  of  these  circum- 
stances, I  cherished  her  name  as  dear.  Thus  situated,  let  me  ask 
you  a  question.  Had  you  been  told — nay,  had  you  known  that  this 
woman  was  the  victim  of  infamous  oppression — that  these  charms 
had  been  wrested  from  your  possession  by  unfeeling  relations  (they 
were  engaged  when  he  went  to  Europe  in  1798),  that  your  name  was 
dear,  her  husband's  name  odious — that  on  you  she  looked  with  ten- 
derness, and  on  him  with  hatred,  what  line  of  conduct  would  you 
adopt  ?  *  *  *  I  had  resolved  to  shun  her,  and  in  truth  did  ;  but  that 
fate,  which  shows  refinement  in  its  policy,  forced  me  to  an  interview. 
******  After  several  resolutions,  some  ridiculous  (as  is  usual 
in  such  cases),  and  one  which  had  near  proved  fatal,  I  fled  to  the 
asylum  of  the  distressed  (wisely  thought  of),  to  the  spot  where  ten- 
der friendship  forms  a  character  exalted  to  a  height,  which  makes 
the  feebler  of  her  sex  look  low  indeed,  would  make  me  blush  at  my 
folly,  and  banish  the  idea  of  a  baneful  passion.  I  will  not  recapitu- 
late the  wrongs  of  fortune,  but  I  fondly  hope  that  they  will  plead  in 
apology  for  the  failings  of  your  friend." 

Now  for  the  answer ;  and  let  every  young  man,  and  young 
woman  too,  ponder  well  upon  it. 

'•April  19,  24  year.— To-day  I  received  your  letter  of  the  12th. 
It  has  unravelled  a  mystery,  for  whose  solution  I  have  before  searched 
in  vain.  That  you  should  have  been  in  Petersburg,  sighing  at  the 
feet  of  the  fair  Mrs.  B.,  is  what  I  did  not  expect  to  learn,  since  I 
supposed  you  all  the  while  in  Sussex.  I  am  now  not  at  all  surprised 
at  your  silence,  during  this  period  of  amorous  intoxication ;  since 
nothing  so  completely  unfits  a  man  for  intercourse  with  any  other 
than  the  object  of  his  infatuation. 

"  The  answer  to  your  questions  is  altogether  easy.  In  the  first 
place,  it  is  not  true,  because  it  cannot  be  true,  that  this  lady  was 
compelled  to  the  step  which  she  has  taken.  What  force  could  be 


172  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

brought  to  act  upon  her,  which  materials  as  hard  as  wax  would  not 
resist  ?  The  truth  is,  if  ever  she  felt  an  attachment  to  you,  she 
sacrificed  it  to  avarice ;  not  because  money  was  the  end,  but  the 
means,  of  gratification  ;  her  vanity,  the  ruling  passion  of  every  mind 
as  imbecile  as  her  own,  delighted  in  the  splendor  which  wealth  alone 
could  procure.  At  this  time  the  same  passion,  which  is  one  of  the 
vilest  modifications  of  self-love,  would  gratify  itself  with  a  little  co- 
quetry ;  and  if  your  prudence  has  not  exceeded  that  of  the  lady,  it  has 
gone,  I  fear,  greater  lengths  than  she  at  first  apprehended.  Nor 
have  you,  my  friend,  done  this  woman  a  good  office,  in  rendering  her 
discontented  with  her  lot,  by  suffering  her  to  persuade  herself  that 
she  is  in  love  with  you,  and  that  oppression  alone  has  driven  her  to 
a  detested  union  with  a  detestable  brute,  for  such  (on  all  hands,  I  be- 
lieve, it  is  agree4)  is  Mr.  B.  Never  did  I  see  a  woman  apparently 
better  pleased  with  her  situation.  She  did  not  lose  one  penny- 
weight of  her  very  comfortable  quantity  of  flesh ;  and,  however  she 
might  have  liesitated  between  my  friend  and  the  cash,  minus  the 
possessor,  had  you  been  on  the  spot  to  contest  your  right  to  her 
very  fair  hand,  yet  W.  T.,  on  the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic,  or 
perhaps  at  the  bottom  of  it,  was  no  rival  to  the  solid  worth  of  her 
now  cara  sposa.  Perhaps,  in  the  first  instance,  she  might  have  dis- 
liked the  man,  for  good  reasons ;  and  in  the  second,  for  no  reason 
at  all,  but  because  her  relations  were  very  anxious  for  the  match ; 
but  be  assured  her  imagination  was  not  sufficiently  lively  to  induce 
her  to  shed  one  tear  on  your  account. 

"  You  ask  me,  my  friend,  what  conduct  you  ought  to  pursue ; 
and  you  talk  of  revenge.  B.  has  never  injured  you ;  he  has  acted 
like  a  fool,  I  grant,  in  marrying  a  woman  whose  only  inducement 
to  the  match,  he  must  be  conscious,  was  his  wealth  ;  but  he  has  com- 
mitted no  crime ;  at  least  he  was  unconscious  of  any.  That  the  fel- 
low should  wear  antlers,  is  no  great  matter  of  regret,  because  the  os 
frontis  is  certainly  substantial  enough  to  bear  their  weight.  Yet  I 
do  not  wish  them  to  be  planted  by  you,  for  your  sake.  I  will  allow 
that  this  lady  is  as  fair  as  she  is  fat — that  she  is  a  very  inviting  ob- 
ject ;  yet  why  should  you  prevent  her  leading  a  life  of  as  much  hap- 
piness as  she  is  susceptible  of — fruges  consumere,  &c.  Has  not  her 
conduct  in  relation  to  you  and  to  her  husband  been  such  as  renders 
her  unworthy  of  any  man  of  worth  ?  Has  he  not  conferred  on  you  a 


IDOL-WORSHIP.  173 

Oenefit,  by  preventing  the  possibility  of  an  alliance  with  a  woman  ca- 
pable of  carrying  on  a  correspondence  with  any  other  than  her  hus- 
band; and  can  you,  who  enjoy  the  society  of  that  pattern  of  female 
virtue,  feel  for  this  woman  any  sentiment  but  contempt  ?  ... 
So  far  from  injuring  you,  B.  is  the  injured  person,  if  at  all.  His  im- 
penetrable stupidity  has  alone  shielded  him  from  sensations  not  the 
most  enviable,  I  imagine.  Do  not  suppose  from  my  style  that  I  am 
unfeeling,  or  have  too  low  an  estimate  of  the  sex ;  on  the  contrary,  I 
am  the  warmest  of  their  admirers.  But  silly  and  depraved  women, 
and  stupid,  unprincipled  men,  are  both  objects  of  my  pity  and  con- 
tempt. I  wish  you  to  form  a  just  estimate  of  what  is  valuable  in 
female  character— then  seek  out  a  proper  object  and  marry.  Intrigue 
will  blast  your  reputation,  and,  what  is  more  to  the  purpose,  your 
peace  of  mind  ;  it  will  be  a  stumbling-block  to  you  through  life.  An 
acquaintance  with  loose  women  has  incapacitated  you  from  forming  a 

proper  estimate  of  female  worth 

I  must  congratulate  you  on  your  escape,  and  on  your  resolution  to 
behold  no  more  the  fascinating  object  which  has  caused  you  so 
much  uneasiness.  I  shall  shortly  have  the  pleasure  of  embracing 
you. 

K  P.  S.  My  servant  (Johnny  ?)  has  been  packing  up  some  effects, 
which  I  am  about  sending  to  Petersburg  by  water,  and  at  every 
three  words  I  have  had  a  query  to  solve.  This  will  account  for  my 
incoherence. 

"  P.  S.  (Characteristic,  two  postscripts.)  I  have  been  so  hurried, 
as  perhaps  to  betray  myself  into  an  inaccuracy  of  expression.  But 
let  me  suggest  two  ideas  to  you.  Has  not  your  conduct  been  such 
as  to  injure  a  woman  for  whom  you  have  felt  and  professed  a  re- 
gard ?  is  it  a  liberal  or  disinterested  passion  (passion  is  never  liberal 
or  disinterested),  which  risks  the  reputation  of  the  beloved  object  ? 
Has  not  her  conduct  in  admitting  your  attentions  rendered  her  un- 
worthy of  any  man  but  her  present  possessor  ?  View  this  matter  in 
its  proper  light  and  you  will  never  think  more  of  her Suc- 
cess attend  your  study  of  law." 

About  the  middle  of  May,  Essex  was  dispatched  with  Jacobin 
and  other  horses,  to  meet  his  young  master  at  the  Boiling-green.  He 
took  along  with  him  the  following  letter  from  William  Thompson : 

"  What  are  my  emotions,  dearest  brother,  at  seeing  your  horse 


174:  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

thus  far  on  his  way  to  return  you  among  us  !  How  eagerly  do  1 
await  the  appointed  day !  Ryland  (Randolph)  has  returned  (some 
unsuccessful  adventure),  and  another  of  the  children  of  misfortune 
will  seek  refuge  and  consolation  under  this  hospitable  roof.  He 
has  promised  me  by  letter  to  be  with  us  in  a  day  or  two, — what  plea- 
sure do  I  anticipate  in  the  society  of  our  incomparable  sister,  in 
yours,  in  Ryland's  !  I  wish  I  had  the  vanity  to  suppose  I  was 
worthy  of  it. 

"  We  have  been  visited  by  the  young  ladies  of  Liberty  Neck,  and 
by  its  mentor,  Major  Scott.  I  had  rather  have  his  wisdom  than  New- 
ton's or  Locke's ;  for  depend  on  it,  he  has  dipped  deep  in  the  science 
of  mind.  According  to  the  laws  of  gallantry,  I  should  have  escorted 
them  to  Amelia ;  but  I  am  not  fitted  for  society,  and  the  continued 
round  of  company  in  the  Neck  is  painful  instead  of  pleasing. 

"  Our  sister  is  now  asleep  ;  she  would  have  written  but  for  her 
being  busy  in  finishing  the  children's  clothes,  and  being  obliged  to 
write  to  Mrs.  Harrison.  When  I  came  in  last  evening,  I  found  her 
in  the  passage,  a  candle  on  the  chair,  sewing.  I  could  hardly  help 
exclaiming,  what  a  pattern  for  her  sex.  The  boys  are  well ;  they 
have  both  grown — the  Saint  particularly,  whose  activity  will  astonish 
you.  Every  body  is  cheerful — your  arrival  in  anticipation  is  the 
cause.  Farewell,  dearest  brother — hasten  to  join  us. 

"  W.  THOMPSON. 

"  1'ake  care  how  you  ride  Jacobin,  and  if  not  for  your  own,  at 
least  for  our  sakes,  run  no  risks  by  putting  him  in  a  carriage — we 
all  dread  the  attempt." 

He  returned  safely,  to  the  joy  of  more  people  (ladies  too  ?)  than 
those  at  Bizarre.  This  delightful  society  was  now  complete ;  books, 
high  discourse  on  philosophy,  morals,  government,  the  destiny  of 
man — intermingled  with  the  charming  conversation  and  the  music 
of  elegant  and  accomplished  women — exercise  on  the  high-mettled 
steed,  and  frequent  visits  and  dining  parties  at  neighbors'  houses, 
whose  warm  reception,  bountiful  hospitality,  and  unostentatious  re- 
finement of  manner  (universal  with  the  gentlemen  of  the  olden  time), 
made  the  guest  perfectly  at  home,  and  at  ease  in  heart  and  in  be- 
havior. Such  was  the  Old  Dominion,  half-a-century  ago,  such  is  she 
now  in  some  degree  ;  but,  alas  !  the  difference  ! 


IDOL-WORSHIP.  175 

But  poor  Thompson,  the  hapless  child  of  misfortune,  was  not 
long  permitted  to  enjoy  the  sweets  of  this  paradise.  Some  wicked 
and  envious  Mephistophiles  looked  in  with  his  jealous  eyes  on  the 
happy  beings  that  composed  it ;  and  sought  to  blast  it  with  his  ma- 
licious tongue.  It  was  rumored  that  Thompson  staid  at  Bizarre 
for  a  selfish  purpose ;  that,  besides  the  convenience  of  the  thing  in 
his  condition,  his  object  was  to  win  the  affection  of  its  fair  mistress 
What  if  it  were  true  ?  But  this  base  world  will  allow  nothing  but 
a  base  motive  for  the  most  generous  action.  The  insinuation  was 
enough  for  the  high-minded  Thompson.  He  immediately  left  Bi- 
zarre" and  wrote  the  following  letter : — "  The  letter  which  I  have 
transmitted  by  the  same  opportunity  to  that  most  amiable  of  women 
our  sister,  communicates  intelligence  of  a  report,  the  effects  of  which 
on  my  mind  you  will  be  fully  aware  of,  from  a  former  conversation 
on  the  subject.  Would  you  suppose,  my  dearest  brother,  that  the 
world  would  have  dared  to  insinuate,  that  my  object  in  remaining  at 
Bizarre  is  to  solicit  the  affections  of  our  friend !  Time,  and  the  ap- 
prehension that  I  shall  be  intruded  on,  compel  me  to  conciseness 
My  abode  will  be  Byland's  until  I  receive  letters  from  you  both. 
Yiew  the  subject  with  impartiality — enter  into  my  feelings,  for  you 
know  my  heart — tell  me  with  candor  whether  I  am  not  bound  to 
leave  the  abode  of  innocence  and  friendship  ?  Tell  me  whether  re- 
fined friendship  does  not  demand  on  my  part  a  sacrifice  of  every 
prospect  of  happiness,  to  the  amiable,  to  the  benevolent  and  virtuous 
woman  who  is  wronged  from  her  generous  sympathy  to  the  hapless." 

A  most  delicate  task  this  imposed  on  a  friend — particularly  one 
holding  the  relation  of  Mr.  Randolph  to  the  lady  in  question.  But 
see  how  nobly,  how  manfully  he  discharged  the  duty :  "  For  the  first 
time  I  perceive  myself  embarrassed  how  to  comply  with  the  requisition 
of  friendship.  But  yesterday,  and  I  should  have  been  unable  to  com- 
prehend the  speculative  possibility  of  that  which  to-day  is  reduced  to 
practice.  If  I  decline  the  task  which  you  have  allotted  me,  it  is 
not  because  I  ajn  disposed  to  shrink  from  the  sacred  obligations 
Nrhich  I  owe  to  you.  My  silence  is  not  the  effect  of  unfeeling  indif- 
ference, of  timid  indecision,  or  cautious  reserve.  It  is  the  result  of 
the  firmest  conviction  that  it  is  not  for  tne  to  advise  you  in  the  present 
crisis.  It  is  a  task  to  which  I  am  indeed  unequal.  Consult  your 
own  heart,  it  is  alone  capable  of  advising  ycu.  The  truly  fraternal 


176  LI^E  °F  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

regard  which  you  feel  for  our  most  amiable  sister,  does  not  require 
to  be  admonished  of  the  respect  which  is  due  to  her  feelings.  You 
alone  are  a  competent  judge  of  that  conduct  which  is  best  calculated  not 
to  wound  her  delicacy ;  and  it  is  that  alone  which  you  are  capable  of 
pursuing.  Whatever  may  be  your  determination,  you  will  not  be 
the  less  dear  to  me.  That  spirit  of  impertinent  malice,  which  man- 
kind seem  determined  to  cherish  at  the  expense  of  all  that  should 
constitute  their  enjoyment,  may,  indeed,  intrude  upon  our  arrange- 
ments and  deprive  me  of  your  society  ;  but  it  can  never  rob  me  of  the 
pure  attachment  which  I  have  conceived  for  you,  and  which  can 
never  cease  to  animate  me.  I  hold  this  portion  of  good,  at  least,  in 
contempt  of  an  unfeeling  and  calumnious  world — invulnerable  to 
every  shaft,  it  derides  their  impotent  malice. 

"  Let  me  suggest  to  you  to  pursue  that  line  of  conduct  which  you 
shall  be  disposed  to  adopt,  as  if  it  were  the  result  of  your  previous 
determination.  Prosecute,  therefore,  your  intended  journey,  and  do 
not  permit  malicious  curiosity  to  enjoy  the  wretched  satisfaction  of 
supposing  that  IT  has  the  power  of  influencing  your  actions. 

"  I  have  perceived,  with  extreme  pleasure,  that  your  mind  has  for 
some  time  been  rapidly  regaining  its  pristine  energy.  Keep  it, 
therefore,  I  beseech  you,  my  friend,  in  constant  exercise.  Get  up 
some  object  of  pursuit.  Make  to  yourself  an  image,  and,  in  defiance 
of  the  decalogue,  worship  it.  Whether  it  be  excellence  in  medicine  or 
law,  or  political  eminence,  determine  not  to  relax  your  endeavors 
until  you  have  attained  it.  You  must  not  suffer  your  mind,  whose 
activity  must  be  employed,  to  prey  upon  itself.  The  greatest  bless- 
ing which  falls  to  the  lot  of  man  is  thus  converted  into  the  deadliest 
curse.  I  need  not  admonish  you  to  keep  up  the  intercourse  which 
subsists  between  us,  and  which  nothing  shall  compel  me  to  relin- 
quish. 

"  I  trust  that  I  shall  hear  from  you  in  the  space  of  a  week  at 
farthest.  Meanwhile  rest  assured  of  the  undiminished  affection  of 
the  firmest  of  your  friends." 

Poor  Thompson  !  why  could  he  not  follow  the  advice  so  delicately 
given — pursue  the  line  of  conduct  he  had  previously  determined  on — 
which  was,  doubtless,  to  stay  at  Bizarre — prosecute  his  journey,  and 
then  come  back,  without  regard  to  the  malicious  surmises  of  a  wicked 
world  ?  He  did  not  sacrifice  his  happiness  to  that  amiable,  benevo- 


LOVE  MATTERS.  177 

lent  and  virtuous  woman,  as  he  supposed ;  she  did  not  need  it  or 
require  it — but  to  malicious  curiosity.  He  had  not  strength  of 
mind  to  resist  the  vague  impression  of  the  world's  censure ;  and 
suffered  the  spirit  of  impertinent  malice  to  enjoy  the  wretched  satis- 
faction of  supposing  that  it  had  the  power  of  influencing  his  actions. 
He  never  came  back  to  Bizarre  as  a  home  again — soon  fell  into 
his  old  habits — wandered  over  Canada  a-foot,  seeking  rest  but 
finding  none — a  wandering  spirit  that  rapidly  glided  into  irregular 
courses;  the  world,  erewhile  so  bright  and  smooth,  had  suddenly 
become  dark  and  slippery  to  him  ;  ne'er  again  could  he  find  rest  for 
the  sole  of  his  foot; — turned  out  from  that  paradise;  a,  world  of 
turbid  waters  was  all  his  wearied  eye  could  light  upon.  AVhat  fur- 
ther befell  him  shall  be  made  known  to  the  reader  in  the  sequel. 


CHAPTEE    XXV. 

THE    COURSE   OF  TRUE   LOVE  NEVER  DID  Jf.tK  SMOOTH. 

THE  reader  is  alruady  aware  that  John  Randolph  wufl  the  centre 
of  a  very  extensive  correspondence  with  some  of  the  first  young  men 
of  the  country — among  others,  Joseph  Bryan,  of  Georgia.  In  the 
month  of  January,  last  winter  (1800),  Bryan  informed  him  that  he 
was  about  to  embark  soon  for  England,  and  wished  his  friend  to  pro- 
cure certificates  of  citizenship  for  himself  and  companion  from  Mr. 
Jefferson ;  and  promised  in  his  next  to  give  the  reason  for  quitting 
his  native  country — which  accordingly  he  did  in  the  following  words  : 
"  I  have  in  that  time,  my  friend  (since  this  time  twelve  months),  been 
on  the  verge  of  becoming  a  member  of  the  fraternity  of  Benedicts,  as 
you  humorously  style  married  men.  In  short,  I  paid  my  addresses  to 
an  accomplished  young  woman,  of  both  family  and  fortune/  in  Caro- 
lina— quarrelled  with  my  father  and  mother  because  I  would  not  re 
linquish  the  pursuit — followed  her  with  every  prospect  of  the  -de- 
sired success  for  eighteen  months — went  to  her  abode  last  Christ- 
mas, with  the  comfortable  idea  of  marrying  her  on  the  commence- 
ment  of  the  new  year — and  was  discarded  by  her  parents  because 


178  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

mine  would  not  consent  to  the  match.  There  were  one  or  two  othei 

trifling  objections3  such  as — I  was  a ,  a  man  of  no  religion — • 

a  Georgian  ;  and  would  take  their  child  where  they  might  never  see 
her  face  again,  &c.  All  this  you  may  think  apocryphal — 'tis  true, 
upon  my  word.  Yet  '  my  heart  does  not  bleed  at  every  pore  from 
the  bitterest  of  recollections  ;'  to  be  sure  I  was  in  a  hell  of  a  taking 
for  two  or  three  days.  But  I  found  that  keeping  myself  employed, 
made  it  wear  off  to  a  miracle.  So  much  for  my  love  affairs.  You 
may  perhaps  be  a  little  surprised  at  my  going  to  England  ;  'twas  a 
sudden  resolution,  I  must  confess ;  I'll  tell  you  how  it  happened. 
While  I  was  laboring  under  the  horrors  of  my  dismission,  J[  swore 
to  my  little  grisette,  in  order  to  melt  her,  that  if  she  would  not  c[uit 
father  and  mother  and  run  away  with  me,  I  would  go  off  immedi- 
ately and  fight  the  Russians !  She  would  not  do  that,  so  I  am 
obliged  by  a  point  of  honor  to  make  the  attempt,  at  least. 

"If,  after  my  arrival  in  England,  I  can  conveniently  get  to 
France,  I  shall  go  there ;  if  not,  I  shall  spend  the  money  I  carry 
with  me,  and  come  home  again. 

"  I  don't  know  whether  'twill  be  proper  to  apply  to  Mr.  Jeffer- 
son for  the  certificate  I  wrote  to  you  for — my  reasons  were  these : 
I  knew  that  he  was  better  known  and  better  liked  in  France  than 
any  distinguished  person  in  our  country,  therefore,  a  certificate 
from  him  would  do  me  more  service  than  from  any  other ;  besides,  I 
don't  like  any  of  the  Adamites  well  enough  to  receive  a  favor  of 
that  kind  from  their  hands. 

"  I  expect  to  sail  from  Savannah  about  the  20th  instant  (Febru- 
ary, 1800)  ;  as  soon  as  I  arrive  you  will  hear  from  me.  One  of  my 
principal  reasons  for  going  to  Europe,  is  to  improve  my  health, 
which  is  very  indifferent  at  this  time." 

So  then  it  was  your  own  pleasure  and  convenience  at  last,  and 
not  the  sting  of  disappointed  love,  that  drove  you  away  to  France  ! 
The  girls  are  very  much  deceived  when  they  flatter  themselves  that 
men  generally  will  do  rash  things  for  their  sweet  sakes ;  they  may 
be  in  a  hell  of  a  taking  for  a  time,  but  the  fever  soon  wears  off. 
Men  are  no  better  treated.  This  girl,  in  his  absence,  while  he  was 
fighting  for  liberty  under  the  banners  of  France,  did  the  very  thing 
she  refused  to  do  with  him — ran  away  and  got  married  against  the 
will  of  her  parents. 


LOVE  MATTERS.  179 

But  the  answer  to  the  first  letter,  and  in  anticipation  of  the  one 
above  :  "  Your  letter  of  the  7th  of  last  month  was  this  moment  put 
into  my  hands.  Need  I  say  that  it  distresses  me  beyond  measure  ? 
Ah,  my  friend,  it  is  then  too  true  !  My  suspicions  were  but  too  well 
grounded  !  The  eagle-eye  of  friendship  finds  no  difficulty  in  pierc- 
ing the  veil  which  shrouds  you  ;  which,  until  now,  I  did  not  dare  to 
lift.  You  have  related  nothing,  yet  I  know  every  thing.  This  omis 
sion,  for  which  you  promise  to  atone  in  another  letter,  is  but  too  well 
supplied  by  conjectures  which  cannot,  I  fear,  deceive  me. 

"  Bryan,  my  friend,  you  are  about  to  render  yourself,  me,  all 
who  are  interested  in  your  happiness,  wretched,  perhaps,  for  ever. 
These  are  more  numerous  than  you  are  at  present  willing  to  allow. 
At  one  stroke  you  are  about  to  sever  all  those  ties  which  bind  you 
to  the  soil  which  gave  you  birth,  to  the  tender  connections  of  your 
childhood,  to  the  most  constant  of  friends — relations  which  give  to 
existence  its  only  value.  Your  sickly  taste  loathes  that  domestic 
happiness  which  is  yet  in  store  for  you — perhaps  you  deny  that  it 
can  have,  for  yourself,  any  existence  ;  you  prefer  to  it,  trash  of  for- 
eign growth.  You  seek  in  vain,  my  friend,  to  fly  from  misery.  It 
will  accompany  you — it  will  rankle  in  that  heart  in  whose  cruel 
wounds  it  rejoices  to  dwell.  It  is  of  no  country,  but  yourself,  and 
time  alone  can  soothe  its  rage. 

"  Among  the  dangers  you  are  about  to  encounter,  I  will  not  enu- 
merate those  of  a  personal  nature ;  not  because  they  are  in  them- 
selves contemptible,  however  they  may  be  despised  by  yourself,  but 
because  in  comparison  to  the  gigantic  mischiefs  which  you  are  about 
to  court,  they  are  indeed  insignificant.  I  mean  in  respect  to  your- 
self— to  your  friends  they  are  but  too  formidable.  Recall  then,  I 
beseech  you,  your  rash  determination — pause,  at  least,  upon  the  rash 
step  which  you  meditate  !  It  is,  however,  the  privilege  of  friend- 
ship only  to  advise.  The  certificates  which  you  require,  I  will  en- 
deavor to  procure  time  enough  to  accompany  this  letter.  This  is 
Saturday,  and  after  the  hour  of  doing  business  at  the  offices  ;  and  to 
be  valid  they  must  issue  from  that  of  the  Secretary  of  State.  Be 
not  impatient,  they  shall  be  forwarded  by  Tuesday's  mail,  in  any 
event ;  letters  from  Jefferson  to  some  of  his  European  friends  shall 
follow  them." 

Thus  we  find  this  young  man,  not  yet  twenty-seven  years  of  age, 
13 


180  LtFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

the  grave  Mentor  to  his  young  friends.  They  confide  to  his  friend- 
ship, constant  and  pure,  all  their  cares  and  troubles,  and  confidently 
expect  in  return  his  sympathy,  his  advice,  and  the  practical  les- 
sons of  a  sage  wisdom.  But  was  he  without  care?  Had  he  no 
troubles  of  his  own  to  perplex  his  bosom  ?  Had  this  young  Men- 
tor so  soon  fought  the  battle  of  life,  and  gained  the  victory?  Was 
his  heart  serene  and  lifted  above  the  storm  of  passion  that  raged 
around  him  ?  /,  too,  am  wretched !  '•  To  *he  procuring  and  trans- 
mitting," continues  he,  "  of  these  certificates  of  birth  and  citizenship( 
I  annex  a  condition  of  which  I  will  not  brook  the  refusal — a  compli- 
ance is  due  to  that  attachment  which  has  so  long  subsisted  between 
us  ;  it  is  an  exertion  certainly  not  too  great  to  be  yielded  to  a  friend- 
ship, whose  constancy  has  been  rarely  equalled,  but  never  surpassed. 
Listen,  therefore : 

"  I,  too,  am  wretched ;  misery  is  not  your  exclusive  charter.  I 
have  for  some  months  meditated  a  temporary  relinquishment  of  my 
country.  The  execution  of  this  scheme  has  no  connection  with 
yours.  The  motives  which  produced  it  originated  in  events  which 
happened  before  I  took  my  seat  in  Congress,  although  I  was  then 
ignorant  of  their  existence ;  they  were,  indeed,  prior  to  my  election  to 
an  office,  of  which  nothing  but  a  high  sense  of  the  obligations  of  pub- 
lic duty  has  prevented  the  resignation.  A  second  election  could  not. 
in  that  event,  have  been  practicable,  until  the  present  session  was 
somewhat  advanced.  I  determined,  therefore,  not  to  relinquish  my 
seat  until  its  expiration;  then  to  resign  it,  and  bid  adieu  to  my 
native  shores  for  a  few  years,  at  least.  In  this  determination  I  still 
remain.  If,  therefore,  you  refuse  to  rescind  your  hasty  resolution, 
I  desire  permission  to  be  the  companion  of  your  voyage — to  partake 
your  sorrows  and  to  share  with  you  my  own — to  be  the  friend  of  him 
who  is  to  accompany  you,  because  he  is  yours.  Yet,  believe  me,  Joe, 
and  it  is  unnecessary  to  declare  by  what  motives  I  am  influenced  to 
the  assertion,  that  I  shall  be  glad  to  hear  that  I  am  to  prosecute  my 
voyage  alone — to  be  informed  that  you  have  receded  from  a  project 
which  has  not,  like  my  own,  been  the  fruit  of  deliberate  resolve.  I 
had,  indeed,  hoped  that  the  relation  of  your  own  domestic  enjoyment 
would  have  beguiled  many  a  sad  hour  of  my  life.  But,  pardon  me, 
my  dear  fellow,  I  see  my  indiscretion.  It  shall  not  be  repeated. 

If,  then,  you  persist  in  carrying  into  execution  your  plan,  take  a 


LOVE  MATTERS.  181 

passage  with  your  friend  for  New- York,  or  the  Delaware,  it  is  open  ; 
meet  me  here  about  the  middle  of  March — we  rise  in  April — there  is 
a  resolution  laid  upon  our  table  to  adjourn  on  the  first  of  the  month ; 
it  will  certainly  be  carried ;  they  even  talk  of  substituting  '  March.' 
We  will  then  embark  together  for  any  part  of  the  other  continent 
that  you  may  prefer;  I  am  indifferent  about  places.  But  if  I  go  alone, 
I  shall  take  shipping  for  some  English  port,  London  or  Liverpool.  I 
wish  I  could  join  you  in  Savannah ;  but  it  would  be  extremely  incon- 
venient. I  fear  the  climate  ;  a  passage  would  be  more  UE  certain  too 
from  thence,  and  the  accommodations  perhaps  not  so  good.  Yet  I  will 
even  meet  you  there,  or  in  Charleston,  in  case  you  are  resolved  to 
leave  America,  if  I  can  have  your  company  on  no  other  terms. 
Write  immediately  and  solve  this  business.  I  repeat,  that  it  will  be 
very  inconvenient  to  take  my  passage  from  a  southern  port :  it  will 
likewise  occasion  delay.  I  shall  have  a  voyage  to  make  thither,  and 
then  to  wait  the  sailing  of  a  vessel ;  whereas,  if  you  meet  me  here,  I 
can  fix  myself  for  any  ship  bound  to  Europe  about  the  time  of  the 
rising  of  Congress ;  and  in  the  great  ports  of  New-York,  Philadel- 
phia, or  Baltimore,  we  cannot  fail  to  procure  a  speedy  embarkation, 
and  agreeable  berths.  Again  I  entreat  you  to  write  to  me  immediately 
upon  the  receipt  of  this  :  in  expectation  of  the  answer,  I  shall  remain 
under  no  common  anxiety  until  its  arrival.  Meantime,  remember, 
my  friend,  -that  there  is  one  person,  at  least,  and  he  an  unshaken 
friend,  who  is  not  insensible  to  your  worth.  Farewell,  dear  Joseph. 

"  P.  S.  I  had  like  to  have  omitted  enjoining  you  to  preserve  invio- 
lable secrecy  with  respect  to  my  designs.  The  reason  I  will  detail 
to  you  at  meeting.  It  is  unnecessary  to  say  that  they  are  not  such 
as  I  should  be  ashamed  to  avow ;  yet  I  do  not  wish  it  to  be  known 
that  I  am  about  to  leave  the  country  until  a  week  or  ten  days  before 
my  departure.  Adieu !" 

Bryan  did  not  receive  this  letter  before  his  embarkation.  Had 
it  come  to  hand  in  time,  there  can  be  no  question  that  he  would  have 
gladly  accepted  the  offer  of  his  friend,  and  gone  to  Philadelphia  and 
awaited  the  adjournment  of  Congress,  that  they  might  have  the  plea- 
sure of  a  voyage  together. 

But  it  is  certain  Randolph  did  not  go  abroad  at  that  time.  Had 
his  friend  arrived  in  Philadelphia,  in  obedience  to  his  wishes,  he 
would  unquestionably  have  strained  a  point,  and,  at  all  hazards,  ful- 


182  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

filled  an  engagement  hf  aad  so  solemnly  made.  In  that  case,  the 
events  of  history  would  have  been  changed.  But  he  did  not  go ;  the 
reason  why  is  unknown  to  us.  It  may  have  been  pecuniary  embarrass- 
ment. He  was  paying  large  instalments  of  the  British  debt  about  that 
time  to  Mr.  Wickham.  In  1824,  writing  to  a  friend  from  Paris,  he  says : 
"  Here,  then,  am  I,  where  I  ought  to  have  been  thirty  years  ago,  and 
where  I  would  have  been,  had  I  not  been  plundered  and  oppressed." 

But  he  did  not  escape  from  his  sorrows  at  that  time  by  flying 
across  the  sea.  He  staid  at  home  to  brood  over  them.  /,  too,  am 
ivretched. 

"  My  character"  (says  he  in  a  letter  to  a  friend  about  this  time 
August,  1800),  "like  many  other  sublunary  things,  hath  lately  un- 
dergone an  almost  total  revolution."  It  seems  that  he  had  some  spe- 
cial sorrow  that  weighed  upon  his  heart,  the  cause  of  which  originated 
before  his  election  in  April,  1799,  but  was  unknown  to  him  for  some 
months  afterwards.  That  it  was  of  the  same  nature  with  that  which 
drove  one  friend  across  the  Atlantic  and  the  other  to  Canada — that 
it  was  the  malady  of  love  which  brought  him  into  trouble,  and  that 
oppressed  his  soul,  cannot  be  questioned. 

Soon  after  he  took  his  seat  in  Congress  Thompson  wrote  to  hini; 
detailing  the  circumstances  of  a  report  which  had  been  fabricated 
and  secretly  circulated  to  his  injury,  tracing  it  to  its  source,  and 
proving  it  to  be  an  idle  tale  without  foundation,  and  confined  to  the 
knowledge  of  a  few  only.  He  then  continues :  "  Repose  on  thy 
pillow  and  heed  not  the  shafts  that  are  thrown  against  you.  The 
world  has  not  injured  me,  and  it  has  not  despised  you.  Mrs. 
M.  assured  me  that  in  your  honor  she  placed  the  most  implicit 

confidence.  When  you  communicate  with  M a,  as  probably 

you  have  already  done,  she  will  declare  herself  unaffected  by  this 
tale,  which  has  disturbed  your  peace.  I  have  spoken  with  candor, 
but  I  have  spoken  with  truth.  Demand  the  author,  and  if  he  be 
given  up,  you  will  find  it  a  child.  The  time  of  telling  it,  the  month 
of  August. 

" Alas,  my  brother,  what  are  not  you  destined  to  suffer!  What 
tremendous  trials  of  fortitude  have  you  not  undergone!  In  the 
enthusiasm  of  friendship  I  look  forward  to  your  happiness,  anc? 
each  day  brings  to  life  some  new  pang  which  is  unfeelingly  in- 
flicted. Let  not  this  affair  make  too  deep  an  impression  on  your 


LOVE  MATTERS.  183 

mind — command  my  services  if  they  be  required ;  for  be  assured 
that  the  mind  which  personifies  irregularity  and  want  of  system 
in  the  affairs  of  the  world,  is  nerved  to  act  with  dauntless  energy 
in  the  cause  of  my  brother.  Prudence,  caution,  all  the  requisites 
of  successful  friendship,  are  at  the  command  of  him,  who  in  the 
walk  of  life  is  eccentric  and  unsteady." 

About  the  time  of  the  correspondence  with  Bryan,  and  his 
determination  to  go  abroad,  Thompson  again  writes : — "  I  have 
mingled  with  society;  I  have  purposely  spoken  of  you  and  Miss 

\V d  to  ascertain  precisely  the  public  opinion ;  and  I  can 

repeat  with  joy,  that  my  brother  has  not  been  wronged  by  the 
world.  As  to  the  idle  suggestions  of  babbling  men  and  women, 
shall  they  be  heaped  together  and  transformed  into  most  serious 
charges,  that  even  your  confidence  of  yourself  may  be  shaken  if 
possible,  and  thus  your  peace  of  mind  be  for  ever  blasted  ?  Enough 
on  this  subject.  I  have  violated  my  common  rule  of  conduct  by 
being  aggressor  on  the  topic." 

On  another  occasion  he  says : — "  In  our  lives,  my  brother,  we 

have  seen  two  fine  women  (Mrs.  Judith  Randolph  and  Miss  M a 

"W — d) ;  never  extend  your  list ;  never  trust  your  eyes,  or  your  ears, 
for  they  stand  alone."  And  in  his  voluntary  banishment  from  the 
asylum  of  the  wretched  and  unfortunate,  when  he  deeply  felt  his 
bereavement  and  forlorn  condition,  he  thus  writes :  "  M a,  the  ami- 
able, the  good  M a,  has  honored  me  with  a  short  letter ;  such 

tokens  of  esteem,  such  evidences  of  generous  pity,  for  a  man  cast  on 
the  wide  world  unfriended  and  unprotected,  create  a  gratitude  not 
to  be  expressed.  It  is  not  until  we  are  humiliated  by  misfortune  that 
we  feel  these  things,  for  in  the  height  of  worldly  prosperity  the  wish 
and  the  pursuit  go  hand  in  hand,  and  successive  gratifications  blunt 
the  sensibilities  of  our  nature.  Whilst  we  rejoice  in  a  mortality  as 
the  termination  of  lives  mutually  painful,  in  which  we  have  been 
called  on  to  exercise  a  fortitude  sufficient  to  overwhelm  minds  less 
noble  and  less  firm,  in  which  every  fair  prospect  has  been  blighted, 
every  brilliant  expectation  thwarted,  and  every  tender  emotion  hate- 
fully disappointed,  let  us  linger  out  a  remnant  which  cannot  be  long, 
mutually  cherishing  and  supporting  each  other  on  the  tedious  road. 
My  dear  friend,  let  us  not  leave  each  other  behind ;  for,  alas  !  how 
sterile  and  how  barren  would  creation  then  be !  United,  we  are 


184  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

strong,  but  unsupported  we  could  not  stand  against  the  increasing 
pressure  of  misfortune.  Often  do  I  exclaim.  Would  that  you  and  1 
were  cast  on  some  desert  island,  there  to  live  out  the  remainder  of 
our  days  unpolluted  by  the  communication  with  man.  Separated 
from  each  other,  our  lips  are  sealed,  for  the  expression  of  sentiments 
which  exult  and  ennoble  humanity.  Even  in  the  support  of  virtue, 
the  cautious  language  of  vice  must  be  adopted  ;  even  in  the  defence 
of  truth  we  must  descend  to  the  artifice  of  error." 

Here,  reader,  we  let  drop  the  curtain.  Its  thiak  folds  of  half  a 
century  are  impervious  to  the  light  of  mortal  syes ;  ask  not  a  loo'jc 
beyond  the  mysterious  veil.  There  are  secrets  we  trust  not  to  a 
friend,  that  we  betray  not  to  ourselves,  and  which  none  but  the  im- 
pious curiosity  of  a  heartless  world  would  ever  dare  to  penetrate. 
Let  the  gross  impulses,  the  base  considerations  of  worldly  gain,  that 
constitute  the  ground  and  the  motive  of  most  human  associations, 
suffice  as  fit  subjects  for  your  cold  observation,  your  ridicule  and  con- 
tempt ;  but  hold  sacred,  or  look  with  awe,  on  that  deep  self-sacrificing 
passion,  which,  springing  from  the  soul  of  man,  is  all-embracing  in 
its  love,  fathomless,  infinite,  and  divine.  Enough  to  know,  that  in 
the  bosom  of  this  man  there  glowed  the  fires  of  such  a  love,  that  con- 
tinued to  burn  through  life,  and  were  only  extinguished  amid  the 
crumbling  ruins  of  the  altar  by  the  damp  dews  that  gathered  over 
them  in  the  dark  valley  and  the  shadow  of  death.  He  hath  said : 
"  One  I  loved  better  than  my  own  soul,  or  him  that  created  it." 
"  My  apathy  is  not  natural,  but  superinduced.  There  was  a  volcano 
under  my  ice,  but  it  is  burnt  out,  and  a  face  of  desolation  has  come 
on,  not  to  be  rectified  in  ages,  could  my  life  be  prolonged  to  a  patri- 
archal longevity.  The  necessity  of  loving  and  being  beloved  was 
never  felt  by  the  imaginary  beings  of  Rousseau  and  Byron's  cre- 
ation more  imperiously  than  by  myself.  My  heart  was  offered  up 
with  a  devotion  that  knew  no  reserve.  Long  an  object  of  proscrip- 
tion and  treachery,  I  have  at  last  (more  mortifying  to  the  pride  of 
man)  become  one  of  utter  indifference." 

To  you,  reader,  he  is  far  from  being  an  object  of  indifference,  and 
we  trust  that  before  the  end  of  these  volumes  he  will  be  drawn  to 
your  heart  by  the  cords  of  affection,  and  that  his  memory  will  ever 
hereafter  awaken  in  your  bosom  those  noblest  emotions  of  sympathy 
and  veneration. 


PRESIDENTIAL  ELECTION.  185 

CHAPTEE  XXYI. 

PRESIDENTIAL    ELECTION,    1800-1 — MIDNIGHT  JUDGES. 

THE  reader  is  already  aware  of  the  intense  political  excitement 
raging  through  the  country  at  this  time.  The  civil  wars,  and  violent 
upturning  of  the  whole  social  system  in  Europe,  spread  the  contagion 
of  their  influence  across  the  Atlantic.  The  efforts  of  the  belligerent 
powers  to  draw  the  United  States  into  the  war,  and  the  anxiety  of 
leading  politicians  here  at  home  to  cast  on  their  political  adversaries 
the  odium  of  their  foreign  associations — Anglo-mania  and  Gallo-ma- 
nia — threw  into  the  contest  a  bitterness  and  violence  little  short  of 
actual  civil  commotion.  The  excited  political  campaign  in  the  spring 
of  1799,  was  but  a  prelude  to  the  more  violent  presidential  election 
that  was  to  take  place  in  the  autumn  of  1800.  The  fate  o£  the  Re- 
public depended  on  that  election.  Had  the  federalists  succeeded, 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that  a  degradation  of  the  States  and  a  concen- 
tration of  all  power  in  a  splendid  central  empire,  would  have  been 
the  final  result.  Happily  for  the  cause  of  human  freedom,  the  elec- 
tion terminated  in  the  triumph  of  the  republican  cause. 

Thomas  Jefferson  and  Aaron  Burr  being  the  candidates  of  the 
republicans,  got  seventy-three  votes,  John  Adams  sixty-five  votes, 
Charles  Cotesworth  Pinckney  sixty-four  votes,  and  John  Jay  one 
vote.  But  a  difficulty  grew  out  of  this  result  that  could  not  have 
been  anticipated.  The  Constitution,  by  an  amendment  made  in  con- 
sequence of  this  difficulty,  now  requires  the  electors  to  designate  the 
person  they  vote  for  as  president,  and  the  person  they  vote  for  as 
vice-president ;  but  at  that  time  there  was  no  means  of  discrimina- 
tion ;  they  voted  for  two  persons,  and  the  one  getting  the  highest 
number  of  votes  was  declared  to  be  elected  president,  and  the  person 
getting  the  next  highest  number  of  votes  was  declared  to  be  elected 
vice-president.  Mr.  Jefferson  and  Mr.  Burr  had  an  equal  number 
of  votes ;  neither  of  them  could  be  declared  as  being  elected  presi- 
dent ;  and  the  question  had  to  be  decided  by  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives voting  by  States.  So  soon  as  this  state  of  things  was 
known,  a  high  degree  of  uneasiness  and  alarm  was  excited  in  the 


186  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

minds  of  the  republicans,  lest  the  will  of  the  people  might  be  frus< 
trated  by  intrigue  and  corruption.  Mr.  Jefferson  charged  the  fed- 
eralists with  a  design  of  preventing  an  election  altogether.  In  a 
letter  to  Mr.  Madison  he  says :  "  The  federalists  appear  determined 
to  prevent  an  election,  and  to  pass  a  bill  giving  the  government  to 
Mr.  Jay,  reappointed  chief  justice,  or  to  Marshall,  as  secretary  of 
state."  This  would  have  been  an  act  of  revolution ;  and  some  of  the 
more  violent  and  unprincipled  may  have  carried  their  designs  thus 
far ;  but  there  can  be  no  question  that  the  aim  of  the  party  was  to 
defeat  Mr.  Jefferson  and  to  elect  Burr.  This  was  carrying  their  op- 
position to  the  will  of  the  people  very  far.  Aaron  Burr  never  was 
thought  of  for  president ;  not  a  single  vote  was  cast  for  him  with 
that  view,  and  the  mere  accident  of  his  having  the  same  number  of 
votes  with  the  favorite  of  the  people,  brought  his  name  into  the 
House  of  Representatives;  and  yet  the  federalists  determined  to 
take  advantage  of  this  circumstance,  and  to  elevate  him  to  the  pres- 
idency, in  spite  of  the  popular  will.  They  justified  themselves  on 
the  ground  that  the  public  will  could  only  be  expressed  to  them 
through  the  constitutional  organs.  There  were  two  candidates,  they 
said,  for  the  office  of  president,  who  were  presented  to  the  House  of 
Representatives  with  equal  suffrages.  The  Constitution  gave  them 
the  right,  and  made  it  their  duty,  to  elect  that  one  of  the  two  whom 
they  thought  preferable.  Neither  of  them  was  the  man  of  their 
choice,  but  the  Constitution  confined  their  election  to  one  of  the  two. 
and  they  gave  their  vote  to  the  one  they  thought  the  greater  and 
the  better  man.  That  vote  they  repeated,  and  in  that  vote  they  de- 
clared their  determination  to  persist,  had  they  not  been  driven  from 
it  by  imperious  necessity.  The  prospect  ceased  of  the  vote  being 
effectual,  and  the  alternative  only  remained  of  taking  one  man  for 
president,  or  having  no  president  at  all.  They  chose,  as  tfrey  though t^ 
the  lesser  evil.  The  republicans,  on  the  other  hand,  condemned 
their  course  as  factious  and  revolutionary ;  and,  had  they  succeeded 
in  electing  Burr  to  the  presidency,  in  all  probability  he  would  have 
been  driven  from  his  seat  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet.  From  all 
quarters  the  sound  came  up,  ifW&  will  obey  no  other  president  but 
Mr.  Jefferson. "  There  are  many  interesting  facts  and  important 
lessons  connected  with  this  election  that  come  within  the  province  of 
the  gener<41  historian,  but  which  we  must  pass  over  as  inappropriate 


PRESIDENTIAL  ELECTION.  187 

co  this  Biography.  The  part  that  John  Eandolph  tojk  in  these  af 
fairs  was  that  of  a  silent  voter  and  watchful  observer.  He  dispatched 
daily  bulletins  to  his  father-in-law,  giving  the  result  of  each  balloting 
as  it  took  place.  After  the  nineteenth  ballot  he  writes :  "  No  elec- 
tion will,  in  my  opinion,  take  place."  But  on  the  17th  of  February 
he  writes :  "  On  the  thirty-sixth  ballot  there  appeared,  this  day,  ten 
States  for  Thomas  Jefferson  ;  four  (New  England)  for  A.  Burr,  and 
two  blank  ballots  (Delaware  and  South  Carolina).  This  was  the 
second  time  that  we  balloted  to-day.  The  four  Burrites  of  Mary- 
land put  blanks  into  the  box  of  that  State  ;  the  vote  was,  therefore, 
unanimous.  Mr.  Morris,  of  Vermont,  left  his  seat,  and  the  result 
was,  therefore,  Jeffersonian.  I  need  not  add  that  Mr.  J.  was  de- 
clared duly  elected." 

Mr.  Randolph  attributed  this  result  to  the  patriotism  of  Alexan- 
der Hamilton.  That  gentleman  was  the  influential  and  popular 
leader  of  the  federal  party,  and  when  he  saw  the  extremity  to  which 
things  were  likely  to  be  driven  by  a  longer  persistence  in  their  course, 
he  advised  his  friends,  rather  than  to  produce  a  revolution  in  the 
government,  or  excite  popular  commotion,  to  give  way  and  suffer  Mr. 
Jefferson  to  be  elected.  Mr.  Randolph  often  expressed  the  opinion, 
in  after  life,  that  we  owed  the  safety  of  the  Republic  to  Hamilton, 
and  that  his  course  on  that  trying  occasion  had  elevated  him  very 
much  in  his  estimation. 

The  federalists  perpetrated  another  act  during  the  session  that 
excited  a  great  deal  of  indignation.  They  so  altered  and  enlarged 
the  judiciary  system  as  to  require  the  appointment  of  a  great  many 
new  judges.  It  was  urged  as  an  objection  to  the  bill,  that  it 
was  made  by  a  party  at  the  moment  when  they  were  sensible  that 
their  power  was  expiring  and  passing  into  other  hands.  They  ve- 
plied  it  was  enough  for  them  that  the  full  and  legitimate  power  ex- 
isted. The  remnant  left  them  (the  bill  passed  15th  February,  1801) 
was  plenary  and  efficient — and  it  was  their  duty  to  employ  it  accord- 
ing to  their  judgments  and  consciences  for  the  good  of  the  country. 
They  thought  the  bill  a  salutary  measure,  and  there  was  no  obligation 
upon  them  to  leave  it  as  a  work  for  their  successors.  They  had  no  hesi- 
tation in  avowing  that  they  had  no  confidence  in  the  persons  who  were 
to  follow  them,  and  were,  therefore,  the  more  anxious  to  accomplish 
a  work  which  they  believed  would  contribute  to  the  safety  and  sta- 


188  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

bility  of  the  government.  It  was  further  urged  as  an  objection  to 
the  bill,  that  it  was  merely  designed  to  create  sinecures  and  retreats 
for  broken-down  political  hacks — and  to  erect  battlements  and  for- 
tresses in  which  the  discomfited  leaders  of  federalism  might  rally 
their  scattered  forces  for  another  contest.  Mr.  Jefferson  said  of  this 
measure,  "  I  dread  this  above  all  the  measures  meditated,  because 
appointments  in  the  nature  of  freehold  render  it  difficult  to  undo 
what  is  done."  Yet  the  next  Congress  did  not  hesitate  to  undo  what 
was  done.  The  first  regular  speech  made  by  Mr.  Randolph  was  on 
the  proposition  to  repeal  this  law.  It  was  in  answer  to  Mr.  Bayard, 
the  leader  and  the  ablest  champion  on  the  opposite  side.  This  speech 
was  published,  many  years  ago,  in  a  collection  intended  to  be  speci- 
mens of  American  eloquence ;  and  notwithstanding  he  was  so 
young  a  man,  it  will  bear  a  comparison,  in  point  of  style  and  argu- 
ment, with  the  very  best  that  were  delivered  at  that  day.  In  justi- 
fying a  repeal  of  the  law,  and  thereby  displacing  judges,  who  by  the 
Constitution  hold  their  appointments  during  good  behavior,  Mr.  Ran- 
dolph argued — "  I  agree  that  the  Constitution  is  a  limited  grant  of 
power,  and  that  none  of  its  general  phrases  are  to  be  construed  into 
an  extension  of  that  grant.  I  am  free  to  declare,  that  if  the  extent 
of  this  bill  is  to  get  rid  of  the  judges,  it  is  a  perversion  of  your  power 
to  a  base  purpose  ;  it  is  an  unconstitutional  act.  If,  on  the  contrary, 
it  aims  not  at  the  displacing  one  set  of  men  from  whom  you  differ  in 
political  opinion,  with  a  view  to  introduce  others,  but  for  the  general 
good,  by  abolishing  useless  offices,  it  is  a  constitutional  act.  The 
quo  animo  determines  the  nature  of  this  act,  as  it  determines  the  in- 
nocence or  guilt  of  other  acts.  But  we  are  told  that  this  is  to  de- 
clare the  judiciary,  which  the  Constitution  has  attempted  to  fortify 
against  the  other  branches  of  government,  dependent  on  the  will  of 
the  legislature,  whose  discretion  alone  is  to  limit  their  encroachments. 
Whilst  I  contend  that  the  legislature  possesses  this  discretion,  I  am 
sensible  of  the  delicacy  with  which  it  is  to  be  used.  It  is  like  the 
power  of  impeachment,  or  the  declaring  of  war,  to  be  exercised  un- 
der a  high  responsibility.  But  the  power  is  denied — for,  say  they, 
its  exercise  will  enable  flagitious  men  to  overturn  the  judiciary,  in 
order  to  put  their  creatures  into  office,  and  to  wreak  their  vengeance 
on  those  who  have  become  obnoxious  by  their  merit ;  and  yet  the 
gentleman  expressly  says,  that  arguments  drawn  from  a  supposition 


PRESIDENTIAL  ELECTION.  189 

of  extreme  political  depravity  prove  nothing ;  that  every  government 
presupposes  a  certain  degree  of  honesty  in  its  rulers,  and  that  to 
argue  from  extreme  cases  is  totally  inadmissible.  Nevertheless,  the 
whole  of  his  argument  is  founded  on  the  supposition  of  a  total  want 
of  principle  in  the  legislature  and  executive." 

"While  speaking  on  the  subject  of  the  judiciary  in  the  Virginia 
Convention,  nearly  thirty  years  after  this  transaction,  Mr.  Randolph 
thus  alludes  to  it :  "  At  the  very  commencement  of  my  public  life, 
or  nearly  so,  I  was  called  to  give  a  decision  on  the  construction  of 
that  clause  in  the  Federal  Constitution  which  relates  to  the  tenure 
of  the  judicial  office ;  and  I  am  happy  to  find  that,  after  the  lapse  of 
thirty  years,  I  remain  precisely  of  the  same  opinion  that  I  then  held." 

If  a  law  should  be  passed  bonafide,  for  the  abolition  of  a  court 
which  was  a  nuisance,  and  ought  to  be  abolished,  he  considered  such 
a  law  as  no  infringement  of  judicial  independence  ;  but,  if  the  law 
was  enacted  mala  fide,  and  abolished  a  useful  court,  for  the  purpose 
of  getting  rid  of  the  judge  who  presided  in  it,  such  a  law  was  undoubt- 
edly a  violation  of  that  independence ;  just  as  the  killing  of  a  man 
might  be  murder  or  not,  according  to  the  intention,  the  quo  animo 
with  which  it  was  done.  He  said  that  it  could  not  be  necessary  to 
recount  to  the  gentleman  who  occupied  the  chair  (Mr.  Barbour)  the 
history  of  the  decision  which  was  given  in  Congress,  as  to  the  true 
intent  and  meaning  of  this  part  of  the  Federal  Constitution.  Par- 
ties had  never  run  higher  than  at  the  close  of  the  administration  of 
the  elder  Adams,  and  the  commencement  of  that  of  Mr.  Jefferson. 
After  efforts  the  most  unparalleled,  Mr.  Adams  was  ejected  from 
power,  and  the  downfall  of  the  party  attached  to  him  was  near  at 
hand.  After  this  decision  by  the  American  people,  when  they  were 
compelled  to  perceive  that  the  kingdom  was  passing  from  them,  in 
the  last  agonies  and  throes  of  dissolution,  they  cast  about  them  to 
make  some  provision  for  the  broken-down  hacks  of  the  party  ;  and  at 
midnight,  and  after  midnight,  on  the  last  day  of  Mr.  Adams's  ad- 
ministration, a  batch  of  judges  was  created,  and  bequeathed  as  a 
legacy  to  those  who  followed. 

The  succeeding  party  on  coming  into  power,  found  that  they  must 
consult  the  construction  of  the  Constitution,  to  prevent  the  recur- 
rence of  such  a  practice ;  because,  if  the  construction  should  be  al- 
lowed under  which  this  had  been  done,  it  would  enable  every  politi- 


190  LI*'E  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

cal  party,  having  three  months  notice  of  their  departure  from  the 
helm  of  affairs,  to  provide  for  themselves  and  their  adherents,  by  get- 
ting up  a  judiciary  system,  which  would  be  irrevocable ;  a  city  of  re- 
fuge where  they  would  be  safe  from  all  approach  of  danger.  To 
avoid  such  a  result  it  became  necessary  to  abolish  the  system,  which 
was  then  believed  to  be  injurious,  and  which  experience  has  proved 
to  be  unnecessary.  Mr.  Randolph  8aid,  that  he  was  one  of  those 
who  voted  for  the  decision  which  declared  that  the  court  might  bo 
abolished  bona  fide,  and  that  the  office  of  the  judge  should  cease 
with  it. 

Shortly  after  these  midnight  appointments,  Mr.  Adams  left  the 
city,  under  the  cover  of  darkness,  that  he  might  not  witness,  the  next 
day,  the  inauguration  of  his  successful  rival.  Many  of  his  friends 
were  deeply  mortified  at  this  undignified  and  unmanly  retreat. 

On  reaching  an  inn  beyond  Baltimore,  'tis  said  (we  speak  on  the 
authority  of  Mr.  Bandolph)  that  Mr.  Adams,  walking  up  to  a  por- 
trait of  Washington,  and  placing  his  finger  on  his  lips,  exclaimed,  "  If 
I  had  kept  my  lips  as  "dose  as  that  man,  I  should  now  be  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States." 

It  is  very  true,  Mr.  Adams  had  no  judgment,  no  discretion.  He 
possessed  a  brilliant  imagination,  a  bold  and  an  ardent  temper, 
that  made  him  the  impassioned  and  powerful  orator  of  the  Revolu- 
tion ;  but  he  could  lay  claim  to  few  of  those  faculties  that  fit  a  man 
to  conduct  wisely  and  prudently  the  affairs  of  a  great  republic. 


CHAPTEE    XXVII. 

THE  SEVENTH  AND  EIGHTH  CONGRESSES. — CHAIRMAN  OF  THE 
COMMITTEE  OF  WAYS  AND  MEANS.  —  THE  WORKING  PE- 
RIOD.— THE  YAZOO  BUSINESS. 

AT  the  opening  of  the  first  Congress  under  the  new  administration, 
in  December,  1801,  Mr.  Randolph  had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  his 
friend.  Nathaniel  Macon,  elected  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Represen- 
tatives. Mr.  Randolph  was  placed  at  the  head  of  the  Committee  ol 


SEVENTH  AND  EIGHTH  CONGRESSES.  191 

Ways  and  Means.  Some  notion  may  be  formed  of  the  duties  of  this 
committee  from  the  resolution  calling  for  its  appointment. 

"  Resolved)  That  a  Standing  Committee  of  Ways  and  Means  be  ap- 
pointed, whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  take  into  consideration  all  such  reports 
of  the  Treasury  Department,  and  all  such  propositions  relative  to -the 
revenue,  as  may  be  referred  to  them  by  the  House  ;  to  inquire  into 
the  state  of  the  public  debt,  of  the  revenue,  and  of  the  expenditures ; 
and  to  report,  from  time  to  time,  their  opinion  thereon." 

The  duties  of  this  committee,  as  we  may  perceive,  embraced  a 
wide  field  of  inquiry.  The  new  administration  had  pledged  itself  to 
the  people  to  place  the  "  ship  of  state  on  its  republican  tack,"  and  to 
furnish  a  model  of  a  simple  and  economical  government.  All  unne- 
cessary offices  and  useless  expenditures  were  to  be  abolished,  the 
army  and  navy  reduced,  and  the  national  debt  was  to  be  redeemed.  All 
the  necessary  inquiries,  investigations,  reports,  and  bills,  touching 
these  important  subjects,  had  to  emanate  from  the  Committee  of 
Ways  and  Means.  The  chairman  of  that  committee  had  to  be 
brought  in  daily  official  communication  with  the  executive  depart- 
ments ;  his  relation  towards  them  was  of  a  most  confidential  charac- 
ter ;  and  he  was  regarded  as  the  leader  of  the  friends  of  the  admin- 
istration in  the  representative  department. 

Mr.  Randolph  and  the  President  were  intimate  friends;  they 
were  on  terms  of  unreserved  intercourse — personally  and  politically 
they  cordially  agreed,  and  heartily  co-operated  in  accomplishing  the 
great  ends  of  the  administration.  In  accordance  with  the  recommen- 
dation of  the  President,  Mr.  Randolph  introduced  a  proposition, 
"  that  a  committee  be  appointed  to  inquire  whether  any,  and  what 
alterations  can  be  made  in  the  judiciary  department  of  the  United 
States,  and  to  provide  for  securing  the  impartial  selection  of  juries 
in  the  courts  of  the  United  States ;"  and  also  another  resolution,  to 
inquire  what  reductions  could  be  made  in  the  civil  government  of  the 
United  States.  They  were  referred  to  a  select  committee,  of  which 
he  was  chairman.  On  the  4th  of  February,  he  reported  a  bill  to  re- 
peal the  laws  of  the  last  session  with  respect  to  the  judiciary,  and 
after  undergoing  considerable  discussion  in  committee  of  the  whole, 
it  was  finally  passed  by  the  House  on  the  3d  March,  1802,  by  a  large 
majority.  Mr.  Randolph's  speech  on  this  subject  we  have  already 
alluded  to  in  the  preceding  chapter.  On  the  20th  January  he  in- 


192  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

troduced  a  resolution,  directing  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  to  lay 
before  the  House  a  list  of  the  exports  to  the  Mediterranean,  distin- 
guishing those  of  the  growth  of  the  United  States.  He  also  took 
part  in  the  debate  on  the  apportionment  under  the  census  of  1800. 
Mr. 'Randolph  took  a  lively  interest  in  this  subject,  and  long  foresaw 
the  effect  each  succeeding  census  would  have  on  the  political  power 
of  his  native  State.  He  introduced  on  the  9th  of  June,  a  resolution 
to  reduce  the  military  establishment.  Having  been  appointed  chair- 
man of  the  select  committee  to  see  what  could  be  done  to  expedite 
the  public-  printing,  he  reported  a  resolution  to  appoint  a  public 
printer;  and  to  his  exertions  maybe  justly  attributed  an  economical 
improvement  in  the  printing  of  the  House. 

But  one  of  the  most  important  subjects  to  which  Mr.  Randolph 
turned  his  attention  was  the  public  debt.  On  the  9th  of  April,  1802, 
he  reported  a  bill  making  provision  for  the  redemption  of  the  public 
debt  of  the  United  States.  It  provided  that  so  much  of  the  duties 
on  merchandise  and  tonnage,  &c.,  as  will  amount  to  an  annual  sum 
of  seven  millions  three  hundred  thousand  dollars,  be  yearly  appro- 
priated as  a  sinking  fund ;  and  said  sums  were  declared  to  be  vested 
in  Commissioners  of  the  Sinking  Fund,  to  be  applied  by  them  to  the 
payment  of  interest  and  charges,  and  to  the  redemption  of  the  prin- 
cipal of  the  public  debt.  After  this  appropriation  he  kept  a  watch- 
ful eye  on  its  faithful  disbursement.  The  subject  was  frequently 
before  the  Committee  of  "Ways  and  Means,  and  the  conduct  and 
management  of  the  commissioners  minutely  criticised. 

The  chief  subject  that  attracted  the  attention  of  Congress  during 
the  next  session,  which  began  in  December,  1802,  was  the  navigation 
of  the  Mississippi  and  the  cession  of  Louisiana  to  France.  In  the 
preceding  October,  the  Governor  of  New  Orleans,  Don  Morales,  had 
issued  a  proclamation,  excluding  that  port  as  a  depot  for  our  com- 
merce, a  privilege  we  had  a  right  to  enjoy  under  our  treaty  with 
Spain.  This  conduct  on  the  part  of  the  Spanish  authorities  had 
created  great  excitement  in  the  western  country.  In  addition  to  this, 
it  was  rumored  abroad  that  Louisiana  had  been  transferred  to  the 
dominion  of  the  all-powerful  and  all-grasping  French  Republic,  now 
under  the  sway  of  the  ambitious  Bonaparte.  These  important  facts, 
together  with  the  private  information  he  had  obtained  on  the  subject, 
were  deemed  by  the  President  as  being  worthy  of  a  secret  and  confr 


SEVENTH  AND  EIGHTH  CONGRESSES.  193 

dential  communication  to  Congress,  which  was  made  the  22d  of  Decem- 
ber. Additional  information  was  communicated  on  the  31st,  and  on 
the  5th  of  January  Mr.  Griswold  moved  that  the  President  be  re- 
quested to  lay  before  the  House  copies  of  such  official  documents  as 
have  been  received  by  the  Government,  announcing  the  cession  of 
Louisiana  to  France,  together  with  a  report  explaining  the  stipula- 
tions, circumstances,  and  conditions,  under  which  that  province  is  to 
be  delivered  up.  Those  private'  messages,  which  called  forth  this 
resolution,  had,  on  motion  of  Mr.  Randolph,  been  referred  to  a 
committee,  and  had  been  under  consideration  in  the  House  with 
closed  doors.  He  now  moved  to  refer  Mr.  Griswold's  resolution  to  a 
Committee  of  the  Whole  on  the  state  of  the  Union.  The  motion, 
after  some  discussion,  was  carried,  and  the  House  went  into,  commit- 
tee. Mr.  Randolph  observed  that  he  had  in  his  hand  certain  reso- 
lutions connected  with  the  message,  relative  to  the  late  proceedings 
at  New  Orleans,  the  discussion  of  which  had  been  ordered  to  be  con- 
ducted with  .closed  doors.  He  asked  the  decision  of  the  question, 
whether,  previously  to  offering  his  resolutions,  the  doors  ought  not  to 
be  closed.  Much  opposition  was  made  to  this  motion.  Mr.  Gris- 
wold's resolution,  it  was  said,  was  one  for  information,  and  ought  to 
be  discussed  with  open  doors.  Mr.  Randolph  observed,  that  he  had 
already  more  than  once  stated  his  objections  to  discuss  this  subject 
in  public.  He  had  observations,  which,  he  had  said,  must  be 
made  in  secret.  "  The  gentleman  from  Connecticut  says  he  is  willing 
the  resolution  should  be  fully  discussed,  and  therefore  concludes  that 
it  must  not  be  referred  to  a  select  committee,  as  he  is  pleased  to  term 
it,  where  alone,  as  we  contend,  and  have  informed  him,  the  discussion 
can  take  place.  Sir,  this  may  be  logic,  but  it  is  new  to  me.  A  mes- 
sage from  the  President  relative  to  New  Orleans  has  been  referred 
to  a  certain  committee,  and  we  propose  to  refer  the  resolution  to  the 
same  committee.  Gentlemen  exclaim  that  this  is  denying  them  in- 
formation. Does  it  follow  of  necessity  that  we  deny  the  information 
because  we  choose  to  consider  the  subject  with  closed  doors  ?  Cannot 
the  resolution  be  as  fully  discussed  in  private  as  in  public  ?  Do  all 
the  reasoning  faculties  of  the  House  cease  to  exist  the  moment  the 
doors  are  closed  ?  Cannot  the  eloquence  of  the  gentleman  be  exerted 
unless  when  addressed  to  the  ladies  who  do  us  the  honor  of  attend- 
ing in  this  hall?"  Mr.  Randolph's  motion  prevailed.  The  House 


194  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

was  cleared,  and  he  offered,  with  closed  doors,  the  following  rcsolu 
tion,  to  which  he  had  alluded  in  debate ;  "  Resolved — That  this  House 
receive,  with  great  sensibility,  the  information  of  a  disposition  in  cer- 
tain officers  of  the  Spanish  Government  at  New  Orleans  to  obstruct 
the  navigation  of  the  river  Mississippi,  as  secured  to  the  United  States 
by  the  most  solemn,  stipulations.  That,  adhering  to  the  humane  and 
wise  policy  which  ought  ever  to  characterize  a  free  people,  and  by 
which  the  United  States  have  always  professed  to  be  governed,  wil- 
ling, at  the  same  time,  to  ascribe  this  breach  of  compact  to  the  unau- 
thorized misconduct  of  certain  individuals,  rather  than  to  a  wa^t  of 
good  faith  on  the  part  of  his  Catholic  Majesty,  and  relying  with  per- 
fect confidence  on  the  vigilance  and  wisdom  of  the  Executive,  they 
will  wait  the  issue  of  such  measures  as  that  department  of  the  Govern- 
ment shall  have  pursued  for  asserting  the  rights  and  vindicating  the 
injuries  of  the  United  States  ;  holding  it  to  be  their  duty,  at  the  same 
time,  to  express  their  unalterable  determination  to  maintain  the  boun- 
daries and  the  rights  of  navigation  and  commerce  through  the  river 
Mississippi,  as  established  by  existing  treaties." 

One  of  the  measures  of  the  Executive  to  which  Mr.  Randolph 
alludes,  was  a  pending  negotiation  for  the  purchase  of  Louisiana. 
Mr.  Livingston,  our  minister  at  Paris,  had  received  ample  instruc- 
tions on  this  subject,  and,  about  this  time,  Mr.  Monroe  had  been 
dispatched  as  envoy  extraordinary,  to  aid  him  in  the  negotiation. 
The  proposition  happened  to  have  been  made  at  a  most  fortunate 
juncture  of  affairs,  when  Bonaparte  was  preparing  for  a  war  with 
England.  He  wished  to  keep  on  good  terms  with  the  United  States — 
feared  that  the  British  navy  might  wrest  his  newly  acquired  province 
from  him  during  the  coming  war,  and  was  much  in  need  of  money- 
These  considerations  induced  him  to  listen  favorably  to  the  proposi- 
tion of  the  United  States  to  purchase  Louisiana  for  a  large  sum  of 
money. 

Mr.  Livingston  conducted  the  business  with  great  ability,  and 
when  Mr.  Monroe  arrived,  he  had  but  little  more  to  do  than  sign  the 
articles  of  the  treaty.  Bonaparte,  in  a  very  short  time,  repented  of 
this  measure.  He  saw  the  great  blunder  he  had  committed  in  part- 
ing with  a  country  so  large,  so  rich,  and  so  important,  in  a  political 
and  commercial  point  of  view ;  and  would  have  availed  himself  of 
any  pretext  to  break  the  treaty,  and  take  back  the  province.  The 


SEVENTH  AND  EIGHTH  CONGRESSES.  195 

Piesident  was  apprised  of  all  these  facts,  and  warned  by  sMir  min- 
isters, that  if  there  should  be  the  slightest  delay  in  the  ratification) 
and  in  the  provisions  to  be  made  by  Congress  to  pay  the  instal- 
ments of  the  purchase,  we  should  lose  it  altogether.  The  treaty  was 
signed  at  Paris,  the  30th  of  April,  1803.  So  soon  as  it  reached  the 
United  States,  the  President,  by  proclamation,  called  Congress 
on  the  first  Monday  in  October,  to  take  measures  to  carry  it  into 
effect. 

In  all  his  efforts  to  bring  this  business  to  a  successful  issue,  the 
President  received  the  hearty  co-operation  of  the  leader  of  the  House 
of  Representatives.  Mr.  Randolph's  quick  and  comprehensive  mind 
saw,  at  a  glance,  the  importance  of  the  crisis,  and,  as  chairman  of  the 
Committee  of  Ways  and  Means,  his  aid  was  most  prompt  and  efficient 
in  getting  over  the  difficulty.  By  the  10th  of  November,  a  bill  had 
been  passed,  and  approved  by  the  President,  creating  certificates  of 
stock  in  favor  of  the  French  Republic,  for  the  sum  of  eleven  mil- 
lions two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars,  bearing  an  interest  of 
six  per  centum  per  annum,  from  the  time  when  possession  of  Louisiana 
shall  have  been  obtained,  in  conformity  with  the  treaty  of  the  thir- 
tieth day  of  April,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  three,  between 
the  United  States  of  America  and  the  French  Republic.  Possession 
was  given  the  20th  of  December  following;  and  all  the  measures 
adopted  by  Congress  in  regard  to  the  newly  acquired  territory,  were 
either  matured  by  the  Committee  of  Ways  and  Means,  of  which  Mr. 
Randolph  was  chairman,  or  by  some  select  committee,  appointed  at 
his  instance.  Few  men  did  more  than  he  to  secure  the  purchase  of 
Louisiana,  when  once  made,  and  then  to  provide  for  it  a  good  and 
efficient  government.  Next  to  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  and 
the  adoption  of  the  present  Constitution,  the  acquisition  of  Louisiana 
has  had  more  influence  than  any  other  thing  on  the  destiny  of  the 
United  States. 

Mr.  Jefferson  was  a  strict  constructionist,  and  held  that  no  pow- 
ers should  be  exercised  but  those  specifically  granted.  The  Consti- 
tution contemplates  no  territory  beyond  that  in  possession  of  the  Con- 
federacy or  of  the  States  at  the  time  of  its  adoption.  The  purchase 
of  foreign  territory  was  a  thing  not  dreamed  of  by  its  framers,  nor  is 
there  any  clause  authorizing  such  a  measure.  'Mr.  Jefferson  was 
fully  aware  of  this  ;  but  he  considered  that  there  was  such  an  imperi- 
14 


196  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

ous  necessity  in  this  case,  requiring  such  immediate  action — now  01 
never — that  he  would  be  justified  in  making  the  acquisition,  and  pro- 
curing a  sanction  of  it  afterwards,  by  an  amendment  of  the  Constitu- 
tion. "  The  Constitution  has  made  no  provision  for  our  holding 
foreign  territory,"  says  he, "  still  less  for  incorporating  foreign  nations 
into  our  Union.  The  Executive,  in  seizing  the  fugitive  occurrence, 
which  so  much  advances  the  good  of  their  country,  have  done  an  act  be- 
yond the  Constitution.  The  legislature,  in  casting  behind  them  meta- 
physical subtleties,  and  risking  themselves  like  faithful  servants,  must 
ratify  and  pay  for  it,  and  throw  themselves  on  their  country,  for  do- 
ing for  them,  unauthorized,  what  we  know  they  would  have  done  for 
themselves,  had  they  been  in  a  situation  to  do  it.  But  we  shall  not 
be  disavowed  by  the  nation,  and  their  act  of  indemnity  will  con- 
firm and  not  weaken  the  Constitution,  by  more  strongly  marking  out 
its  lines." 

But  unfortunately  this  act  of  indemnity  was  never  performed — 
the  amendment  of  the  Constitution  was  never  made.  What  was  an 
exception,  justified  only  by  necessity,  has  now  become  a  precedent ; 
and  nearly  all  the  difficulties  that  threaten  a  dissolution  of  the 
Union,  growing  out  of  the  slavery  question,  and  the  acquisition  of 
new  territory,  have  been  occasioned  by  that  fatal  omission.  Had  the 
Constitution  been  amended,  as  contemplated,  by  first  sanctioning 
that  which  had  been  admitted  as  a  violation  of  it,  and  then  by 
defining  minutely  the  powers  to  be  exercised  in  future  by  Congress, 
the  present  embarrassments  of  the  country  could  never  have  hap- 
pened. We  see  also  in  this  transaction  the  insufficiency  of  a  paper 
constitution  to  resist  the  current  of  the  popular  will— unless  there  be 
power  to  restrain  power,  nothing  else  can  withstand  it — the  plea  of 
necessity  has  been  urged  by  Congress  for  nearly  every  unconstitutional 
act  they  have  perpetrated. 

The  next  subject  of  importance  to  which  Mr.  Randolph's  atten- 
tion was  turned,  was  the  impeachment  and  trial  of  Judge  Chase. 
On  Thursday  the  5th  of  January,  1804,  he  moved  that  a  committee 
be  appointed  to  inquire  into  the  official  conduct  of  Samuel  Chase, 
one  of  the  associate  justices  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States,  and  report  their  opinion  whether  the  said  Samuel  Chase  had 
so  acted  in  his  judicial  capacity  as  to  require  the  interposition  of  the 
constitutional  power  of  the  House.  The  committee  reported  seven 


SEVENTH  AND  EIGHTH  CONGRESSES.  197 

articles  of  impeachment  drafted  by  their  chairman,  and  detailing 
charges  of  misconduct  on  the  part  of  the  judge  in  the  trial  of  John 
Fries,  for  high  treason,  in  levying  war  against  the  United  States 
during  the  Whisky  Insurrection  in  Pennsylvania ;  and  also  in  the 
trial  of  Thomas  Cooper  and  James  Callender,  for  sedition  or  libel 
against  the  President. 

This  trial  was  a  very  important  one,  as  Judge  Chase  had  been 
one  of  those  high-handed  federalists,  who  not  only  approved  the 
Alien  and  Sedition  Laws,  but  had  transcended  all  bounds  in  his 
eagerness  to  enforce  them. 

For  want  of  time  the  subject  was  postponed  to  the  next  session. 
On  the  30th  November,  1804,  the  articles  of  impeachment  were 
again  reported,  and  Mr.  Randolph  was  appointed  chief  manager  to 
conduct  the  trial  before  the  Senate.  The  proceedings  were  very 
tedious — many  witnesses  were  examined — and  many  arguments 
during  the  progress  of  the  examination  were  delivered  on  both  sides. 
Mr.  Randolph  conducted  the  cause  on  the  part  of  the  prosecution 
with  the  skill  of  a  practised  attorney.  He  opened  the  case  on  the 
part  of  the  House,  the  14th  February,  1805,  in  a  speech  of  one  hour 
and  a  half.  Though  it  is  out  of  the  line  of  his  usual  forensic  efforts, 
it  will  well  repay  a  perusal.  As  two-thirds  of  the  senators  present 
were  required  to  concur  in  sustaining  an  impeachment,  and  as  only 
a  majority  concurred  in  sustaining  some  of  the  articles,  Judge  Chase 
was  acquitted. 

There  was  scarcely  any  subject  of  importance  before  Congress  at 
this  period  that  did  not  attract  the  personal  attention  of  Mr.  Ran- 
dolph. Not  content  with  the  laborious  duties  of  the  Finance  Commit- 
tee, furnishing  work  enough  for  any  ordinary  mind,  we  find  him  on 
innumerable  select  committees,  embracing  the  widest  range  of  investi- 
gation on  all  subjects  of  legislation.  Nothing  escaped  his  vigilant 
eye — nothing  too  laborious  for  him  to  undertake.  These  four 
years,  from  the  opening  of  Mr.  Jefferson's  administration  to  the  4th 
of  March,  1805,  the  close  of  the  eighth  Congress,  were  indeed  his 
working  days.  He  was  abstemious  in  his  habits,  unceasing  in  his 
labors,  unremitting  in  his  attention  to  public  duties. 

No  man  had  ever  risen  so  rapidly,  or  attained  a  higher  degree  of 
eminence  and  influence ;  his  career  was  brilliant  and  successful. 
The  President  in  the  executive  department,  and  he  as  the  leader  of 


198  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

the  legislative,  had  done  all  that  was  expected  of  them  in  the  great 
work  of  reforming  the  government,  and  bringing  it  back  to  its  original 
simplicity.  Many  years  afterwards  he  recurred  to  this  period  with 
just  pride.  "  Sir,  (said  he  in  a  speech  on  retrenchment,  in  1828,)  I 
have  never  seen  but  one  administration,  which- seriously,  and  in  good 
faith,  was  disposed  to  give  up  its  patronage,  and  was  willing  to  go 
farther  than  Congress,  or  even  the  people  themselves,  so  far  as  Con- 
gress represents  their  feelings,  desired — and  that  was  the  first 
administration  of  Thomas  Jefferson.  He,  sir,  was  the  only  man  I 
ever  knew  or  heard  of,  who  really,  truly,  and  honestly,  not  only  said 
"  nolo  episcopari,"  but  actually  refused  the  mitre.  It  was  a  part  of 
my  duty,  and  one  of  the  most  pleasant  parts  of  public  duty  that  I 
ever  performed,  under  his  recommendation — not  because  he  recom- 
mended it,  thank  God  I — to  move,  in  this  House,  to  relieve  the  public 
at  once  from  the  whole  burden  of  that  system  of  internal  taxation, 
the  practical  effect  of  which  was,  whatever  might  have  been  its 
object,  to  produce  patronage  rather  than  revenue.  He,  too,  had 
really  at  heart,  and  showed  it  by  his  conduct,  the  reduction  of  the 
national  debt ;  and  that  in  the  only  mode  by  which  it  can  ever  be 
reduced,  by  lessening  the  expenses  of  the  Government  till  they  are 

below  its  receipts." "  Never  was  there  an  administration,"  says 

he,  "  more  brilliant  than  that  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  up  to  this  period. 
We  were  indeed  in  the  full  tide  of  successful  experiment !  Taxes 
repealed ;  the  public  debt  amply  provided  for,  both  principal  and 
interest ;  sinecures  abolished  ;  Louisiana  acquired ;  public  confidence 
unbounded." 

None  deserved  more  than  himself  a  large  portion  of  that  un- 
bounded public  confidence,  which  attached  to  the  administration — 
and  he  was,  indeed,  looked  to  from  all  quarters  as  the  fearless  cham- 
pion of  truth  and  justice.  But  no  man  ever  drank  of  the  cup  of 
life  unmingled  with  bitter  waters.  The  mean  and  the  envious  had 
grown  jealous  of  his  greatness,  and  were  seeking  by  low  and  cunning 
arts  to  destroy  his  influence,  and  to  withdraw  from  him  the  confi- 
dence of  the  people.  It  was  a  trait  of  his  character  never  to  aban- 
don principle  for  policy ;  never  to  relinquish  a  favorite  measure  how- 
ever hopeless  of  success;  never  to  quit  his  books  and  his  study  for 
idle  conversation  ;  never  to  permit  a  vulgar  familiarity  for  the  sake 
of  gaining  popularity  with  those  who  were  to  vote  on  his  measures 


SEVENTH  AND  EIGHTH  CONGRESSES.  199 

Hence,  they  began  to  speak  of  him  as  a  person  possessing  proud  and 
haughty  manners ;  and  as  a  leader,  having  failed  to  harmonize  the 
republican  members  of  Congress.  "  Great  God  1"  exclaims  Thomp- 
son, "  to  think  that  measures  of  the  highest  import  to  our  country 
are  opposed,  because  their  advocate  does  not  make  a  bow  in  the  right 
way !  This  is  the  fact :  I  have  taken  the  liberty  of  asking,  what 
your  manner  has  to  do  with  your  public  character — whether  there 
are  laws  penal  against  study,  reading,  and  devotion  to  the  welfare  of 
vour  country."  But  the  cause  of  offence  lay  not  in  his  reserved  and 
retiring  deportment — his  proud  and  haughty  manners — it  was  found 
in  that  keen  sense  of  injustice  and  wrong  that  made  him  detect  base- 
ness and  corruption  in  their  most  secret  hiding-places,  and  in  that 
manly  independent  spirit  that  made  him  fearless  in  dragging  out 
the  perpetrators  into  the  light  of  day,  and  drawing  on  them  the 
scorn  and  indignation  of  the  world.  Mr.  Randolph  was  one  that 
never  could  tolerate  corruption  in  public  men.  There  were  many 
of  that  class— or  many  that  he  suspected  to  be  of  that  class — con- 
nected with  the  administration.  He  was  unsparing  in  his  denuncia- 
tions of  them.  This  was  the  cause  of  the  growing  discontent,  and 
the  desire  to  throw  him  off  as  a  leader. 

His  patriotic  endeavors  to  overturn  that  colossus  of  turpitude,  the 
Yazoo  speculation,  was  the  cause  of  the  hostility  which  soon  mani- 
fested itself  against  him  in  the  ranks  of  the  administration.  Un- 
fortunately, too  many  were  interested  in  upholding  this  gigantic 
robbery.  The  reader  has  already  been  made  acquainted  with  its 
character ;  by  a  reference  to  chapter  thirteen  of  this  volume,  he  will 
see  something  of  its  history.  Randolph  was  in  Georgia  at  the  time 
of  the  perpetration  of  this  villany,  and  participated  in  the  shame 
and  mortification  of  his  friends  at  seeing  persons,  reputed  religious 
and  respectable,  effecting  a  public  robbery,  by  bribing  the  legisla- 
tors of  the  State,  and  reducing  them  to  the  horrors  of  treachery 
and  perjury.  A  more  detestable,  impudent,  and  dangerous  villany 
is  not  to  be  found  on  record.  Notwithstanding  the  notoriety  of  these 
transactions  in  the  State  of  Georgia — the  law  was  not  only  pronounc- 
ed unconstitutional,  fraudulent  and  void,  was  not  only  repealed, 
but  it  was  burnt  by  the  common  hangman,  and  the  record  of  it 
expunged  from  the  statute  book — notwithstanding  these  facts,  known 
to  all  men,  a  company  of  individuals  in  other  States  purchased  up 


200  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

this  fraudulent  title  and  presented  their  petition  to  Congress,  asking 
remuneration  for  the  land,  which  in  the  mean  time  had  been  trans- 
ferred by  Georgia  to  the  United  States. 

In  the  "  Articles  of  Agreement  and  Cession"  between  Georgia 
and  the  United  States,  is  a  proviso  that  the  United  States  may  dis 
pose  of,  or  appropriate  a  portion  of  .the  said  lands,  not  exceeding 
five  millions  of  acres,  or  the  proceeds  of  the  five  millions  of  acres,  or 
any  part  thereof,  for  the  purpose  of  satisfying,  quieting,  or  compen- 
sating for  any  claims,  other  than  those  recognized  in  the  articles  of 
agreement,  which  may  be  made  to  the  said  lands.  It  was  under  this 
provision,  that  the  New  England  and  Mississippi  Land  Company, 
who  in  the  mean  time  had  purchased  the  spurious  title  of  the  origi- 
nal grantees  of  a  corrupt  legislature,  petitioned  Congress  to  satisfy 
their  claim  by  a  fair  purchase  or  commutation.  In  the  session  of 
1802-3,  this  subject  was  first  brought  to  the  attention  of  the  legis- 
lature. Mr.  Madison  and  Mr.  Gallatin,  members  of  the  President's 
cabinet,  and  Mr.  Levi  Lincoln,  were  appointed  commissioners  to 
investigate  this  subject.  They  made  an  elaborate  report,  and  con- 
cluded with  a  proposition,  that  so  much  of  the  five  millions  of  acres 
as  shall  remain  after  having  satisfied  the  claims  of  settlers  and 
others,  not  recognized  by  the  agreement  with  Georgia,  which  shall 
be  confirmed  by  the  United  States,  be  appropriated  for  the  purpose 
of  satisfying  and  quieting  the  claims  of  the  persons  who  derive  their 
titles  from  an  Act  of  the  State  of  Georgia,  passed  on  the  7th  day  of 
January,  1795.  Thus  we  see  that  the  leading  members  of  the  ad- 
ministration were  pledged  to  the  justice  of  this  claim,  and  the  pro- 
priety of  some  compensation  on  the  part  of  the  United  States. 

Gideon  Granger,  the  Postmaster  General,  was  at  the  head  of 
the  New  England  and  Mississippi  Land  Company,  and  was  its  agent 
to  prosecute  the  claim  before  Congress.  He  wrote  an  extended  and 
elaborate  argument  to  prove  that  the  Company  were  innocent  pur- 
chasers without  notice ;  and  indeed  he  undertook  to  cast  censure  on 
the  people  of  Georgia  for  repudiating  and  repealing  the  act  of  a 
bribed  legislature,  and  to  charge  that  State  and  the  United  States 
with  injustice  in  appropriating  to  themselves  lands  which  had 
been  legally  sold  by  the  State  and  purchased  by  his  Company.  Not 
only,  therefore,  was  the  cabinet  of  the  President  committed  as  to 
the  justice  of  this  claim ;  but  one  of  its  most  active  and  influential 
members  was  deeply  interested  personally  in  its  success. 


SEVENTH  AND  EIGHTH  CONGRESSES.  201 

Mr.  Randolph  opposed  it,  however,  from  the  beginning :  he  knew 
its  origin,  its  histery ;  and  no  consideration  of  prudence  or  policy 
could  induce  him  for  a  moment  to  tolerate  the  monstrous  iniquity. 

On  the  25th  of  January,  1805,  a  resolution  was  introduced  into 
the  House,  that  three  commisssioners  be  appointed  to  receive  pro- 
positions of  compromise  and  settlement  from  the  -several  compa- 
nies or  persons  holding  claims  to  lands  within  the  present  limits  of 
the  Mississippi  Territory,  in  such  manner  as  in  their  opinion  shall 
conduce  to  the  interests  of  the  United  States,  provided  such  settle- 
ment shall  not  exceed  the  limit  prescribed  by  the  convention  with 
the  State  of  Georgia.  This  resolution  was  introduced  by  a  few 
remarks  from  Mr.  Dana,  chairman  of  the  Committee  of  Claims. 

Mr.  Randolph  then  rose : — "  Perhaps,"  said  he,  "  it  may  be  sup- 
posed from  the  course  which  this  business  has  taken,  that  the  adver- 
saries of  the  present  measure  indulge  the  expectation  of  being  able 
to  come  forward  at  a  future  day — not  to  this  House,  for  that  hope 
was  desperate,  but  to  the  public — with  a  more  matured  opposition 
than  it  is  in  their  power  now  to  make.  But  past  experience  has 
shown  to  them  that  this  is  one  of  those  subjects  which  pollution  has 
sanctified,  that  the,  hallowed  mysteries  of  corruption  are  not  to  be 
profaned  by  the  eye  of  public  curiosity.  No,  sir,  the  orgies  of  Yazoo 
speculation  are  not  to  be  laid  open  to  the  public  gaze.  None  but  the 
initiated  are  permitted  to  behold  the  monstrous  sacrifice  of  the  best 
interest  of  the  nation  on  the  altar  of  corruption.  When  this  abomi- 
nation is  to  be  practised,  we  go  into  conclave.  Do  we  apply  to  the 
press,  that  potent  engine,  the  dread  of  tyrants  and  of  villains,  but  the 
shield  of  freedom  and  of  worth  ?  No,  sir,  the  press  is  gagged.  On 
this  subject  we  have  a  virtual  sedition  law ;  not  with  a  specious  title, 
but  irresistible  in  its  operations,  which  goes  directly  to  its  object. 
This  demon  of  speculation  has  wrested  from  the  nation  at  one  sweep, 
their  best,  their  only  defence,  and  has  closed  the  avenue  of  informa- 
tion. But  a  day  of  retribution  may  yet  come.  If  their  rights  are 
to  be  bartered  away,  and  their  property  squandered,  the  people  must 
not,  they  shall  not  be  kept  in  ignorance  by  whom  it  is  done.  We 
have  often  heard  of  party  spirit,  of  caucuses,  as  they  are  termed,  to 
settle  legislative  questions,  but  never  have  I  seen  that  spirit  so  visible 
as  at  present.  The  out-door  intrigue  is  too  palpable  to  be  disguised. 
When  it  was  proposed  to  abolish  the  judiciary  system,  reared  in  the 


OQ2  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

last  moments  of  an  expiring  administration,  the  detested  offspring 
of  a  midnight  hour;  when  the  question  of  repeal  was  before  the 
House ;  it  could  not  be  taken  until  midnight  in  the  third  or  fourth 
week  of  the  discussion.  When  the  great  and  good  man  who  now  fills, 
and  who  (whatever  may  be  the  wishes  of  our  opponents)  I  hope  and 
trust  will  long  fill  the  executive  chair,  not  less  to  his  own  honor  than 
to  the  happiness  of  his  fellow-citizens — when  he  recommended  the 
repeal  of  the  internal  taxes,  delay  succeeded  delay,  till  patience  itself 
was  worn  threadbare.  But  now,  when  public  plunder  is  the  order 
of  the  day,  how  are  we  treated?  Driven  into  a  committee  of  the 
whole,  and  out  again  in  a  breath  by  an  inflexible  majority,  exulting 
in  their  strength,  a  decision  must  be  had  immediately.  The  advo- 
cates for  the  proposed  measure  feel  that  it  will  not  bear  scrutiny. 
Hence  this  precipitancy.  They  wince  from  the  touch  of  examination, 
and  are  willing  to  hurry  through  a  painful  and  disgraceful  discussion. 
As  if  animated  by  one  spirit,  they  perform  all  their  evolutions  with 
the  most  exact  discipline,  and  march  in  firm  phalanx  directly  up  to 
their  object.  Is  it  that  men  combined  together  to  effect  some  evil 
purpose,  acting  on  previous  pledge  to  each  other,  are  even  more  in 
unison  than  those  who,  seeking  only  to  discover 'truth,  obey  the  im 
pulse  of  that  conscience  which  God  has  placed  in  their  bosom  ?  Such 
men  will  not  stand  compromited.  They  will  not  stifle  the  sugges- 
tions of  their  own  minds,  and  sacrifice  their  private  opinions  to  the 
attainment  of  some  nefarious  object. 

"  The  memorialists  plead  ignorance  of  that  fraud  by  which  the 
act  from  which  their  present  title  was  derived,  was  passed.  As  it 
has  been  a  pretext  for  exciting  the  compassion  of  the  legislature,  I 
wish  to  examine  the  ground  upon  which  this  allegation  rests.  When 
the  act  of  stupendous  villany  was  passed,  in  1795,  attempting  under 
the  form  and  semblance  of  law  to  rob  unborn  millions  of  their  birth- 
right and  inheritance,  and  to  convey  to  a  band  of  unprincipled  and 
flagitious  men,  a  territory  more  extensive,  more  fertile  than  any 
State  in  the  Union,  it  caused  a  sensation '  scarcely  less  violent 
than  that  caused  by  the  passage  of  the  Stamp  Act,  or  the  shutting  up 
of  the  port  of  Boston :  with  this  difference,  that  when  the  Port  Bill 
of  Boston  passed,  her  Southern  brethren  did  not  take  advantage  of 
the  forms  of  law,  by  which  a  corrupt  legislature  attempted  to  de- 
fraud her  of  the  bounties  of  nature ;  they  did  not  speculate  on  the 


SEVENTH  AND  EIGHTH  CONGRESSES.  203 

wrongs  of  their  insulted  countrymen.  *****  Sanction  this  claim, 
derived  from  the  act  of  1795,  and  what,  in  effect,  do  you  declare? 
You  record  a  solemn  acknowledgment  that  Congress  has  unfairly  and 
dishonestly  obtained  from  Georgia  a  grant  of  land  to  which  that  Stale 
had  no  title,  having  previously  sold  it  to  others  for  a  valuable  consid- 
eration, of  which  transaction  Congress  was  at  the  time  fully  apprised. 
The  agents  of  this  Mississippi  Land  Company  set  out  with  an  attempt 
to  prove  that  they  are  entitled  to  the  whole  fifty  millions  of  acres  of 
laid,  under  the  act  of  1795;  and  thus  they  make  their  plea  to  be 
admitted  to  a  proportional  share  of  five.  If  they  really  believed 
what  they  say,  would  they  be  willing  to  commute  a  good  legal  or 
equitable  claim  for  one-tenth  of  its  value  !  *  *  *  *  We  are  told  that 
we  stand  pledged,  and  that  an  appropriation  for  British  grants,  not 
granted  by  Spain  especially,  was  made  for  the  especial  benefit  of  a 
particular  class  of  claimants,  branded  too  by  the  deepest  odium,  who 
dare  talk  to  us  of  the  public  faith,  and  appeal  to  the  national  honor ! 
*  *  *  *  The  right  of  the  State  of  Georgia  to  sell  is  denied  by  your 
own  statute  book.  So  far  from  being  able  to  transfer  .'o  others  the 
right  to  extinguish  the  Indian  title  to  land,  she  has  not  been  able  to 
exercise  it  for  her  own  benefit.  It  is  only  through  the  agency  of  the 
United  States  that  she  can  obtain  the  extinguishment  of  the  Indian 
title  to  the  sale  of  land  within  her  limits ;  much  less  could  she  dele- 
gate it  to  a  few  Yazoo  men.  *****  The  present  case  presents  a 
monstrous  anomaly,  to  which  the  ordinary  and  narrow  maxims  of 
municipal  jurisprudence  cannot  be  applied.  It  is  from  great  first 
principles,  to  which  the  patriots  of  Georgia  so  gloriously  appealed, 
that  we  must  look  for  aid  in  such  extremity.  Extreme  cases,  like 
this,  call  for  extreme  remedies.  They  bid  defiance  to  palliatives,  and 
it  is  only  by  the  knife,  or  the  actual  cautery,  that  you  can  expect  re- 
lief. There  is  no  cure  short  of  extirpation.  Attorneys  and  judges 
do  not  decide  the  fate  of  empires.  *****  Tne  Government  of  the 
United  States,  on  a  former  occasion,  did  not,  indeed,  act  in  this  firm 
and  decided  manner.  But  those  were  hard,  unconstitutional  times, 
that  never  ought  to  be  drawn  into  precedent.  The  first  year  I  had 
the  honor  of  a  seat  in  this  House,  an  act  was  passed  somewhat  of  a 
similar  nature  to  the  one  now  proposed.  I  allude  to  the  case  of  the 
Connecticut  Reserve,  by  which  the  nation  was  swindled  out  of  three 
or  four  millions  of  acres,  which,  like  other  bad  titles,  had  fallen  into 


204  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

the  hands  of  innocent  purchasers.  When  I  advert  to  the  applicants 
by  whom  we  were  then  beset,  I  find  among  them  one  of  the  persons 
who  styled  themselves  the  Agents  of  the  New  England  Mississippi 
Land  Company,  who  seems  to  have  an  unfortunate  knack  of  buying 
bad  titles.  His  gigantic  grasp  embraces  with  one  hand  the  shores  of 
Lake  Erie,  and  with  the  other  stretches  to  the  Bay  of  Mobile.  Mil- 
lions of  acres  are  easily  digested  by  such  stomachs.  Goaded  by  ava- 
rice, they  buy  only  to  sell,  and  sell  only  to  buy.  The  retail  trade  of 
fraud  and  imposture  yields  too  small  and  slow  a  profit  to  gratify  their 
cupidity.  They  buy  and  sell  corruption  ID  the  gross,  and  a  few  mil- 
lions of  acres,  more  or  less,  is  hardly  feit  in  the  account.  The 
deeper  the  play,  the  greater  their  test  in  the  game ;  and  the  stake 
which  is  set  upon  the  throw  is  nothing  less  than  the  patrimony  of  the 
people.  Mr.  Speaker,  when  I  see  the  agency  which  is  employed  on 
this  occasion,  I  must  own  that  it  fills  me  with  apprehension  and 
alarm.  The  same  agent  is  at  the  head  of  an  executive  department  of 
our  Government,  and  inferior  to  none  in  the  influence  attached  to  it. 
*  *  *  *  This  officer  presents  himself  at  your  bar,  at  once  a  party  and 
an  advocate.  Sir,  when  I  see  such  a  tremendous  influence  brought 
to  bear  upon  us,  I  do  confess  it  strikes  me  with  consternation  and 
despair.  Are  the  heads  of  executive  departments,  with  the  influ- 
ence and  patronage  attached  to  them,  to  extort  from  us  now,  what  we 
refused  at  the  last  session  of  Congress?  *****  I  wm  pin  my- 
self upon  this  text,  and  preach  upon  it  as  long  as  I  have  life.  If  no 
other  reason  could  be  adduced,  but  for  a  regard  for  our  own  fame — if 
it  were  only  to  rescue  ourselves  from  this  foul  imputation — this  weak 
and  dishonorable  compromise  ought  to  receive  a  prompt  and  decisive 
rejection.  Is  the  voice  of  patriotism  lulled  to  rest,  that  we  no  longer 
hear  the  cry  against  an  overbearing  majority,  determined  to  put 
down  the  Constitution,  and  deaf  to  every  proposition  of  compromise  ? 
Such  were  the  dire  forebodings  to  which  we  have  been  compelled 
heretofore  to  listen.  But  if  the  enmity  of  such  men  be  formidable, 
their  friendship  is  deadly  destruction,  their  touch  deadly  pollution  ! 
What  is  the  spirit  against  which  we  now  struggle — which  we  have 
vainly  endeavored  to  stifle  ?  A  monster  generated  by  fraud,  nursed 
in  corruption,  that  in  grim  silence  awaits  its  prey.  It  is  the  spirit 
of  Federalism." 


FRIENDSHIP.  205 

It  may  readily  be  conceived  what  effect  this  and  similar  speeches 
which  had  been  delivered,  whenever  the  subject  was  presented,  would 
have  on  the  members  of  the  republican  party  who  were  interested, 
for  themselves  or  their  friends,  in  the  Yazoo  speculation.  An  in- 
trigue was  set  on  foot  to  supplant  Mr.  Randolph.  It  was  determined 
that  he  should  be  put  down.  The  Postmaster  General  openly  de- 
clared that  he  or  Randolph — one  must  fall  This  expression  was  un- 
derstood as  intimating  an  intention  to  call  him  out.  Some  one 
observed  that  Randolph  would  not  be  backward  in  answering  to  a 
call  of  that  kind.  He  replied,  not  in  that  way — u  I  mean,  as  a  puttie 
man — as  a  political  character"  After  the  adjournment  of  Congress, 
March,  1805,  he  made  a  tour  of  the  New  England  States,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  organizing  a  party  to  pull  doivn  Randolph.  Some  of  the  re- 
publican members  from  that  quarter  gave  countenance  to  the  ^)lan, 
and  Mr.  Barnabas  Bidwell  was  put  forward  as  their  file-leader. 
These  men  insinuated  themselves  into  favor,  and  assumed  to  be  the 
exclusive  friends  of  the  President ;  but  they  were  charged,  many  of 
them,  with  being  in  league  with  Burr,  and  having  no  other  design  but 
to  embarrass  the  Executive,  and  to  force  the  President  into  a  sanction 
of  their  views.  "  If  some  members  of  Congress,"  says  a  leading  jour- 
nal of  that  day,  "  are  to  be  bribed  with  post-office  contracts  to  obtain 
their  votes  for  a  nefarious  speculation,  on  one  hand ;  and  if  a  member 
of  Congress,  superior  to  all  corruption,  and  all  pollution  or  dishonor, 
is  to  be  pulled  down ;  and  the  offices  of  Government  are  to  be  em- 
ployed to  such  ends ;  it  is  vain  to  pretend  that  republican  govern- 
ment can  stand,  if  such  corruption  and  such  corrupt  men  are  suffered 
to  retain  all  the  power,  which  they  prostitute ;  and  if  men  of  virtue, 
honor,  talents  and  integrity,  are  to  be  made  victims  of  intrigue,  bot- 
tomed on  such  corruption." 


CHAPTER   XXVIII. 

FKIENDSHIP. 

WE  have  seen  what  an  immense  task,  and  what  a  weight  of  responsi- 
bility, devolved  on  Mr.  Randolph  for  the  last  four  years.  He  found 
time,  nevertheless,  to  keep  up  an  extensive  correspondence  with  his 


206  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

friends.  He  had  now  added  to  the  list  his  two  half-brothers  and 
their  sister,  who  were  just  growing  up.  His  sentiments  in  regard  to 
the  conduct  of  a  family  towards  those  "  worthy  lads,"  who  just  begin 
to  feel  the  pride  and  self-importance  of  budding  manhood,  are  so  true 
and  so  worthy  of  imitation,  that  we  give  them  to  the  reader. — 
"  Give  to  dear  Beverly,"  says  he,  "  my  warmest  love.  Let  me,  iny 
dear  sister,  caution  you  (and  be  not  offended  at  it)  respecting  that 
worthy  lad.  Treat  him  with  a  marked  attention.  I  know  you  love 
him  tenderly — he  is  deserving  of  it.  Display  that  affection  by  a  man- 
ner the  most  considerate  and  kind.  Cherish  him ;  for  he  is  a  jewel  above 
price.  Beverly  is  now  of  an  age  to  receive  from  svery  body  the  treat- 
ment due  to  a  man — a  young  one,  I  grant — and  to  a  gentleman.  No 
consideration  should  dispense  with  this  conduct  on  any  part.  It  does 
not  imply  formality,  but  respect — not  coldness,  but  kind  attention. 
These,  I  pronounce,  are  essentially  requisite,  and  in  a  greater  degree 
than  usual,  to  the  development  of  his  amiable  character." 

But  poor  Thompson  continued,  by  his  erratic  ways,  to  keep  alive 
the  anxious  solicitude  of  his  friend.  That  brilliant,  though  wayward 
genius,  had  fallen  into  desperate  courses.  Calumny,  acting  on  a 
morbid  sensibility,  had  banished  him  from  that  home  where  alone  he 
could  find  sympathy  and  encouragement.  Misfortune  had  so  per- 
verted his  feelings,  as  to  make  him,  in  the  spirit  of  misanthropy, 
shun  the  observation  of  those  that  once  knew  and  respected  him,  and 
to  seek  oblivion  and  forgetfulness  in  the  haunts  of  low  dissipation. 
Now  was  the  time  to  test  true  friendship.  The  cold  world  would 
pass  him  by  with  averted  look,  and  protest  they  never  knew  him ; 
the  friend  would  take  him  by  the  hand,  and  gently  and  affectionately 
draw  him  back  to  the  paths  of  virtue.  Randolph  professed  to  be  his 
friend — how  nobly  did  he  redeem  that  pledge  !  In  the  following  let- 
ter, he  speaks  to  him  in  plainness  and  in  truth.  But  whilst  he 
does  not  spare  his  erring  friend,  his  censure  is  accompanied  with 
such  a  tone  of  delicacy  and  affection,  as  to  melt  the  most  obdurate 
heart,  and  kindle  emotions  of  reformation  in  the  most  desperate 
outcast. 

"  Whatever  may  be  the  motives,"  says  he,  "  which  have  determined 
you  to  renounce  all  intercourse  with  me,  it  becomes  me,  perhaps,  to 
respect  them  ;  yet  to  be  deterred  from  my  present  purpose  by  punc- 
tilio would  evince  a  coldness  of  temper  which  I  trust  does  not  belong 


FRIENDSHIP.  207 

to  ine,  and  would,  at  the  same  time,  convict  me  to  myself  of  the  most 
pitiful  insincerity,  in  professing  for  you  a  regard  which  has  never 
been  inferior  to  my  professions,  and  which  is  not  in  any  circumstance 
entirely  to  destroy.  To  tell  you  that  during  the  last  three  months 
I  have  observed  your  progress  through  life  with  uninterrupted  and 
increasing  anxiety,  would  be  to  give  you  a  faint  idea  of  what  has 
passed  in  my  mind.  The  mortification  which  I  have  experienced  on 
hearing  you  spoken  of  in  terms  of  frigid  and  scanty  approbation,  can 
only  be  exceeded  by  that  which  I  have  felt  on  the  silent  embarrass- 
ment which  my  inquiries  have  occasioned  those  who  were  unwilling 
to  wound  your  character  or  my  feelings.  You  know  me  too  well, 
William,  to  suppose  that  my  inquiries  have  been  directed  by  the 
miserable  spirit  which  seeks  to  exalt  itself  on  the  depression  of  others. 
They  have,  on  the  contrary,  been  very  few,  and  made  with  the  most 
guarded  circumspection.  To  say  the  truth.  I  have  never  felt  myself 
equal  to  the  task  of  hearing  the  recital  of  details  which  were  too 
often  within  my  reach,  and  which  not  unfrequently  courted  my  atten- 
tion. They  have  always  received  from  me  the  most  decisive  repulse. 
My  own  pride  would  never  bear  the  humiliation  of  permitting  any 
one  to  witness  the  mortification  which  I  felt.  After  all  this  pream- 
ble, let  me  endeavor  to  effect  the  purpose  of  this  address.  Let  me 
beg  of  you  to  ask  yourself -what  are  your  present  pursuits,  and  how 
far  congenial  to  your  feelings  or  character.  I  have  .not,  I  cannot, 
so  far  have  mistaken  you  ;  you  cannot  so  successfully  have  deceived 
yourself.  Yours  is  not  the  mind  which  can  derive  any  real  or  last- 
ing gratification  from  the  pursuits  or  the  attainments  of  a  grovelling 
ambition.  These  may  afford  a  temporary  and  imperfect  relief  from 
that  voice  which  tells  you  who  you  are,  and  what  is  expected  from 
you.  The  world  is  well  disposed  to  forgive  the  aberrations  of  youth- 
ful indiscretion  from  the  straight  road  of  prudence ;  but  there  is  a 
point  beyond  which  its  temper  can  no  longer  be  played  upon.  After 
a  certain  degree  of  resistance,  it  becomes  more  prone  to  asperity 
than  it  had  ever  been  to  indulgence.  But  grant  that  its  good  nature 
were  unlimited,  you  are  not  the  character  who  can  be  content  to  hold 
by  so  humiliating  a  tenure  that  which  you  can  and  ought  to  demand 
of  right.  Can  you  be  content  to  repose  on  the  courtesy  of  mankina 
for  that  respect  which  you  may  challenge  as  your  due,  and  which 
may  be  enforced  when  withheld  ?  Can  you  quit  the  high  ground  and 
imposing  attitude  of  self-esteem  to  solicit  the  precarious  bounty  of  a 


208  LJFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

contemptuous  and  contemptible  world  ?  I  can  scarcely  forgive  my- 
self for  dwelling  so  long  on  so  invidious  a  theme.  I  have  long  medi- 
tated to  address  you  on  this  subject.  One  of  the  dissuasives  from 
the  plan  is  now  removed.  Let  me  again  conjure  you  to  ask  yourself 
seriously,  What  are  your  present  objects  of  pursuit?  How  far  any 
laudable  acquirement  can  be  attained  by  a  town  residence,  particu- 
larly in  a  tavern?  Whether  such  a  life  be  compatible  with  the 
maintenance  of  that  respectability  of  character  which  is  necessary  to 
give  us  value  in  the  eyes  of  others  or  of  ourselves  ?  And  let  me  con- 
jure you  to  dissolve  by  a  single  exertion  the  spell  which  now  enchains 
you.  The  only  tie  which  could  have  bound  you  is  no  more.  Town 
fetters  are  but  those  of  habit,  and  that  of  but  short  standing.  Were 
it  confirmed,  there  would  indeed  be  but  little  hope,  and  this  letter 
would  never  have  been  penned.  As  it  would  be  improper  to  urge 
the  dissolution  of  your  present  plan  of  life  without  pointing  out  some 
alternative,  I  recommend  a  residence  of  twelve  or  eighteen  months 
with  Taylor,  and  a  serious  application,  before  it  be  too  late,  to  that 
profession  which  will  be  a  friend  to  you  when  the  sunshine  insects 
who  have  laughed  with  you  in  your  prosperity  shall  have  passed  away 
with  the  genial  season  which  gave  them  birth.  The  hour  is  fast 
approaching,  be  assured,  when  it  will  be  in  vain  to  attempt  the  ac- 
quirement of  professional  knowledge.  Too  well  I  know  that  readi- 
ness of  apprehension  and  sprightliness  of  imagination  will  not  make 
amends  for  application.  The  latter  serves  but  to  light  up  our  igno- 
rance. 

"  There  is  one  topic  on  which  I  cannot  trust  even  my  pen.  Did  I 
not  believe  that  this  letter  would  occasion  you  pain,  it  certainly  never 
had  been  written.  Yet  to  write  it  with  that  view  would  be  a 
purpose  truly  diabolical.  You  are  a  physician ;  you  probe  not  the 
wounds  of  the  dead.  Yet  'tis  to  heal,  and  not  to  agonize,  that  you 
insert  your  instrument  into  the  living  body.  Whatever  may  be  the 
effect  of  this  attempt — whatever  may  be  the  disposition  which  it  cre- 
ates in  you,  I  shall  never,  while  you  live,  cease  to  feel  an  interest  in 
your  fate.  Every  one  here  remembers  you  with  undiminished  affec- 
tion. If  I  judge  from  myself,  you  are  more  than  ever  interesting  to 
them,  and  whenever,  if  ever,  you  revisit  Bizarre,  you  will  recognize 
in  every  member  of  the  family  your  unchanged  friends. 

"  Adieu, 

«J.  R.,  JR." 


FRIENDSHIP.  209 

This  last  and  noble  effort  to  redeem  a  fallen  friend  was  not  in 
vain.  The  advice  was  followed.  Thompson  spent  a  few  months  with 
Creed  Taylor,  in  the  neighborhood  of  Bizarre;  he  then  went  to 
Richmond  and  read  law,  in  the  office  of  George  Hay,  Esq.,  a  distin- 
guished lawyer  and  politician  of  that  day.  From  this  time,  with 
few  exceptions,  his  letters  are  more  cheerful,  and  replete  with  sallies 
of  his  fine  genius ;  he  communicates  much  instructive  and  amusing 
information  about  the  proceedings  of  the  legislature,  and  the  leading 
characters  of  Richmond;  and  never  failed  to  give  vent  to  those 
deep  feelings  of  gratitude  that  swelled  in  his  bosom,  towards  one  who 
had  been  to  him  a  brother  indeed,  in  his  hour  of  degradation  and 
misfortune. 

Having  obtained  a  competent  knowledge  of  his  profession,  Mr. 
Randolph  procured  for  him  an  office  in  the  newly  acquired  territory 
of  Louisiana — encouraged  him  to  break  off  from  his  old  associations, 
and  to  seek  his  fortune  anew,  in  a  land  of  strangers.  In  the  spring 
of  1804,  he  married  a  virtuous  and  accomplished  wife,  and  set  out  on 
his  journey  to  the  far  west,  with  all  those  bright  prospects  that  his 
ardent  imagination  knew  so  well  how  to  picture  before  him.  This  is 
the  last  letter  ever  addressed  to  him  by  his  friend : 

BIZARRE,  13  May,  1804. 

"  When  I  requested  you  to  inquire  at  the  post-office  at  Abing- 
ton  for  a  letter  from  me,  it  did  not  occur  to  me  by  how  circuitous  a 
route  my  communication  must  travel  before  it  could  reach  that  place. 
To  guard  against  accidents,  therefore,  I  have  directed  it  to  be  for- 
warded to  Nashville,  in  case  you  should  have  left  Abington  before 
its  arrival  there.  We  have  been  every  day  suggesting  to  ourselves 
the  inconvenience  to  which  you  must  have  been  exposed  by  the  bad 
weather  which  we  have  invariably  experienced  ever  since  your 
departure,  and  regretting  that  the  situation  of  your  affairs  would  not 
permit  you  to  continue  with  us  until  a  change  took  place.  You,  how- 
ever, my  good  friend,  have  embarked  upon  too  serious  a  voyage  to 
take  into  consideration  a  little  rough  weather  upon  the  passage.  The 
wish  which  I  feel  to  add  my  mite  to  the  counsels  through  which  alon<? 
it  can  prove  prosperous,  is  repressed  by  the  reflection,  that  your  suc- 
cess depends  upon  the  discovery  of  no  new  principle  of  human 
affairs,  but  upon  the  application  of  such  as  are  familiar  to  all,  and 
which  none  know  better  how  to  estimate  than  yourself.  Decision, 


210  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

firmness,  independence,  which  equally  scorns  to  yield  our  ovn 
rights  as  to  detract  from  those  of  others,  are  the  only  guides  to  the 
esteem  of  the  world,  or  of  ourselves.  A  reliance  upon  our  resources 
for  all  things,  but  especially  for  relief  against  that  arch  fiend  the 
taedium  vitse,  can  alone  guard  us  against  a  state  of  dependence  and 
contempt.  But  I  am  growing  sententious,  and,  of  course,  pedantic. 
Judy  joins  me  in  every  good  wish  to  yourself  and  Mrs.  Thompson. 
Permit  me  to  add  that  there  is  one  being  in  the  world  who  will  ever 
be  ready  to  receive  you  with  open  arms,  whatsoever  may  be  the  fate 
of  the  laudable  endeavors  which  you  are  now  making. 
"  Yours,  truly, 

"  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 
«  WM.  THOMPSON." 

Poor  Thompson  did  not  live  to  test  the  strength  of  his  redeemed 
virtue,  and  to  make  a  new  application  of  those  principles  that  he  had 
learned  in  the  school  of  adversity  so  well  how  to  estimate.  He  died 
by  the  way-side,  and  all  the  renewed  hopes  of  himself  and  of  his 
friend,  were  swallowed  up  in  the  oblivious  night  of  death.  On  the 
back  of  the  copy  of  the  foregoing  letter,  which  is  written  in  Mr. 
Randolph's  own  handwriting,  is  found  the  following  endorsement : 
«  W.  T.,  May  13,  1804.  Alas!"  What  more  could  he  write  as  an 
epitaph  on  the  lonely  tomb  of  this  wandering,  ill-starred  young  man? 
Alas !  alas !  was  all  that  could  be  said  of  the  misfortunes  and  the 
untimely  end  of  poor  William  Thompson. 

Joseph  Bryan,  in  the  meantime,  had  returned  from  his  travels ; 
the  joyous,  free-hearted  Bryan  had  ceased  "  fighting  the  Russians," 
recrossed  the  broad  Atlantic  main,  and  from  his  sea-girt  isle  was  in- 
diting letters  to  his  friend,  describing  the  cities  he  had  seen,  the  men 
and  their  manners — if  not  with  the  depth  of  observation  of  the  wise 
Ulysses,  at  least  with  as  much  pleasure  and  freedom  of  narration. 
He  urged  his  old  companion  to  visit  once  more  his  friends  in  Geor- 
gia: "  You  are  the  popular  man  here,"  says  he,  "  the  federalists  to  the 
contrary  notwithstanding."  But  Randolph,  ever  seeking  to  make  his 
friends  useful  to  themselves  and  to  their  country,  turned  the  thoughts 
of  this  volatile  young  man  to  a  higher  aim. 

On  his  solicitation,  Bryan  became  a  candidate  for  Congress ;  was 
defeated ;  renewed  the  attempt,  and  was  successful.  He  stood  by 


FRIENDSHIP.  211 

the  side  of  his  gallant  friend  and  fought  manfully  that  Medusa  head 
of  fraud,  the  Yazoo  speculation,  whenever  it  reared  its  horrid  front 
upon  the  floor  of  Congress.  He  had  been  to  Bizarre,  and  formed  an 
acquaintance  with  the  charming  society  there,  of  which  he  ever  after- 
wards spoke  in  terms  of  the  highest  admiration ;  he  had  hunted, 
fished,  flown  kites,  and  played  marbles  with  "  the  boys  ;"  but  above 
all,  his  wild  fancy  had  been  caught  at  last,  and,  like  the  fly  in  the 
spider's  web,  he  was  entangled  in  the  inextricable  meshes  of  all- 
conquering  love.  Miss  Delia  Foreman,  daughter  of  General  Fore- 
man, of  the  Eastern  Shore  of  Maryland,  intimate  friends  of  Mr. 
Randolph,  was  the  charming  object  of  attraction.  The  eummer 
recess  of  1804  was  spent  in  Georgia,  but  the  island  in  the  sea,  with 
all  its  means  of  pleasure,  had  lost  its  charm,  and  he  was  about  to 
desert  it,  and  to  go  in  search  of  the  fair  nymph  whose  dwelling  looked 
out  on  the  broad  waters  of  the  Chesapeake. 

On  the  8th  of  September,  1804,  from  Bizarre  his  friend  writes  to 
him.:  "  Should  this  find  you  at  Wilmington,  which  I  heartily  wish  it 
may  not,  I  trust,  my  dear  Bryan,  that  you  will  derive  the  most  satis- 
factory information  from  the  inclosed  respecting  your  fair  tyrant. 
To  me  the  Major  says  not  a  word  on  the  subject  of  his  daughter,  but 
I  infer  from  a  variety  of  circumstances  that  she  is  about  this  time  on 
a  visit  to  her  aunt,  Mrs.  Van  Bibber,  in  Gloucester,  about  eighty 
miles  from  Richmond ;  I  hope,  therefore,  very  soon  to  see  you  in 
Virginia. 

"  I  have  nothing  worth  relating,  except  that  Mrs.  Randolph  was 
almost  as  much  disappointed  as  myself  when  our  messenger  arrived 
last  night  from  the  post-office  without  a  letter  from  you.  How  easy 
would  it  be,  once  a  week,  to  say  1 1  am  at  such  a  place,  in  such  health, 

and  to-morrow  shall  go  to ..'     These  little  bulletins  of  your 

well-being  and  motions  would  be  a  thousand  times  more  interesting 
to  me  than  those  of  his  Britannic  Majesty's  health,  or  his  Corsican 
Highness's  expeditions.     Let  me  beg  of  you  to  make  dispatch. 
"  Yours  as  ever, 

"  JOHN  RANDOLPH." 

After  the  adjournment  of  Congress,  March,  1805,  Bryan  hastened 
on  to  Chestertown  to  be  married.     On  the  8th  of  March  he  writes 
from  tt  •  <  place :    "  You  will  hardly  believe  me  when  I  tell  you; 
15 


212  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

that  my  tyrants  have  had  the  unparalleled  barbarity  to  postpone 
my  marriage  until  the  25th  of  this  month.  Sumptuousness,  pomp, 
parade,  &c.,  must  be  observed  in  giving  away  a  jewel  worth  more  than 
the  kingdoms  of  this  world. — I  rather  suspect  I  shall  be  myself  the 
most  awkward  and  ungraceful  movable  used  on  the  occasion :  curso 
it,  I  hate  to  be  exhibited ;  and  nothing  but  the  possession  of  the 
jewel  itself  would  induce  me  to  run  the  gauntlet  of  felicitation  I 

shall  receive  from  the  whole  file  of  collaterals. Lovely  as  her 

person  is,  I  prize  her  heart  more.  Jack !  what  have  I  done  to  in- 
duce the  good  God  to  favor  me  so  highly  ?  Sinner  that  I  am,  I 
deserve  not  the  smallest  of  his  gifts,  and  behold  I  am  treated  more 
kindly  than  even  Abraham,  who  saw  God  face  to  face,  and  was  called 
his  friend  ;  he,  poor  fellow,  had  to  put  up  with  his  sister  Sarah,  who, 
beside  other  exceptionable  qualities,  was  cursed  with  a  bad  temper ; 
while  I,  having  sought  among  the  beauties  of  the  earth,  have  found  and 
obtained  the  loveliest  and  best,  which  I  am  willing  to  prove  against 
all  comers  on  foot  or  on  horseback,  in  the  tented  field  with  sword 
and  spear,  or  on  the  roaring  ocean  at  the  cannon's  mouth.  If  you 
will  come  and  see  us  (on  their  island  in  the  sea),  my  Delia  will 
make  one  of  her  best  puddings  for  your  entertainment.  In  the  course 
of  a  year  or  two  you  may  expect  to  see  your  friend  Brain  metamor- 
phosed into  a  gentleman  of  high  polish,  able  to  make  as  spruce  a 
bow,  and  to  hand  a  lady  to  her  carriage  with  all  the  graces  of  an 
Adonis.  Adieu  !  may  heaven  prosper  and  bless  you." 

In  the  course  of  a  year  or  two,  alas  !  he  ivas  metamorphosed ;  the 
beautiful  Delia  also  faded  away ;  and  their  two  little  boys  were  left 
orphans !  John  Randolph  showed  his  attachment  to  the  father  by 
his  devotion  to  the  sons  ;  they  were  raised  partly  in  his  own  house, 
and  educated  at  his  expense.  The  oldest  and  the  namesake,  John 
Randolph  Bryan,  many  years  after  this  period,  when  he  grew  up  to 
manhood,  married  Miss  Elizabeth  Coulter,  the  niece  of  Mr.  Ran- 
dolph ;  "  my  charming  niece,"  as  he  used  to  call  her,  and  the  daughter 
of  his  beloved  and  only  sister.  Mr.  Bryan  and  his  accomplished 
wife  now  live  in  Gloucester  county,  Virginia,  on  the  Bay  Shore. 
A  bountiful  soil  blesses  them  with  its  abundant  fruits;  and  the  tide, 
that  daily  flows  at  their  feet,  wafts  to  their  door  the  rich  treasures  of 
the  sea.  May  they  long  live  to  enjoy  in  their  "  happy  nook"  the 
blessings  of  a  peaceful  home ;  and  to  dispense  that  elegant  hospi- 


NINTH  CONGRESS.  213 

tality,  so  rare  now,  but.  at  the  time  their  father  first  visited  Bizarre, 
so  common  in  the  Old  Dominion. 

The  causes  of  this  great  change,  or  at  least  some  of  them,  we  are 
now  about  to  investigate.  John  Randolph  has  said  that  "  The 
embargo,  like  Achilles'  wrath,  was  the  source  of  our  Iliad  of  woes !" 


CHAPTER   XXIX. 

NINTH  CONGRESS. — FOREIGN  RELATIONS. — DIFFICULTIES  WITH. 
FRANCE  AND  SPAIN. 

NEVER  had  an  administration  a  more  difficult  task  to  perform  than  *hat 
of  Mr.  Jefferson  at  this  time.  Ever  since  the  French  revolution  there 
had  been  a  constant  warfare,  with  short  breathing  intervals,  between 
France  and  England.  The  hostility  of  their  political  principles,  add- 
ed to  old  national  antipathies,  now  made  it  a  war  of  extermination. 
These  great  belligerent  powers  strove  to  involve  the  United  States  in 
the  controversy.  But  our  policy  was  neutrality  :  General  Washing- 
ton early  announced  this  course,  and  his  firm  hand  steadily  pursued 
it  so  long  as  he  grasped  the  helm  of  affairs.  Mr.  Adams  was  not  so 
successful — his  English  predilections  swerved  him  from  the  straight 
path  of  neutrality,  and  involved  his  administration  in  a  "  quasi  war" 
with  France.  Mr.  Jefferson  had  hitherto  been  eminently  successful 
in  all  his  domestic  and  foreign  policy.  But  now,  in  1805,  he  seemed 
to  be  involved  in  almost  inextricable  difficulties.  Our  embarrass- 
ments with  Spain,  France,  and  England,  had  grown  so  complicated 
and  critical,  that  it  seemed  impossible  to  escape  without  war,  or  na- 
tional disgrace.  The  purchase  of  Louisiana  removed  a  present  peril, 
but  brought  with  it  a  train  of  difficulties.  Bonaparte  made  the  sale 
just  before  his  meditated  rupture  of  the  treaty  of  Amiens,  and  at  a 
time  when  he  feared  the  province  would  be  wrested  from  him  by  the 
superior  maritime  power  of  England.  But  he  soon  repented  of  his 
bargain,  and  sought  every  opportunity  to  regain  his  lost  empire  be- 
yond the  Atlantic.  Spain,  but  three  years  before,  had  made  an  ex» 
change  of  it  with  France,  and  had  not  surrendered  possession.  She 


214  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

was  much  displeased  at  the  transfer  made  by  the  First  Consul,  and 
between  them  they  embarrassed  the  United  States  as  much  as  they 
could,  and  threw  every  obstacle  in  the  way  of  a  full  and  peaceable 
possession  of  the  new  territory.  England  still  retained  much  of  her  old 
grudge  towards  the  United  States  as  revolted  provinces — looked  with 
a  jealous  eye  on  their  growing  commerce,  their  rising  greatness — and 
sought  every  opportunity  to  clip  the  wing  of  the  aspiring  eagle.  En- 
tertaining these  feelings  towards  the  peaceful  and  neutral  govern 
ment  beyond  the  Atlantic,  these  two  great  powers  were  involved  in  a 
war  of  life  and  death  between  themselves  ;  all  Europe  was  in  battal- 
ion ;  every  engine  of  destruction  was  brought  to  play ;  like  the  Ti- 
tans of  old,  they  tore  up  mountains,  islands,  whole  continents,  and 
hurled  them  at  each  other ;  the  globe  itself  seemed  as  though  it 
might  tumble  into  ruins  beneath  their  giant  warfare.  What  chance 
had!  the  commerce  or  the  neutral  rights  of  the  United  States  to  be 
respected  in  such  a  strife  ?  The  President,  in  his  opening  message, 
the  3d  of  December,  1805,  describes  in  glowing  torms  the  destructive 
course  of  the  great  belligerents  towards  his  own  country.  Again, 
on  the  6th  of  December,  three  days  after  the  opening  of  Congress, 
he  sent  a  special  message  on  the  subject  of  Spanish  aggressions ; 
they  seemed  to  be  first  and  most  urgent.  The  depredations,  he  said, 
which  had  been  committed  on  the  commerce  of  the  United  States 
during  a  preceding  war,  by  persons  under  the  authority  of  Spain, 
had  been  adjusted  by  a  convention ;  so  also  the  spoliations  commit- 
ted by  Spanish  subjects  and  carried  into  ports  of  Spain  ;  it  had  been 
likewise  agreed  that  those  committed  by  French  subjects  and  carried 
into  Spanish  ports  should  remain  for  further  discussion.  Before  this 
convention  was  returned  to  Spain  with  our  ratification,  the  transfer 
of  Louisiana  by  France  to  the  United  States  took  place,  an  event  as 
unexpected  as  disagreeable  to  Spain.  From  that  moment  she  seemed 
to  change  her  conduct  and  dispositions  towards  us  ;  it  was  first  man- 
ifested by  her  protest  against  the  right  of  France  to  alienate  Louisi- 
ana to  us,  which,  however,  was  soon  retracted,  and  the  right  con- 
firmed. Her  high  offence  was  manifested  at  the  act  of  Congress  es- 
tablishing a  collection  district  on  the  Mobile,  although  by  an  authen- 
tic declaration,  immediately  made,  it  was  expressly  confirmed  to  our 
acknowledged  limits ;  and  she  now  refused  to  ratify  the  convention 
signed  by  her  own  minister  under  the  eye  of  his  sovereign,  unless  we 


NINTH  CONGRESS.  215 

would  consent  to  alterations  of  its  terms,  which  would  have  affected 
our  claims  against  her  for  spoliations  by  French  subjects  carried  into 
Spanish  ports. 

To  obtain  justice,  as  well  as  to  restore  friendship,  the  President 
thought  proper  to  send  Mr.  Monroe  on  a  special  mission  to  Spain. 
-  After  nearly  five  months  of  fruitless  endeavors,"  says  the  message, 
u  to  bring  them  to  some  definite  and  satisfactory  result,  our  ministers 
ended  the  conferences  without  having  been  able  to  obtain  indemnity 
for  spoliations  of  any  description,  or  any  satisfaction  as  to  the  boun- 
daries of  Louisiana,  other  than  a  declaration  that  we  had  no  right 
eastward  of  the  Iberville ;  and  that  our  line  to  the  west  was  one, 
which  would  have  left  us  but  a  string  of  land  on  that  bank  of  the 
Mississippi.  Our  injured  citizens  were  thus  left  without  any  pros- 
pect of  retribution  from  the  wrong-doer,  and  as  to  boundary,  each 
party  was  to  take  its  own  course.  That,  which  they  have  chosen  to 
pursue  will  appear  from  the  documents  now  communicated.  They 
authorize  the  inference,  that  it  is  their  intention  to  advance  on  our 
possessions  until  they  shall  be  repressed  by  an  opposing  force." 

The  message  then  speaks  of  the  conduct  of  France  in  regard  to 
the  misunderstanding  between  the  United  States  and  Spain.  "  She 
was  prompt  and  decided  in  her  declarations,  that  her  demands  on 
Spain  for  French  spoliations  carried  into  Spanish  ports,  were  included 
in  the  settlement  between  the  United  States  and  France.  She  took 
at  once  the  ground,  that  she  had  acquired  no  right  from  Spain,  and 
had  meant  to  deliver  us  none,  eastward  of  the  Iberville." 

In  conclusion,  the  President  says:  "The  present  crisis  in  Eu- 
rope is  favorable  for  pressing  a  settlement,  and  not  a  moment  should 
be  lost  in  availing  ourselves  of  it.  Should  it  pass  unimproved,  our 
situation  would  become  much  more  difficult.  Formal  war  is  not  ne- 
cessary ;  it  is  not  probable  it  will  follow ;  but  the  protection  of  our 
citizens,  the  spirit  and  honor  of  our  country  require,  that  force  should 
be  interposed  to  a  certain  degree ;  it  will  probably  contribute  to  ad- 
vance the  object  of  peace.  But  the  course  to  be  pursued  will  require 
the  command  of  means,  which  it  belongs  to  Congress  exclusively,  to 
deny  or  to  yield.  To  them  I  communicate  every  fact  material  for 
their  information,  and  the  documents  necessary  to  enable  them  to 
judge  for  themselves.  To  their  wisdom,  then,  I  look  for  the  course 
I  am  to  pursue,  and  will  pursue  with  sincere  zeal  that  which  they 
shall  approve."  . 


216  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

The  President  recommends  no  definite  plan  of  action — leaves 
every  thing  to  the  discretion  of  Congress  ;  but  it  is  obvious  that  he 
expected  them  to  appropriate  means  to  raise  an  army  of  some  sort, 
to  repel  the  invasions  of  Spain,  and  to  protect  the  persons  and  the 
property  of  our  citizens  in  the  disputed  territory. 

This  message  was  secret  and  confidential :  all  propositions  in  re- 
gard to  it  were  discussed  in  conclave.  The  debate  is  said  to  have 
taken  a  very  wide  range,  and  was  very  animated.  On  that  occasion, 
John  Randolph  is  said  to  have  delivered  the  ablest  and  most  elo- 
quent speech  ever  heard  on  the  floor  of  Congress.  "When  this  mes- 
sage was  read  in  the  House  of  Representatives,  it  was  referred  to  a 
select  committee,  of  which  Mr.  Randolph  was  chairman.  He  imme- 
diately waited  on  theJPresident,  and  informed  him  of  the  direction 
which  had  been  given  to  the  message.  "We  have  his  authority  for 
saying,  that  he  then  learned,  not  without  surprise,  that  an  appropri- 
ation of  two  millions  ivas  wanted  to  purchase  Florida !  He  told  the 
President  that  he  would  never  agree  to  such  a  measure,  because  the 
money  had  not  been  asked  for  in  the  message ;  that  he  would  not 
consent  to  shift  to  his  own  shoulders,  or  those  of  the  House,  the  pro- 
per responsibility  of  the  Executive.  If  the  money  had  been  explicit- 
ly demanded,  he  should  have  been  averse  to  granting  it,  because, 
after  a  total  failure  of  every  attempt  at  negotiation,  such  a  step 
would  disgrace  us  for  ever ;  because  France  would  never  withhold 
her  ill  offices,  when,  by  their  interposition,  she  could  extort  money 
from  us  ;  that  it  was  equally  to  the  interest  of  the  United  States,  to 
accommodate  the  matter  by  an  exchange  of  territory ; — (to  this  mode 
of  settlement  the  President  seemed  much  opposed) — that  the  nations 
of  Europe,  like  the  Barbary  powers,  would  hereafter  refuse  to  look 
on  the  credentials  of  our  ministers,  without  a  previous  douceur. 

The  committee  met  on  the  7th  of  December.  One  of  its  mem- 
bers (Bidwell  of  Massachusetts)  construed  the  message  into  a  requi- 
sition of  money  for  foreign  intercourse.  To  draw  such  a  conclusion, 
it  is  plain  he  must  have  had  some  other  key  of  interpretation  than 
that  of  the  words  in  which  the  message  was  expressed.  He  proposed 
a  grant  to  that  effect,  which  was  overruled.  On  the  14th  of  Decem- 
ber, the  chairman  was  obliged  to  go  to  Baltimore,  and  did  not  return 
till  the  21st  of  the  month.  During  this  interval,  the  dispatches  from 
Mr.  Monroe,  of  the  18th  and  25th  of  October,  bearing  on  the  subject 


MNTH  CONGRESS.  217 

of  Spanish  aggressions,  were  received  by  Government,  but  never 
submitted  to  the  committee.  Previous  to  the  chairman's  departure 
for  Baltimore,  he  had  occasion  to  call  on  the  Secretary  of  State 
(Madison)  to  obtain  a  passport  for  his  nephew,  Saint  George  Ran- 
dolph, whom  he  was  about  sending  to  Braidwood's  and  Sicard's 
schools,  near  London  and  Paris.  Mr.  Madison  took  this  opportu- 
nity to  enter  into  an  explanation  of  the  policy  about  to  be  pursued  in 
regard  to  Spanish  aggression.  He  concluded  his  remarks  with  the 
declaration,  that  France  would  iwt  permit  Spain  to  adjust  her  dif- 
ferences with  us ;  that  France  ivar.  ted  money,  and  that  we  must  give 
it  to  her,  or  have  a  Spanish  and  French  war  ! 

It  will  be  remembered  that  this  declaration  was  made  to  on?  who 
was  reputed  to  be  the  leader  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  and 
who  was  chairman  of  the  Committee  of  Ways  and  Means.  The  ap- 
propriation here  intimated  would  have  to  be  recommended  by  that 
committee,  and  explained  and  defended  before  the  House  by  its 
chairman.  It  is  not  surprising  that  a  man  of  Mr.  Randolph's  high 
sense  of  honor  and  of  personal  dignity ;  and,  above  all.  that  one  who 
had  so  nice  a  perception  of  the  rights  of  the  representative,  and  of 
the  delicate  relation  existing  between  him  and  the  Executive,  which 
admitted  not  of  the  slightest  approach  towards  influence  or  dictation, 
should  have  fired  with  indignation  at  a  proposition  which  seemed  to 
make  him  and  the  House  of  Representatives  a  mere  tool  of  the  Exe- 
cutive, to  do  that  for  them  which  they  dare  not  avow  before  the 
world. 

Vvrhen  this  declaration  was  made,  so  different  from  the  sentiments 
expressed  by  the  President's  public  and  secret  -  messages,  and  so 
humiliating  to  the  pride  and  honor  of  the  country,  Mr.  Randolph 
abruptly  left  the  presence  of  the  Secretary  with  this  remarkable  ex- 
clamation, "  Good  morning,  sir !  I  see  I  am  not  calculated  for  a 
politician !" 

Mr.  Randolph  returned  from  Baltimore,  the  21st  of  December, 
and  convened  the  committee.  As  they  were  assembling,  the  Secre- 
tary of  the  Treasury  (Gallatin)  called  him  aside,  and  put  into  his 
hands  a  paper  headed,  "  Provision  for  the  purchase  of  Florida." 

Mr.  Randolph  declared  he  would  not  vote  a  shilling ;  and  ex- 
pressed himself  disgusted  with  the  whole  of  this  proceeding,  which 
he  could  not  but  consider  as  highly  disingenuous — the  most  scrupu- 


218  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

lous  care,  he  said,  had  been  taken  to  cover  the  reputation  of  the  ad. 
ministration,  while  Congress  were  expected  to  act  as  though  they 
had  no  character  to  lose ;  whilst  the  official  language  of  the  Executive 
was  consistent  and  dignified,  Congress  was  privately  required  to  take 
upon  itself  the  odium  of  shrinking  from  the  national  honor  and 
national  defence,  and  of  delivering  the  public  purse  to  the  first  cut- 
throat that  demanded  it.  From  the  ofiicial  communication,  from  the 
face  of  the  record,  it  would  appear  that  the  Executive  had  discharged 
his  duty  in  recommending  manly  and  vigorous  measures,  which  he  had 
been  obliged  to  abandon,  and  had  been  compelled,  by  Congress,  to  pur- 
sue an  opposite  course ;  when,  in  fact,  Congress  had  been  acting  all  the 
while  at  Executive  instigation.  Mr.  Randolph  further  observed,  that 
he  did  not  understand  this  double  set  of  opinions  and  principles ;  the 
one  ostensible,  to  go  upon  the  journals  and  before  the  public;  the  other, 
the  efficient  and  real  motives  to  action  ;  that  he  held  true  wisdom  and 
cunning  to  be  utterly  incompatible  in  the  conduct  of  great  affairs  ;  that 
he  had  strong  objections  to  the  measure  itself;  but  in  the  shape  in  which 
it  was  presented,  his  repugnance  to  it  was  insuperable.  In  a  subse- 
quent conversation  with  the  President  himself,  in  which  those  objec- 
tions were  recapitulated,  he  declared  that  he  too  had  a  character  to 
support  and  principles  to  maintain,  and  avowed  his  determined  oppo- 
sition to  the  whole  scheme. 

On  the  3d  of  January,  1806,  Mr.  Randolph  made  a  report,  under  the 
instructions  of  the  committee,  which  seems  to  be  fully  responsive  to 
the  views  of  the  President,  as  expressed  in  both  his  messages.  "  The 
committee  have  beheld,"  says  the  report,  "  with  just  indignation,  the 
hostile  spirit  manifested  by  the  court  of  Madrid  towards  the  govern- 
ment of  the  United  States,  in  withholding  the  ratification  of  its  con- 
vention with  us,  although  signed  by  its  own  minister,  under  the  eye 
of  his  sovereign  unless  with  alteration  of  its  terms,  affecting  claims 
of  the  United  States  which,  by  the  express  conditions  of  the  instru- 
ment itself,  were  reserved  for  future  discussion ;  in  piratical  depre- 
dations upon  our  fair  commerce ;  in  obstructing  the  navigation  of 
the  Mobile ;  in  refusing  to  come  to  any  fair  and  amicable  adjustment 
of  the  boundaries  of  Louisiana ;  and  in  a  daring  violation,  by  per- 
sons acting  under  the  authority  of  Spain,  and,  no  doubt,  apprised  of 
her  sentiments  and  views,  of  our  undisputed  limits,  which  she  had  so- 
lemnly recognized  by  treaty. 


MNTH  CONGRESS.  219 

"  To  a  government  having  interests  distinct  from  those  of  its  peo- 
ple, and  disregarding  its  welfare,  here  is  ample  cause  for  a  declaration 
of  war,  on  the  part  of  the  United  States,  and  such — did  they  obey 
the  impulse  of  their  feelings  alone — is  the  course  which  the  commit- 
tee would  not  hesitate  to  recommend.     But,  to  a  government  identi- 
fied with  its  citizens,  too  far  removed  from  the  powerful  nations  of 
the  earth  for  its  safety  to  be  endangered  by  their  hostility,  peace 
must  always  be  desirable,  so  long  as  it  is  compatible  with  the  honor 
and  interest  of  the  community.     Whilst  the  United  States  continue 
burdened  with  a  debt  which  annually  absorbs  two-thirds  of  their  rev- 
enue, and  duties  upon  imports  constitute  the  only  resource  from 
which  that  revenue  can  be  raised,  without  resorting  to  systems  cf  tax- 
ation not  more  ruinous  and  oppressive  than  they  are  uncertain  and 
precarious — the  best  interests  of  the  United  States  cry  aloud  for 
peace.     When  that  debt  shall  have  been  discharged,  and  the  resour- 
ces of  the  nation  thereby  liberated,  then  may  we  rationally  expect  to 
raise,  even  in  time  of  war,  the  supplies  which  our  frugal  institutions 
require,  without  recurring  to  the  hateful  and  destructive  expedient  of 
loans ;  then,  and  not  till  then,  may  we  bid  defiance  to  the  world.    The 
present  moment  is  peculiarly  auspicious  for  the  great  and  desirable 
work.     Now,  if  ever,  the  national  debt  is  to  be  paid,  by  such  financial 
arrangements  as  will  accelerate  its  extinguishment,  by  reaping  the 
rich  harvest  of  neutrality,  and  thus  providing  for  that  diminution  of 
revenue  which  experience  teaches  to  expect  on  the  general  pacifica- 
tion of  Europe.      And  the  committee  indulge  a  hope,  that  in  the 
changed  aspect  of  affairs  in  that  quarter,  Spain  will  find  motives  for 
a  just  fulfilment  of  her  stipulations  with  us,  and  an  amicable  settle- 
ment of  limits,  upon  terms  not  more  beneficial  to  the  United  States 
than  advantageous  to  herself;  securing  to  her  an  ample  barrier  on  the 
side  of  Mexico,  and  to  us  the  countries  watered  by  the  Mississippi, 
and  to  the  eastward  of  it.     But  whilst  the  committee  perceive,  in  the 
general  uproar  of  Europe,  a  state  of  things  peculiarly  favorable  to 
the  peaceable  pursuit  of  our  best  interests,  they  are  neither  insensi- 
ble to  the  indignity  which  has  been  offered  on  the  part  of  Spain,  nor 
unwilling  to  repel  similar  outrages.     On  the  subject  of  self-defence, 
when  the  territory  of  the  United  States  is  insulted,  there  can  be  but 
one  opinion,  whatever  differences  may  exist  on  the  question  whether 
that  protection,  which  a  vessel  finds  in  our  harbors,  shall  be  extended 


220  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

to  her  by  the  nation  in  the  Indian  or  Chinese  seas.  Under  this  im- 
pression the  committee  submit  the  following  resolution :  That  such 
number  of  troops  (not  exceeding )  as  the  President  of  the  Uni- 
ted States  shall  deem  sufficient  to  protect  the  southern  frontier  of  the 
United  States  from  Spanish  inroad  and  insult,  and  to  chastise  the 
same,  be  immediately  raised." 

Mr.  Randolph  explained,  that  the  peculiar  situation  of  the  frontier 
at  that  time  insulted,  had  alone  induced  the  committee  to  recommend 
the  raising  of  regular  troops.  It  was  too  remote  from  the  population 
of  the  country  for  the  militia  to  act,  in  repelling  and  chastising  Span- 
ish incursion.  New  Orleans  and  its  dependencies  were  separated  by 
a  vast  extent  of  wilderness  from  the  settlements  of  the  United  States ; 
filled  with  disloyal  and  turbulent  people,  alien  to  our  institutions, 
language,  and  manners,  and  disaffected  toward  our  government.  Lit- 
tle reliance  could  be  placed  upon  them ;  and  it  was  plain  that  if  "  it 
was  the  intention  of  Spain  to  advance  on  our  possessions  until  she 
should  be  repulsed  by  an  opposing  force,"  that  force  must  be  a  regu- 
lar army,  unless  we  were  disposed  to  abandon  all  the  country  south 
of  Tennessee ;  that  if  the  "  protection  of  our  citizens  and  the  spirit 
and  the  honor  of  our  country  required  that  force  should  be  inter- 
posed," nothing  remained  but  for  the  legislature  to  grant  the  only 
practicable  means,  or  to  shrink  from  the  most  sacred  of  all  its  duties; 
to  abandon  the  soil  and  its  inhabitants  to  the  tender  mercy  of  hostile 
\nvaders. 

Such  were  the  proposition  and  the  views  of  the  committee,  in  ex 
ict  correspondence,  as  they  conceived,  with  the  wishes  of  the  Presi- 
dent as  expressed  in  his  public  and  secret  message. 

Yet  the  report  of  the  committee,  moderate  as  it  might  seem,  was 
deemed  of  too  strong  a  character  by  the  House.  It  was  rejected.  A 
proposition,  the  avowed  object  of  which  was,  to  enable  the  President 
to  open  a  negotiation  for  Florida,  was  moved  as  a  substitute,  by  Mr. 
Bidwell  of  Massachusetts.  Mr.  Randolph  moved  that  the  sum  to 
be  appropriated  should  be  confined  to  that  object ;  which  was  agreed 
to.  But  afterwards,  when  the  bill  was  formally  brought  in,  this  spe- 
cific appropriation  was  rescinded  by  the  House,  and  the  money  left 
at  the  entire  discretion  of  the  Executive,  to  be  used  "  toward  any  ex- 
traordinary expense  which  might  be  incurred  in  the  intercourse  be- 
tween  the  United  States  and  foreign  nations." 


NINTH  CONGRESS.  221 

Mr.  Randolph  also  moved  to  limit  the  amount  which  the  Govern- 
ment might  stipulate  to  pay  for  the  territory  in  question ;  upon  the 
ground  that  if  Congress  were  disposed  to  acquire  Florida  by  pur- 
chase, they  should  fix  the  extent  to  which  they  were  willing  to  go, 
and  thereby  furnish  our  ministers  with  a  safeguard  against  the  rapa- 
city of  France ;  that  there  was  no  probability  of  our  obtaining  the 
country  for  less,  but  every  reason  to  believe  that  without  such  a  pre- 
caution on  our  part,  she  would  extort  more.  This  motion  was  over- 
ruled. 

When  the  bill  came  under  discussion,  various  objections  were 
urged  against  it  by  the  same  gentleman  ;  among  others,  that  it  was 
in  direct  opposition  to  the  views  of  the  Executive,  as  expressed  in  the 
President's  official  communication  (it  was  on  this  occasion  that  Gene- 
ral  Yarnum  declared  the  measure  to  be  consonant  tc  the  secret 
wishes  of  the  Executive) ;  that  it  was  a  prostration  of  the  national 
honor  at  the  feet  of  our  adversary ;  that  a  concession  so  humiliating 
would  paralyze  our  efforts  against  Great  Britain,  in  case  the  nego- 
tion  then  pending  between  that  government  and  ours,  should 
prove  abortive ;  that  a  partial  appropriation  towards  the  purchase  of 
Florida,  without  limiting  the  President  to  some  specific  amount, 
would  give  a  previous  sanction  to  any  expense  which  he  might  incur 
for  that  object,  and  which  Congress  would  stand  pledged  to  make 
good ;  that  if  the  Executive,  acting  entirely  upon  its  own  responsi- 
bility, and  exercising  its  acknowledged  constitutional  powers,  should 
negotiate  for  the  purchase  of  Florida,  the  House  of  Representatives 
would,  in  that  case,  be  left  free  to  ratify  or  annul  the  contract ;  but 
that  the  course  which  was  proposed  to  be  pursued  (and  which  eventu- 
ally w&e  pursued)  would  reduce  the  discretion  of  the  legislature  to  a 
mere  shadow ;  that  at  the  ensuing  session  Congress  would  find  itself, 
in  relation  to  this  subject,  a  deliberative  body  but  in  name;  that  it 
could  not,  without  a  manifest  dereliction  of  its  own  principles,  and, 
perhaps,  without  a  violation  of  public  faith,  refuse  to  sanction  any 
treaty  entered  into  by  the  Executive,  under  the  auspices  of  the  legis- 
lature, and  with  powers  so  unlimited  ;  that,  however  great  his  confi- 
dence in  the  Chief  Magistrate,  he  would  never  consent  to  give  any 
President  so  dangerous  a  proof  of  it ;  and  that  he  never  would  pre- 
clude himself,  by  any  previous  sanction,  from  the  unbiassed  exercise 
of  his  judgment  on  measures  which  were  thereafter  to  come  before 


222  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

him ;  that  the  House  had  no  official  recommendation  for  the  step 
which  they  proposed  to  take ;  on  the  contrary,  it  was  in  direct  op- 
position to  the  sentiments  as  expressed  in  the  confidential  message  j 
and  that  the  responsibility  would  be  exclusively  their  own  ;  that  if 
he  thought  proper  to  ask  for  an  appropriation  for  the  object  (the  pur- 
chase  of  Florida),  the  responsibility  of  the  measure  would  rest  on 
him ;  but  when  the  legislature  undertook  to  prescribe  the  course 
which  he  should  pursue,  and  which  he  had  pledged  himself  to  pur- 
sue, the  case  was  entirely  changed ;  that  the  House  could  have  no 
channel  through  which  it  could  be  made  acquainted  with  the  opinions 
of  the  Executive,  but  such  as  was  official,  responsible,  and  known  to 
the  Constitution ;  and  that  it  was  a  prostitution  of  its  high  and 
solemn  functions,  to  act  upon  an  unconstitutional  suggestion  of  the 
private  wishes  of  the  Executive,  irresponsibly  announced  by  an 
irresponsible  individual,  and  in  direct  hostility  to  his  avowed 
opinions. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  these  proce  dings  and  discussions 
took  place  in  conclave,  on  the  President's  confidential  message.  Mr. 
Randolph's  course  was  so  grossly  misrepresented,  and  his  motives  so 
basely  calumniated,  that,  at  a  subsequent  period  of  the  session,  he 
moved  the  House  to  take  off  the  injunction  of  secrecy  from  the  Presi- 
dent's communication,  that  the  world  might  see  what  the  Executive 
had  really  required  at  the  hands  of  the  legislature,  and  how  far  they 
had  complied  with  his  publicly  expressed  wishes,  in  the  report  and 
resolution  of  the  committee. 

The  secret  journal  of  the  House  had  been  published ;  but,  for 
some  reason  unaccountable  to  us,  the  message,  which  was  the  founda- 
tion of  the  whole  proceeding,  and  without  which  the  journal  was 
wholly  unintelligible,  had  been  withheld  from  the  public.  Mr.  Ran- 
dolph's motion  was,  to  publish  the  message  and  the  documents — he 
was  willing  to  abide  the  decision  of  an  impartial  judgment  on  the 
perusal.  This  motion  gave  rise  to  much  debate  and  angry  recrimi- 
nation. Mr.  Randolph  said : 

"  It  is. not  my  wish,  Mr.  Speaker,  to  trespass  on  the  patience  of  the 
House.  But  I  think  it  necessary  to  explain  what  I  am  sure  the 
House  has  not  well  understood  ;  for  my  positions  have  been  grossly 
perverted,  whether  intentionally  or  not  I  will  not  undertake  to  say. 
Gnntlemen  opposed  to  us  act  a  very  strange  and  inconsistent  part. 


NINTH  CONGRESS.  223 

They  will  not  give  credit  to  a  private  individual  as  to  a  conversation 
bad  with  him.  I  only  stated  that  conversation  as  a  reason  for  say« 
ing  I  had  withdrawn  my  confidence.  And  will  gentlemen  say  I  am 
bound,  when  evidence  has  come  to  my  private  knowledge  which  is 
sufficient  to  damn  any  man,  to  legislate  on  a  principle  of  confidence  ? 
"When  I  find  misrepresentations  made  to  the  public,  and  insinuations 
of  the  most  despicable  kind  on  this  floor,  I  come  out,  and  call  on 
any  man  to  deny  what  I  have  stated.  They  cannot — they  dare  not. 
For  I  take  it  for  granted  no  man  will  declare  in  the  face  of  the  nation 
a  wilful  falsehood.  But  while  gentlemen  will  not  give  credit  to  what 
has  fallen  from  one  individual,  they  have  no  hesitation  in  giving 
credit  to  an  individual  member  for  the  whole  course  of  the  Gov- 
ernment. 

"In  my  opinion  it  is  of  the  first  importance  that  the  message  should 
be  published,  from  a  material  fact  which  took  place  in  this  House. 
A  member  in  his  place  told  you,  that  the  course  recommended  by  a 
particular  individual  was  consonant  with  the  secret  wishes  of  the 
Executive.  I  did  then  reprehend  that  language  as  the  most  unconsti- 
tutional and  reprehensible  ever  uttered  on  this  floor.  I  did  believe 
that  the  people  of  the  United  States  possessed  as  free  a  Constitution 
as  the  British  people,  and  I  had  hoped  freer  ;  and  I  knew  that  such 
language  had  in  the  British  Parliament  been  considered  as  repre- 
hensible, and  had  brought  forward  a  vote  of  indignation  in  that  body. 
I  allude  to  the  case,  where  the  King's  name  was  used  for  the  pur- 
pose of  throwing  out  Mr.  Fox's  India  bill.  I  then  reprobated  this 
back-stair  influence,  this  double  dealing,  the  sending  one  message 
for  the  journals  and  newspapers,  and  another  in  whispers  to  this 
House.  I  shall  always  reprobate  such  language,  and  consider  it 
unworthy  of  any  man  holding  a  seat  in  this  House.  I  had  before 
always  flattered  myself,  that  it  would  be  a  thousand  years  hence 
before  our  institutions  would  have  given  birth  to  these  Charles  Jen- 
kinson's  in  politics.  I  did  not  expect  them  at  this  time  of  day,  and 
I  now  declare  it  important,  in  my  opinion,  that  the  message  should 
be  published,  that  the  public  may  be  enabled  to  compare  the  official 
with  the  unofficial  message  which  decided  the  vote. 

"There  is  another  reason  for  its  publication.  The  gentleman 
from  Pennsylvania  has  said  there  is  no  mention  of  France  on  the 
journals ;  and  that  we  have  no  cause  of  complaint  against  France, 


224  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

I  wish  the  publication  of  the  message  to  prove  what  causes  of  com 
plaint  we  have  against  France.  Let  men  of  sense  take  a  view  of  all 
the  papers,  and  I  am  willing  to  abide  the  issue.  It  is  said  Franco 
has  done  us  no  injury — that  the  bubble  is  burst.  We  are  told  that 
this  is  a  plain  answer  to  all  the  speeches  made  on  this  floor.  Permit 
me  to  say,  the  gentleman  (Mr.  Epps)  has  given  a  plain  answer  to  all 
the  speeches  delivered  on  this  floor ;  it  was  impossible  to  have  given 
a  plainer  answer  to  them.  He  says,  I  will  vote  with  you,  but  I  will 
make  a  speech  against  you.  Permit  me  to  say,  this  is  the  first  time  I 
would  not  rather  have  had  his  vote  than  his  speech.  After  this 
speech  there  can  be  no  doubt  as  to  the  issue  of  the  question.  I  will 
go  further,  after  the  adjournment  on  Saturday  there  could  be  no 
doubt.  Saturday,  it  seems,  is  an  unfortunate  day,  on  which  no  expe- 
dition is  to  be  undertaken,  no  forlorn  hope  conducted. 

"  The  same  gentleman  has  said  that  we  pursued  precisely  the 
same  course  in  1803  as  in  1806,  and  for  obtaining  the  same  object. 
He  says  the  same  course  is  now  pursued,  and  yet  he  says  he  will  not 
undertake  to  say  the  cases  are  not  dissimilar ;  put  this  and  that 
together,  and  what  do  you  make  of  it  ?  The  cases  are  decidedly  dis- 
similar. In  1803  there  was  no  existing  misunderstanding  between 
the  American  and  French  governments  with  regard  to  our-  differences 
with  Spain.  Those  differences  have  started  up  like  a  mushroom  in 
the  night.  "We  made  an  appropriation  to  purchase  the  Floridas — 
to  buy  them — from  whom  ?  From  their  rightful  owner.  The  circum- 
stances would  have  been  similar,  if  the  United  States  had  given 
money  to  France  to  compel  Spain  to  form  a  treaty  with  us ;  then  the 
national  honor  would  have  received  a  deadly  wound.  But  there  was 
nothing  of  this  sort  in  the  formation  of  the  treaty  then  made.  Spain, 
under  the  operation  of  causes  in  which  we  had  no  agency,  transferred 
Louisiana  to  France,  and  France  transferred  it  to  us.  But  this  is 
not  now  the  case.  We  are  told  that  Spain  is  no  longer  an  indepen- 
dent power,  but  is  under  the  control  of  France.  What  follows?  That 
France  is  an  aggressor  on  us,  which  proves  every  thing  I  have 
alleged. 

"  There  is  another  thing  to  be  observed.  The  public  have  been 
given  to  understand,  that  two  millions  have  been  appropriated  for 
the  purchase  of  the  Floridas.  This  is  not  so.  The  appropriation  is 
only  towards  doing  something ;  but  what  that  is,  is  not  defined  by  law. 


NINTH  CONGRESS.  225 

Now  if  in  1803  we  appropriated  two  'millions  for  the  purchase  of  the 
Floridas,  and  did  not  get  them,  what  security  is  there  now  that  by 
making  an  appropriation  in  the  same  language,  we  shall  obtain  them? 
Although  the  persons  making  the  appropriation  are  /not  the  same 
identical  beings,  those  applying  the  sum  appropriated  are.  I  do  not 
believe  that  we  shall  get  the  Floridas.  In  this  I  may  be  mistaken : 
I  hope  I  shall  be ;  for  after  having  descended  to  prostitute  the 
national  character,  let  us  at  least  receive  the  wages  of  iniquity. 

"  But  gentlemen  inquire,  will  you  become  the  guardians  of  Spain  ? 
This  is  a  mistake  which  has  run  through  every  attempt  at  argument 
I  have  heard.  We  never  professed  to  be  the  guardians  of  Spain. 
We  profess  to  be  the  guardians  of  our  own  honor.  We  care  not  for 
France  trampling  on  Spain.  Let  her  pick  her  pockets,  for  what  we 
care  ;  but  if  we  instigate  her  to  it,  it  is  no  longer  a  mere  question 
between  France  and  Spain,  but  a  question  in  which  our  own  honor  is 
engaged,  which  is  at  once  mortgaged  and  gone. 

"  Until  the  gentleman  from  Virginia  got  up,  I  confess  that,  what 
with  my  exhausted  state,  the  badness  of  the  air,  and  the  tenuity  of 
the  arguments  of  gentlemen,  so  excessively  light  that  they  at  once 
vanished  into  thin  air,  that  I  had  not  a  word  to  say ;  for  it  is  not  to 
be  supposed  that  I  intended  to  reply  to  any  thing  offered  by  the 
gentleman  behind  me.  If  I  am  to  fall,  let  me  fall  in  the  face  of  day. 
and  not  be  betrayed  by  a  kiss, — I  mean  no  profane  allusion.  I  shall 
do  my  duty  as  an  honest  man.  I  came  here  prepared  to  co-operate 
with  the  government  in  all  its  measures.  I  told  them  so.  But  I 
soon  found  there  was  no  choice  left;  and  that  to  co-operate  in  them 
would  be  to  destroy  the  national  character.  I  found  I  might  co-ope- 
rate, or  be  an  honest  man  ;  I  have  therefore  opposed,  and  will  oppose 
them.  Is  there  an  honest  man  disposed  to  be  the  go-between,  to 
carry  down  secret  messages  to  this  House?  No.  It  is  because  men 
of  character  cannot  be  found  to  do  this  business,  that  agents  must  be 
got  to  carry  things  into  effect,  which  men  of  uncompromited  character 
will  not  soil  their  fingers,  or  sully  their  characters  with. 

"  One  word  on  the  subject  of  voting  on  unofficial  notice,  on  the  re« 
presentations  of  individuals,  in  the  place  of  communications  officially 
received  from  the  officers  of  the  executive  department.  I  have  al- 
ways considered  the  Executive,  in  this  country,  as  atanding  in  the 
same  relation  to  the  two  Houses,  that  the  minister  or  administration 


226  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

bore  to  the  legislature  under  governments  similar  to  our  own.  I 
have  always  considered  that  the  responsibility  for  public  measures 
rested  more  particularly  on  them.  For  those  measures  they  are  an 
swerable  to  the  people — and  to  me  it  has  been  a  subject  of  peculiar 
regret  (I  do  not  speak  of  the  general  character  of  the  Constitution) 
that  they  have  not  a  seat  on  this  floor.  For  whatever  may  be  sup- 
posed to  be  my  feelings,  as  to  ihe  members  of  the  administration,  I 
am  ashamed  when  I  see  their  fame  and  character  committed  to  such 
hands  as  we  are  in  the  daily  habit  of  witnessing.  If  their  measures 
are  susceptible  of  justification,  I  should  like  to  have  a  justification  at 
their  own  hands,  instead  of  hearing  Yazoo  men  defend  them.  Much 
less  did  I  expect,  on  such  an  occasion,  to  hear  a  Yazoo  man,  assign- 
ing his  motives  for.  a  vote,  on  a  totally  different  subject,  and  this  in 
justification  of  a  man  with  whom  he  is  connected  by  ties  of  con- 
sanguinity. This  reminds  me  of  the  intention  imputed  to  me,  to 
bring  forward  an  impeachment  against  a  great  officer  of  state.  This, 
however,  is  so  far  from  being  the  truth,  that  I  appeal  to  those  who 
heard  me,  whether  I  did  not  declare  that  I  washed  my  hands  of  im- 
peachments— that  I  was  done  with  them.  No,  I  will  neither  di- 
rectly, nor  indirectly,  have  any  thing  to  do  with  them.  But  I  will 
in  all  questions  that  shall  come  before  this  House,  discuss  the  public 
character  and  conduct  of  any  public  agents  from  a  secretary  to  a 
constable  :  and  I  will  continue  to  do  it,  until  it  shall  be  admitted  by 
the  Constitution  that  the  king  can  do  no  wrong.  I  say  I  wish  the 
heads  of  departments  had  seats  on  this  floor.  Were  this  the  case, 
to  one  of  them  I  would  immediately  propound  this  question:  Did 
you,  or  did  you  not,  in  your  capacity  of  a  public  functionary,  tell 
me,  in  my  capacity  of  a  public  functionary,  that  France  would  not 
suffer  Spain  to  settle  her  differences  with  us,  that  she  wanted  money, 
that  we  must  give  her  money,  or  take  a  Spanish  or  French  war  ? 
And  did  not  I  answer,  that  I  was  neither  for  a  war  with  Spain  or 
France,  but  in  favor  of  defending  my  country  ?  I  would  put  thai 
question  to  him.  I  would  put  this  question  to  another  head  of  de* 
partment :  Was.  or  was  not,  an  application  made  to  you  for  money, 
to  be  conveyed  to  Europe  to  carry  on  any  species  of  diplomatic  ne- 
gotiation there  ?  I  would  listen  to  his  answer,  and  if  he  put  his 
hand  on  his  heart,  and  like  a  man  of  honor  said  no,  I  would  believe 
him,  though  it  would  require  a  great  stretch  of  credulity.  I  would 


NINTH  CONGRESS.  227 

c«Il  into  my  aid  faith,  not  reason,  and  believe  when  I  was  not  con 
vinced.  I  would  then  turn  to  the  first  magistrate  of  the  nation  and 
say :  Did  you  not  buy  Louisiana  of  France  ?  Has  France  acted  in 
that  transaction  in  a  bona  fide  manner  ?  Has  she  delivered  into  your 
possession  the  country  you  believed  you  had  bought  from  her  ?  Has 
she  not  equivocated,  prevaricated,  and  played  off  Spain  against  you, 
with  a  view  of  extorting  money  ?  I  will  answer  for  the  reply.  There 
cannot  be  the  smallest  doubt  about  it.  I  will  put  the  whole  business 
on  this  issue.  All  the  difficulty  has  arisen  from  that  quarter. 

"  Yes,  the  bubble  has  burst !  It  is  immaterial  to  us,  whether  you 
publish  the  President's  message  or  not.  But  it  is  material  to  others 
that  you  should ;  and  let  me  add,  the  public  will  not  rest  satisfied 
with  the  conduct  of  those,  who  profess  to  wish  it  published,  while 
they  vote  against  the  publication.  The  public  will  not  confide  in 
such  professions.  Gentlemen  may  show  their  bunch  of  rods,  may 
treat  them  as  children,  and  offer  them  sugar-plums  ;  but  all  will  not 
avail  them,  so  long  as  they  refuse  to  call  for  the  dispatches  of  our 
ministers,  and  other  documents,  which  if  published  would  fix  a  stain 
upon  some  men  in  tlie  government,  and  high  in  office,  which  all  the 
waters  in  the  ocean  would  not  wash  out.  Gentlemen  may  talk  about 
our  changing  and  chopping  about,  and  all  that.  What  is  the  fact  ? 
We  are  what  we  profess  to  be — not  courtiers,  but  republicans,  acting 
on  the  broad  principles  we  have  heretofore  professed — applying  the 
same  scale  with  which  we  measured  John  Adams  to  the  present  ad- 
ministration. Do  gentlemen  flinch  from  this  and  pretend  to  be  re- 
publicans ?  They  cannot  be  republicans,  unless  they  agree  that  it 
shall  be  measured  to  them  as  they  measured  to  others.  But  we  arc 
perhaps  to  be  told,  that  we  all  have  become  federalists — or  that  the 
federalists  have  become  good  republicans.  This,  however,  is  a  charge 
which,  I  am  convinced,  the  federalists  will  not  be  more  anxious  to 
repel  than  we  to  be  exonerated  from.  No,  they  will  never  become 
good  republicans.  They  never  did,  they  never  will  act  with  us. 
What  has  happened  ?  they  are  in  opposition  from  system,  and  we 
quo  ad  hoc,  as  to  this  particular  measure.  Like  men  who  have 
roughed  it  together,  there  is  a  kind  of  fellow-feeling  between  us. 
There  is  no  doubt  of  it.  But  as  to  political  principle,  we  are  as 
much  as  ever  opposed.  There  is  a  most  excellent  alkali  by  which 
to  test  our  principles.  The  Yazoo  business  is  the  beginning  and  the 
1G 


228  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

end,  the  alpha  and  omega  of  our  alphabet.  "With  that  our  differ- 
ences  began,  and  with  that  they  will  end ;  and  I  pray  to  God  that 
the  liberties  of  the  people  may  not  also  end  with  them. 

"  When  the  veracity  of  a  man  is  called  in  question  it  is  a  serious 
business.  The  gentleman  from  Massachusetts  has  appealed  to  the 
House  for  the  correctness  of  his  statement.  I,  too,  app</d  to  the 
House  whether  this  was  not  his  expression,  when  he  undertook  to 
explain  away  what  he  had  said,  for  he  did  not  deny  it :  "  That  he 
would  vouch  that  such  were  the  secret  wishes  of  the  President ;"  and 
whether  I  did  not  observe  that  his  attempt  to  explain  was  like  Judge 
Chase  attempting  to  draw  back  a  prejudicated. opinion  in  the  case  of 
Fries ;  that  he  might  take  back  the  words,  but  not  the  effect  they 
had  made  on  the  Assembly ;  that  the  Constitution  knows  only  of  two 
ways  by  which  the  Executive  could  influence  the  Legislature :  the 
one  by  a  recommendation  of  such  measures  as  he  deemed  expedient  ; 
the  other,  by  a  negative  on  our  bills ;  and  that  the  moment  it  was 
attempted  to  influence  the  House  by  whispers  and  private  messages 
its  independence  was  gone.  I  stated  the  proneness  of  legislative 
bodies  to  be  governed  by  Executive  influence,  and,  in  illustration, 
referred  to  the  Senate,  who,  from  its  association  with  the  Executive 
and  the  length  of  time  for  which  its  members  hold  their  seats,  was 
necessarily  made  up  of  gaping  expectants  of  office,  and  there  can  be 
no  doubt  of  the  fact.  It  must  be  so  from  the  nature  of  things.  Now, 
if  it  be  necessary,  let  the  House  appoint  a  Committee  of  Inquiry  to 
ascertain  what  the  gentleman  from  Massachusetts  did  say,  and  let 
us  see  who  can  adduce  the  most  witnesses  and  swear  the  hardest, 
No,  th3  gentleman  from  Massachusetts  had  on  that  occasion  so  dif- 
ferent a  countenance,  dress  and  address,  that  I  could  not  now  recog- 
nize him  for  the  same  man.  He  seemed  thunderstruck  and  to  be  in 
a  state  of  stupefaction  at  his  indiscretion.  He  appeared  humbled 
in  the  presence  of  those  who  heard  what  he  had  said,  and  beheld  his 
countenance.  His  words  were  these,  my  life  on  it :  'I  will  vouch 
that  such  are  the  secret  wishes  of  the  President,  or  the  Executive,1 
I  do  not  know  which." 


DIFFICULTIES  WITH  GREAT  BRITAIN.  229 


CHAPTER    XXX. 

DIFFICULTIES   WITH    GREAT   BRITAIN. 

THE  aggressions  of  Great  Britain  on  the  persons,  the  property,  and 
the  rights  of  American  citizens  began  at  an  early  period,  and  were 
still  continued  with  increased  aggravation.  It  was  high  time  for  some 
firm  stand  to  be  taken  in  regard  to  them.  The  peace,  prosperity, 
and  honor  of  the  country  demanded  an  effectual  system  of  measures 
to  arrest  them.  Officers  of  the  British  navy  had  long  been  in  the 
habit  of  boarding  American  vessels,  dragging  seamen  thence,  and 
forcing  them  into  their  own  service  under  the  pretext  that  they  were 
British  subjects.  The  law  of  England  did  not  recognize  the  right  of 
expatriation.  The  sovereign  claimed  the  services  of  all  his  subjects 
in  time  of  war,  and  impressed  them  wherever  they  could  be  found. 
The  similarity  of  language,  of  person,  and  of  habits,  made  it  difficult 
to  distinguish  an  American  from  an  English  sailor.  Many  of  the 
latter  had  taken  refuge  from  their  own  hard  naval  service  in  the  pro- 
fitable commercial  marine  of  the  United  States.  In  re-capturing 
their  own  subjects,  they  not  unfrequently  dragged  American  citizens 
from  their  homes.  They  were  charged  with  not  being  very  scrupu- 
lous in  this  regard.  Not  less  than  three  thousand  American  sailors, 
it  was  said,  had  been  forced  to  serve  in  the  British  navy.  The  go- 
vernment of  the  United  States  denied  the  right  of  Great  Britain  to 
impress  seamen  on  board  any  of  their  vessels  on  the  high  seas,  or 
within  their  own  jurisdiction.  They  contended  that  a  neutral  flag 
on  the  high  seas  was  a  safeguard  to  those  sailing  under  it.  They  were 
sustained  in  this  doctrine  by  the  law  of  nations. 

Although  Great  Britain  had  not  adopted  in  the  same  latitude  with 
most  other  nations  the  immunities  of  a  neutral  flag,  yet  she  did  not 
deny  the  general  freedom  of  the  high  seas,  and  of  neutral  vessels 
navigating  them,  with  such  exceptions  only  as  are  annexed  to  it  by 
the  law  of  nations.  The  exceptions  are  objects  commonly  denomi- 
nated contraband  of  war ;  that  is,  enemies  serving  in  the  war,  arti- 
cles going  into  a  blockaded  port,  and  enemy's  property  of  every  kind. 
But  nowhere,  it  was  contended,  could  an  exception  to  the  freedom 
of  the  seas  and  of  neutral  flags  be  found  that  justified  the  taking 


230  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

away  of  any  person^  not  an  enemy  in  military  swvue,  found  on  boara 
a  neutral  vessel. 

The  right  of  impressment,  growing  out  of  their  different  interpre- 
tation of  the  law  of  nations,  was  one,  and  the  gravest,  of  the  subjects 
of  dispute  "between  the  two  nations.  The  other  was  in  regard  to  the 
carrying  trade.  The  question  commonly  presented  itself  in  this 
form :  Was  that  commerce  allowable  in  time  of  war  which  was  pro- 
hibited in  time  of  peace  ?  Great  Britain,  by  her  powerful  marine. 
had  swept  the  ocean  nearly  of  the  whole  of  the  vessels  o>f  her  ene- 
mies. In  consequence  of  this,  the  produce  of  the  colonies  of  France, 
Spain,  and  Holland,  was  imported  into  the  mother  countries  by  neu 
tral  ships;  in  fact,  it  was  almost  wholly  transported  in  American 
bottoms.  The  restrictive  colonial  system  of  these  powers  did  not 
suffer  this  transportation  by  foreigners  in  times  of  peace ;  but  the 
necessities  arising  from  a  calamitous  naval  war  induced  them  to  Jay 
their  ports  open  by  a  forced  liberality  to  this  general  commerce. 
French,  Spanish,  and  Dutch  property  in  American  bottoms  now 
became  neutralized,  and  was  protected,  as  some  contended,  by  the 
American  flag.  But  the  property  was  still  enemy's  property,  and 
fell  within  the  exception  of  the  law  of  nations.  The  French  navy 
had  been  totally  annihilated  ;  in  consequence,  the  products  of  her 
colonies  had  to  lie  rotting  on  their  wharfs,  for  want  of  transportation, 
while  the  mother  country  was  suffering  both  from  the  want  of  the 
products  and  of  the  revenue  arising  from  the  sale  and  consumption 
of  them.  These  were  the  evils  intended  to  be  inflicted  by  a  naval 
victory,  in  order  to  force  her  to  an  honorable  peace.  But  the  United 
States  came  in  with  their  ships,  and  relieved  France  of  these  evils, 
by  becoming  carriers  between  her  and  her  colonies. 

Can  that  be  a  neutral  commerce  which  robs  one  of  the  belligerent 
parties  of  all  the  advantages  of  a  victory,  and  relieves  the  other  from 
nearly  all  the  evils  of  a  defeat  1  It  can  hardly  seem  possible  at  this 
day  that  any  one  could  have  contended  for  such  a  doctrine  ;  yet  Mr. 
Madison  maintained  that  the  contrary  principle,  denying  the  neutral 
character  of  such  a  commerce,  ivas  of  modern  date — that  it  was 
avowed  by  no  other  nation  than  Great  Britain,  andxthat  it  was 
assumed  by  her,  under  the  auspices  of  a  maritime  ascendency,  which 
rendered  such  a  principle  subservient  to  her  particular  interests. 

This  doctrine,  however,  contended  for  by  a  nation  that  had  the 


DIFFICULTIES  WITH  GREAT  BRITAIN.  231 

power  to  maintain  it,  was  gotten  over  by  subterfuge  and  evasion. 
We  will  illustrate  the  manner  by  an  example.  A  French  subject 
purchases  a  cargo  of  coffee  at  Guadaloupe,  intending  it  for  the  market 
of  Nantes  :  to  ship  it  in  a  vessel  belonging  to  any  one  of  the  nations 
belligerent  with  England,  was  absolutely  throwing  it  away  ;  but  the 
ordinary  device  of  sending  it  under  the  cover  of  an  American  flag  is 
resorted  to  ;  the  American  refuses  to  carry  it  directly  for  the  harbor 
of  Nantes,  alleging,  that  if  he  is  captured  by  an  English  cruiser,  a 
condemnation  must  follow  such  an  attempt  at  an  immediate  com- 
merce between  the  mother  country  and  her  colony.  False  owners 
are  created  for  the  ship's  cargo,  in  the  character  of  Americans.  The 
vessel  instead  of  sailing  for  Nantes,  makes  for  New  York,  and  in  due 
time  arrives  there ;  bonds  for  the  payment  of  duties  are  given,  and 
the  cargo  is  landed.  The  vessel  loads  again  with  the  same  coffee  ; 
the  debentures  of  the  custom-house  are  produced ;  the  bonds  for  du- 
ties are  cancelled,  and  she  now  makes  her  way  boldly  for  Nantes,  as 
a  neutral  ship,  not  to  be  molested.  The  entire  trade  of  the  French, 
Spanish  and  Dutch  colonies  was  conducted  in  American  vessels,  in 
this  indirect  way.  A  most  profitable  business  it  was  surely,  but  it  is 
shocking  to  contemplate  the  influence  on  the  moral  character  of  those 
engaged  in  it.  All  this  chicanery  and  duplicity  were  often  forced 
through  by  absolute  perjury — always  by  a  prostration  of  honorable 
delicacy. 

The  British  Courts  of  Admiralty  allowed  this  indirect  trade 
through  a  neutral  port,  where  there  was  proof  of  an  actual  change  of 
ownership.  Whenever  the  neutral  party  could  show  that  he  had  pur- 
chased the  property,  he  was  suffered  to  pass  unmolested ;  but  such  a 
lonafide  purchase  rarel}*  took  place  ;  and  enemy's  property  was  cov- 
ered up  and  protected  by  neutral  names,  under  false  pretences. 
Such  was  the  carrying  trade. 

These  two — the  impressment  of  seamen  and  the  carrying  trade — 
constituted  the  main  difficulties  existing  between  the  United  States 
and  Great  Britain ;  all  others  grew  out  of  them,  and  would  necessa- 
rily cease  on  a  satisfactory  adjustment  of  those  leading  subjects  of 
complaint. 

These  questions  were  involved  in  much  obscurity.  Much  might 
be  said  on  both  sides.  Each  nation  had  just  cause  of  complaint 
Against  the  other.  Here  was  a  fair  field  for  negotiation  and  •  com* 


232  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

promise.  But  we  can  now  perceive  the  secret  motives  that  would  in* 
cessantly  throw  obstacles  in  the  way  of  a  satisfactory  arrangement  of 
these  difficulties.  There  was  the  old  grudge  against  England,  cher- 
ished in  the  prejudices  of  the  people  ;  the  jealousy  of  her  superior 
naval  power  on  that  element  where  we  were  as  much  at  home  as  she 
was ;  the  spirit  of  rivalry  that  stimulated  our  merchants  to  share 
with  her  the  commerce  of  the  world ;  the  barren  results  of  any  set- 
tlement of  difficulties  with  her  during  the  wars  in  Europe — it  might 
secure  peace,  but  could  bring  no  profit.  On  the  other  hand,  there 
were  the  old  partialities  for  our  ancient  ally ;  the  fraternizing  spirit 
between  the  two  Republics ;  the  enthusiasm  enkindled  in  a  mar  Hal 
people,  by  the  daring  exploits  and  brilliant  successes  of  Napoleon ; 
the  secret  consciousness  that  his  irresistible  power  would  always  be 
interposed  between  them  and  any  hostile  movements  of  England ; 
the  lucrative  commerce,  and  the  absolute  monopoly  of  the  carrying 
trade  between  France,  Spain,  Holland,  and  their  dependencies,  and 
which  must  cease  on  a  compromise  with  England ; — add  to  these 
causes,  that  went  home  to  the  prejudices  and  the  interests  of  the  people, 
the  all-controlling  influence  of  party  spirit — which  had  long  since  at- 
tached to  the  friends  of  England  the  epithet  of  monarchists  and 
tories,  and  to  the  friends  of  France  that  of  republicans  and  friends 
of  the  people — and  we  cannot  fail  to  perceive  that  every  agency 
which  was  calculated  to  give  direction  to  public  opinion  would  bend 
it  against  any  adjustment  of  British  difficulties  during  the  continu- 
ance of  the  wars  in  Europe. 

The  subjects  of  difference  were  ably  discussed  by  the  Secretary 
of  State  in  his  instructions  to  our  minister  at  the  Court  of  St.  James; 
but  when  the  President  thought  proper  to  bring  the  matter  before 
Congress,  and  to  call  on  them  for  action,  he  had  no  plan  to  propose. 
He  did  not  recommend,  as  the  Constitution  required,  any  specific 
mode  of  adjustment.  He  left  the  Legislature  to  grope  their  way  in 
the  dark,  and  to  adopt  such  measures  as  they  might  think  proper, 
without  any  previous  participation  on  his  part  in  the  responsibility. 

Various  crude  and  illy-digested  schemes  were  offered  in  the  House 
and  in  the  Senate.  They  all  seemed  to  contemplate  coercing  Eng- 
land into  measures  by  operating  on  her  commerce.  Gregg's  resolu- 
tion— the  one  principally  discussed  in  the  House — went  so  far  as  to 
prohibit  all  intercourse  between  the  two  nations,  until  England 


DIFFICULTIES  WITH  GREAT  BRITAIN.  233 

would  consent  to  settle  tlie  subjects  of  dispute  between  them  on  fail 
terms.  This  professed  to  be  a  peace  measure,  but  it  was  actual  war 
in  disguise.  Many  of  its  friends  discussed  it  as  a  war  measure. 
Mr.  Randolph  so  regarded  it.  "  I  am  not  surprised,"  said  he,  "  tc 
hear  this  resolution  discussed  by  its  friends  as  a  war  measure.  They 
say,  it  is  true,  that  it  is  not  a  war  measure  ;  but  they  defend  it  on 
principles  that  would  justify  none  but  war  measures,  and  seemed 
pleased  with  the  idea  that  it  may  prove  the  forerunner  of  war.  If 
war  is  necessary,  if  we  have  reached  this  point,  let  us  have  war.  But 
while  I  have  life,  I  will  never  consent  to  these  incipient  war  meas- 
ures, which  in  their  commencement  breathe  nothing  but  peace,  though 
they  plunge  us  at  last  into  war.  *****  "What  is  the  question  in 
dispute?  The  carrying  trade.  What  part  of  it?  The  fair,  the 
honest,  and  the  useful  trade,  that  is  engaged  in  carrying  our  own 
productions  to  foreign  markets  and  bringing  back  their  productions 
in  exchange  ?  No,  sir ;  it  is  that  carrying  trade  which  covers  ene- 
my's property,  and  carries  the  coffee,  the  sugar,  and  other  West  In- 
dia products  to  the  mother  country.  No,  sir ;  if  this  great  agricul- 
tural nation  is  to  be  governed  by  Salem  and  Boston,  New  York  and 
Philadelphia,  and  Baltimore,  and  Norfolk,  and  Charleston,  let  gen- 
tlemen come  out  and  say  so ;  and  let  a  committee  of  public  safety  be 
appointed  from  these  towns  to  carry  on  the  government.  I,  for  one. 
will  not  mortgage  my  property  and  my  liberty  to  carry  on  this  trade. 
The  nation  said  so  seven  years  ago  ;  I  said  so  then,  I  say  so  now  ;  it 
is  not  for  the  honest  carrying  trade  of  America,  but  for  this  mush- 
room, this  fungus  of  war,  for  a  trade,  which  as  soon  as  the  nations  of 
Europe  are  at  peace  will  no  longer  exist — it  is  for  this  that  the  spirit 
of  avaricious  traffic  would  plunge  us  into  war.  I  am  forcibly  struck 
on  this  occasion  by  the  recollection  of  a  remark,  made  by  one  of  the 
ablest,  if  not  the  honestest,  ministers  England  ever  produced ;  I 
mean  Sir  Robert  Walpole ;  who  said  that  the  country  gentlemen 
(poor,  meek  souls !)  came  up  every  year  to  be  sheared,  that  they 
laid  mute  and  patient  whilst  their  fleeces  were  taking  off,  but  if  he 
touched  a  single  bristle  of  the  commercial  interest  the  whole  stye  was 
in  an  uproar.  It  was,  indeed,  shearing  the  hog — great  cry  and  little 
wool. 

"  What  is  the  fact  ?     Whilst  we  boast  of  our  honor  on  this  floor, 
our  name  has  become  a  by-word  among  the  nations.     Europe,  and 


234  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

Paris  especially,  swarms  with  pseudo-Americans,  with  Anglo  and 
Gallo  Americans,  and  American  French  and  English,  who  have 
amassed  immense  fortunes  by  trading  in  the  neutral  character — by 
setting  it  up  to  auction,  and  selling  it  to  the  best  bidder.  Men  of 
this  description — striplings,  without  connections  or  character — have 
been  known  to  buy  rich  vessels  and  their  cargoes,  in  Amsterdam  and 
Antwerp,  and  trade  with  them  under  the  American  name  to  the  In- 
dies. Neutral  character  has  constituted  one  of  the  best  remittances 
for  colonial  produce,  or  the  goods  which  purchase  it ;  and  the  trade 
in  this  commodity  of  neutrality  has  produced  a  most  lucrative  branch 
of  traffic.  This  it  is  that  has  sunk  and  degraded  the  American  name 
abroad,  and  subjected  the  fair  trader  to  vexatious  seizure  and  de- 
tention. 

"  But  yet,  sir,  I  have  a  more  cogent  reason  against  going  to  war, 
for  the  honor  of  the  flag  in  the  narrow  seas,  or  any  other  maritime 
punctilio.  It  springs  from  my  attachment  to  the  principles  of  the 
Government  under  which  I  live.  I  declare,  in  the  face  of  day,  that 
this  Government  was  not  instituted  for  the  purposes  of  offensive  war. 
No ;  it  was  framed  (to  use  its  own  language)  for  the  common  defence 
and  general  welfare,  which  are  inconsistent  with  offensive  war.  I 
call  that  offensive  war,  which  goes  out  of  our  jurisdiction  and  limits, 
for  the  attainment  or  protection  of  objects  not  within  those  limits  and 
that  jurisdiction.  As  in  1798,  I  was  opposed  to  this  species  of  war- 
fare, because  I  believed  it  would  raze  the  Constitution  to  its  very 
foundation — so  in  1806,  am  I  opposed  to  it,  and  on  the  same  grounds. 
No  sooner  do  you  put  the  Constitution  to  this  use — to  a  test  which 
it  is  by  no  means  calculated  to  endure,  than  its  incompetency  to  such 
purposes  becomes  manifest  and  apparent  to  all.  I  fear,  if  you  go 
into  a  foreign  war,  for  a  circuitous,  unfair  foreign  trade,  you  will 
come  out  without  your  Constitution.  Have  you  not  contractors 
enough  in  this  House  ?  or  do  you  want  to  be  overrun  and  devoured 
by  commissaries-,  and  all  the  vermin  of  contract?  I  fear,  sir,  that 
what  are  called  the  energy  men,  will  rise  up  again — men  who  will 
burn  the  parchment.  "We  shall  be  told  that  our  Government  is  too 
free,  or,  as  they  would  say,  weak  and  inefficient — much  virtue,  sir. 
in  terms ;  that  we  must  give  the  President  power  to  call  forth  the 
resources  of  the  nation — that  is,  to  filch  the  last  shilling  from  our 
pockets,  or  to  drain  the  last  drop  of  blood  from  our  veins.  I  am 


DIFFICULTIES  WITH  GREAT  BRITAIN.  235 

against  giving  this  power  to  any  man,  be  he  who  he  may.  The 
American  people  must  either  withhold  this  power,  or  resign  their 
liberties.  There  is  no  other  alternative.  Nothing  but  the  most  im- 
perious necessity  will  justify  such  a  grant ;  and  is  there  a  powerful 
enemy  at  our  door  ?  You  may  begin  with  a  First  Consul.  From  that 
chrysalis  state  he  soon  becomes  an  emperor.  You  have  your  choice. 
It  depends  upon  your  election  whether  you  will  be  a  free,  happy,  and 
united  people  at  home,  or  the  light  of  your  executive  majesty  shall 
beam  across  the  Atlantic,  in  one  general  blaze  of  the  public  liberty. 

"  But,  sir,  it  seems  that  we,  who  are  opposed  to  this  resolution,  are 
men  of  no  nerve — who  trembled  in  the  days  of  the  British  treaty — 
cowards,  I  suppose,  in  the  reign  of  terror.  Is  this  true  ?  Hunt  up 
the  journals — let  our  actions  tell.  We  pursue  our  old,  unshaken 
course.  We  care  not  for  the  nations  of  Europe,  but  make  foreign 
relations  bend  to  our  political  principles,  and  serve  our  country's 
interests.  We  have  no  wish  to  see  another  Actium,  or  Pharsalia,  or 
the  lieutenants  of  a  modern  Alexander  playing  at  piquet,  or  all-fours, 
for  the  empire  of  the  world.  'Tis  poor  comfort  to  us  to  be  told  that 
France  has  too  decided  a  taste  for  luxurious  things  to  meddle  with 
us ;  that  Egypt  is  her  object,  or  the  coast  of  Barbary,  and,  at  the 
worst,  we  shall  be  the  last  devoured.  We  are  enamored  with 
neither  nation.  We  would  play  their  own  game  upon  them — use 
them  for  our  interest  and  convenience.  But,  with  all  my  abhorrence 
of  the  British  Government,  I  should  not  hesitate  between  Westmin- 
p^er  Hall  and  a  Middlesex  jury,  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  wood  of 
Vincennes  and  a  file  of  grenadiers,  on  the  other.  That  jury  trial 
which  walked  with  Home  Tooke,  and  Hardy  through  the  flames  of 
ministerial  persecution,  is,  I  confess,  more  to  my  taste  than  the  trial 
of  the  Duke  d'Enghein." 

But  we  must  forbear  any  further  quotations  from  Mr.  Randolph's 
speeches  against  Gregg's  resolutions.  There  were  two  of  them,  de- 
livered on  the  5th  and  6th  of  March.  They  were  not  merely  elo- 
quent and  forcible  in  their  expression,  but  display  a  comprehensive 
knowledge  of  our  foreign  relations,  and  a  deep  insight  into  the 
motives  of  men  who  foment  discord  between  nations  that  should 
be  at  peace  with  each  other.  They  are  patriotic  in  their  tone, 
and  show  a  warm  devotion  to  the  Constitution  and  the  Union,  and  a 
profound  comprehension  of  those  principles  which  alone  can  preserve 


236  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

them  in  their  integrity.  While  we  forbear  further  quotation,  we 
feel  constrained  to  give  the  substance  of  Mr.  Randolph's  views  on  the 
j^yestions  therein  discussed. 

This  was  an  important  crisis,  not  only  in  his  own  history,  but  in 
that  of  the  country.  This  was  the  beginning  of  a  series  of  measures 
that  separated  Mr.  Randolph  from  his  old  political  associations, 
and  that  finally  involved  the  country  in  a  disastrous  war.  The 
party  heats  and  animosities  that  rankled  in  the  bosoms  of  men  at 
that  day  have  all  died  away.  Let  impartial  history  speak  the  truth, 
and  do  justice  to  one  whose  name  has  long  been  calumniated.  We 
shall  give  facts  as  they  are  condensed  from  his  own  speeches,  and 
leave  the  world  to  judge  how  far  he  acted  as  a  zealous  patriot,  an 
honest  man,  and  an  enlightened  statesman. 

It  was  notorious,  says  Mr.  Randolph,  that  in  regard  to  the  ccarse 
to  be  pursued  towards  Great  Britain,  no  opinion  was  expressed  by 
the  members  of  the  Cabinet,  in  their  collective  or  individual  capaci- 
ties. On  the  contrary,  the  President  frequently  declared,  without 
reserve,  that  he  had  no  opinion  on  the  subject.  Similar  declarations 
were  made  by  other  influential  and  leading  persons  presiding  over  the 
executive  departments — and  it  is  a  fact,  that  no  consultation  was  held 
between  them,  from  the  meeting  of  Congress,  on  the  3d  of  Decem- 
ber, till  some  time  in  the  month  of  March.  This  want  of  concert 
and  decision  in  the  administration,  might  easily  have  been  inferred 
(even  if  there  were  no  other  proof  of  it)  from  the  various,  discordant, 
and  undigested  projects  which  were  brought  forward  in  the  legisla- 
ture, and  to  this  want  of  system  must  be  referred  much  of  the  mis- 
chief which  then  resulted  from  this  subject,  as  well  as  the  embarrass- 
ment which  afterwards  ensued. 

Mr.  Randolph  was  of  opinion  that  the  impressment  of  our  sea- 
men furnished  just  cause  for  indignant  resentment  on  our  part ;  but 
he  saw  no  reason  for  pushing  that  matter  to  extremity  at  that  time, 
which  had  not  existed  in  as  full  force,  for  the  last  five  years,  or  even 
twelve  years.  Our  government,  in  consideration  of  the  great  num- 
ber of  British  seamen  in  our  employment,  and  of  the  identity  of  lan- 
guage and  manners  between  that  class  of  their  subjects,  and  the 
same  description  of  our  citizens,  but  above  all,  from  motives  of  sound 
policy  (too  obvious  to  need  recapitulation),  had  hitherto  deemed  it 
expedient  to  temporize  on  this  interesting  and  delicate  topic — he 


DIFFICULTIES  WITH  GREAT  BRITAIN.  237 

could  see  no  just  ground,  at  present,  for  departing  from  this  sys 
tern — more  especially  pending  an  actual  negotiation  between  the  twft 
governments,  on  the  point  in  dispute.  He  was  of  opinion  that  no- 
thing should  he  left  undone  to  accommodate  our  differences  arnica 
bly,  and  that  no  step  should  be  taken  which  might  interrupt  or  de 
feat  such  a  settlement — that  even  if  we  should  resort  to  war,  it  must 
eventuate  in  a  treaty  of  peace,  by  which  the  points  in  controversy 
would  be  adjusted,  or  left  in  statu  quo  ante  belZum—znd.  tliai  after 
incurring  the  incalculable  mischiefs  of  war,  the  derangement  of  our 
finances  and  the  augmentation  of  the  public  debt,  to  an  extent  which 
could  not  now  be  foreseen ;  to  say  nothing  of  its  baneful  effects  up- 
on our  political  institutions,  and  of  the  danger  which  must  accrue 
from  throwing  our  weight,  at  this  juncture,  into  the  preponderating 
scale  of  Europe  ;  there  was  no  prospect  that  we  should  obtain  better 
terms  at  any  future  pacification,  than  were  attainable  at  present — at 
any  rate,  he  was  disposed  to  give  fair  play  to  a  fair  experiment  at  ne- 
gotiation. But  if  any  active  measures  were  to  be  taken  against 
Great  Britain,  they  should  be  of  the  most  efficient  and  decisive  na- 
ture. He  deprecated  half  measures,  as  the  most  injurious  to  our- 
selves which  could  be  adopted. 

Whilst  the  Bill  was  yet  under  discussion,  the  news  of  the  death 
of  Mr.  Piit,  and  of  the  consequent  change  of  ministry,  reached  the 
United  States.  No  circumstance  could  have  afforded  a  fairer  or  more 
honorable  pretext,  or  a  more  powerful  motive,  for  suspending  our 
measures  against  Great  Britain,  than  this.  The  late  Premier  was 
known  to  be  decidedly  hostile  to  the  institutions,  the  interests,  and 
the  very  people,  of  America. 

No  administration,  not  even  that  of  Lord  North  himself,  had 
been  or  could  be  more  inimical  to  the  United  States,  than  that  of  Mr. 
Pitt.  »His  power,  moreover,  was  connected  with,  and  depended  upon, 
the  continuation  and  duration  of  the  war.  He  was  succeeded  by  Mr. 
Fox,  unquestionably  th<  most  liberal  and  enlightened  statesman  of 
Europe  ;  the  man  above  all  others,  beyond  the  Atlantic,  the  best  af- 
fected towards  the  principles  of  our  government,  and  the  illustrious 
character  by  whom  it  was  administered. 

Never  did  a  fairer  occasion  present  itself  to  any  nation  for  chang- 
ing, without  any  imputation  of  versatility,  or  any  loss  of  honor,  the 
course  which  they  had  chosen  to  prescribe  to  themselves.  The  ex- 


238  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

citement  of  public  sentiment,  and  the  measures  consequent  upon  that 
excitement,  might,  fairly  and  honorably,  have  been  referred  to  the 
known  character  of  the  late  Premier,  the  pupil  of  Dundas,  and  the 
disciple  of  Charles  Jenkinson ;  and  the  United  States  might  have 
awaited,  in  a  dignified  and  imposing  inactivity,  the  manifestation  of 
a  different  sentiment  by  the  new  ministry.  But  the  new  leaders  of 
the  House  of  Representatives  were  men  who  soared  above,  or  skim- 
med below,  all  considerations  of  time,  place,  and  circumstance — they 
gloried  in  their  ignorance  of  men  and  things  in  Europe,  and  boasted 
that  their  policy  should  not  be  modified  by  anj  change  in  the  aspect 
of  affairs  at  home,  or  abroad — and  in  the  pursuit  of  an  abstract  me- 
taphysical ignis  fatuus,  they  did  not  hesitate  to  embark  the  best  in- 
terests of  the  Union. 

Against  these  measures,  Mr.  Randolph  further  objected,  that  dur- 
ing the  "five  months  which  our  ministers  had  spent  in  fruitless,  dis- 
cussion at  Madrid"  it  had  entered  into  the  head  of  nobody  to  sug- 
gest any  proposition  of  a  coercive  nature  in  relation  to  Spain,  and 
that,  even  after  the  total  failure  of  that  negotiation,  no  such  measure 
had  been  proposed — that  Great  Britain  had  indeed  impressed  our 
seamen,  and  advanced  certain  injurious  principles  of  national  law, 
which,  if  carried  into  their  full  extent,  would  materially  affect  our 
commerce ;  but  that  Spain,  after  having  refused  to  make  good  her 
solemn  stipulations  to  compensate  us  for  former  spoliations  commit- 
ted on  our  commerce,  had  "  renewed  the  same  practices  during  ike 
present  war"  She  had  not,  it  was  true,  impressed  our  seamen,  but 
her  cruisers  had  '•'•plundered  and  sunk  our  vessels,  and  maltreated 
and  abandoned  their  crews  in  open  doats,  or  on  desert  shores,  without 
food  or  covering"  Her  Courts  of  Admiralty  had,  indeed,  advanced 
no  "  new  principles  of  the  law  of  nations,"  but  they  had  confiscated 
our  ships  and  cargoes,  without  the  pretext  of  principles  of  any  sort, 
new  or  old.  She  had,  moreover,  insulted  our  territory,  violated  the 
property  and  the  persons  of  our  citizens,  within  our  acknowledged 
limits,  and  insolently  rejected  every  overture  to  accommodation. 
With  Spain,  all  our  attempts  to  negotiate  had  failed — with  Great 
Britain,  we  had  a  negotiation  actually  pending,  and  which  the  dis- 
patches of  our  minister  at  the  Court  of  London  gave  us  every  rea- 
son to  suppose  would  have  a  prosperous  issue — and  even  admitting, 
for  the  sake  of  argument,  that  our  vote  of  money  to  purchase  Mori- 


DIFFICULTIES  WITH  GREAT  BRITAIN.  239 

da  was,  in  itself,  no  derogation  from  the  national  honor,  inasmuch  as 
we  proposed  to  receive  a  fair  equivalent  for  it,  yet,  having  refused  to 
take  any  coercive  measures  for  the  unparalleled  indignities  of  Spain, 
who  had  peremptorily  rejected  all  our  propositions  for  pacific  accom- 
modation, how  could  we,  with  any  face  of  impartiality  towards  the 
belligerent  powers,  assume  this  elevated  tone  towards  Great  Britain  ? 
Mr.  Randolph  further  declared,  that  the  proposed  measure  was,  in  it- 
self, inefficient  to  every  valuable  purpose — that  its  sole  operation 
would  be  to  pique  the  pride  and  rouse  the  resentment  of  our  adver- 
sary, and  whilst  it  indicated  a  strong  spirit  of  hostility  on  our  part, 
would  afford  her  a  fair  opening  to  strike  the  first  effectual  How — that 
it  was  indeed  showing  our  teeth,  without,  at  the  same  time,  daring  to 
bite — that  Great  Britain  would  have,  untiL  the  next  session  of  Con- 
gress, ample  time  to  devise  means  for  annoying  us  in  the  most  effective 
manner,  and  that,  meanwhile,  she  might  withdraw  her  property  from 
our  grasp,  and  guard  every  valuable  point  from  our  attack.  He  con- 
jured the  House  not  to  suffer  themselves,  from  the  honest  prejudices 
of  the  revolution,  from  their  ancient  partiality  to  France,  and  their 
well-grounded  antipathy  to  England,  to  be  legislated  into  a  war, 
which  would  involve  the  best  interests  of  their  country. 

Another  strong  objection  to  the  non-importation  bill  arose  from 
its  bearing  the  aspect  (especially  when  taken  in  conjunction  with 
our  recent  conduct  towards  Spain  and  France)  of  a  disposition  on 
our  part  to  aid  the  views  of  the  French  governement  in  cramping 
the  navigation  and  destroying  the  manufactures  of  Great  Britain. 
This  constituted  one  principal  source  of  animosity  between  those 
rival  nations,  and  the  American  government  could  perhaps  take  no 
step  which  would  so  strongly  excite  the  resentment  of  the  British 
ministry.  The  prompt  and  decisive  conduct  of  that  government 
towards  Prussia,  so  soon  as  she  manifested  a  disposition  to  come 
into  the  views  of  France  on  this  subject,  forms  the  best  commentary 
upon  this  opinion,  and  the  sudden  change  in  the  tone  of  Mr.  Fox 
towards  the  United  States  is  no  bad  criterion  of  its  truth. 

When  Mr.  Randolph  declared,  that  if  any  coercive  measures 
were  to  be  pursued  towards  Great  Britain  they  should  be  of  the 
most  energetic  stamp,  and  mentioned  an  embargo  as  that  which  he 
deemed  the  most  efficient  in  the  outset,  he  was  asked  by  some 
"why  he  did  not  move  such  a  proposition ?"  and  they  declared  at 


240  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

the  same  time,  that  if  he  would  bring  forward  the  measure,  they 
would  support  it.  To  this  he  answered :  That  he  wished  to  try  the 
fair  experiment  of  negotiation  in  the  first  instance — that  he  deemed 
it  impolitic,  pending  that  negotiation,  to  take  any  step  that  might 
defeat  it — and  that  it  was  astonishing  to  him,  that  gentlemen  who 
had  remained  entirely  passive  under  the  aggressions  of  Spain,  who 
had  refused  even  to  concur  in  measures  of  self-defence  against  her 
inroads — made  too  after  a  peremptory  rejection  of  every  overture 
to  accommodation,  should  advocate  an  opposite  course  towards 
another  power,  with  whom  we  were  at  that  moment  actually  treating. 

Mr.  Randolph's  powerful  opposition  was  so  far  successful  as  to 
defeat  Gregg's  resolution,  which  contemplated  a  total  suspension  of 
commercial  intercourse  between  the  two  countries.  Another  was 
introduced,  prohibiting  only  certain  enumerated  articles  of  British 
manufacture,  and  passed  by  a  large  majority.  Eighty-seven  re- 
publicans voted  for  these  restrictive  measures,  while  only  eleven 
republicans  and  the  whole  body  of  federalists,  being  but  four  and 
twenty  in  all  voted  against  them. 

The  Act  passed  by  Congress,  it  was  said  by  the  friends  of  it, 
was  the  first  leading  step  in  a  system  of  measures  well  calculated  to 
awaken  England  from  her  delusive  dreams ;  and  that  it  was 
expressly  adopted  as  a  measure  equally  fitted  for  producing  a 
change  in  her  conduct,  or  for  standing  as  a  part  of  our  permanent 
commercial  regulations.  Here  the  reader  will  observe  was  the  be- 
ginning of  those  measures,  which  if  not  designedly,  indirectly  fos- 
tered the  manufactures  of  the  country  (by  prohibiting  importation) 
at  the  expense  of  its  agriculture  and  commerce. 

How  far  this  non-importation  scheme  of  the  Legislature  was 
likely  to  influence  the  minds  of  the  British  Cabinet,  may  be  seen 
from  the  following  extract  taken  from  an  essay  styled  "  Observations 
on  Randolph's  Speech,"  and  written  by  the  most  eminent  British 
writer  of  the  day,  in  immediate  connection  too  with  the  ministry, 
and  well  possessed  of  their  views — no  less  a  personage  than  the  au- 
thor of  "War  in  Disguise,"  a  book  that  took  all  Mr.  Madison's 
learning  and  ability  to  give  a  plausible  answer  to.  The  author  is 
expressly  recommending  to  the  British  minister,  to  send  an  envoy  to 
the  American  Government  to  treat  for  an  adjustment  of  differences. 
He  concludes  thus :  "  The  only  objection  I  can  possibly  imagine  to 


DIFFICULTIES  WITH  GREAT  BRITAIN.  241 

arise  against  this  expedient  is,  from  the  passing  of  the  limited  non 
importation  bill,  the  fate  of  which  is  yet  unknown,  and  which  is 
represented  as  containing  a  clause,  making  its  operation  depend 
either  on  the  fiat  of  the  executive  government,  or  on  that  of  its 
minister  in  this  country  ;  or,  as  other  accounts  intimate,  on  the  bare 
event  of  our  refusing  immediate  compliance  with  the  demands  of 
the  American  government. 

K  Now  such  a  bill  either  has,  or  has  not  been  passed  by  the  Con- 
gress. In  the  latter  case,  the  difficulty  will  not  arise ;  but  in  the 
former,  I  hesitate  not  to  say,  that  it  makes  your  compliance,  consist- 
ently with  any  regard  to  the  dignity  and  honor  of  this  great  nation, 
absolutely  impossible. 

"  What  !  Is  a  rod  to  be  put  into  the  hands  of  a  foreign  minister, 
tc  whip  us  into  submission ;  and  are  we  broadly  and  coarsely  to 
sell  our  maritime  rights,  for  the  sake  of  passing  off  a  little  haber- 
dashery along  with  them  ! 

"  Are  we  to  make  a  lumping  pennyworth  to  the  buyers  of  our 
leather  wares,  our  felt  and  tin  wares,  and  the  othor  commodities 
enumerated  in  this  insolent  bill,  by  tossing  our  honor,  our  justice, 
and  our  courage  also  into  the  parcel ! !  I  would  not  consent  to 
disparage  even  the  quality  of  our  manufactures,  much  less  of  our 
public  morals,  by  so  shameful  a  bargain. 

"  No.  sir  !  if  Mr.  Monroe  is  indeed  instructed  and  empowered  to 
treat  with  us  in  this  humiliating  style  of  huckstering  diplomacy,  a 
new  reason  arises  for  delay,  and  for  treating  beyond  the  Atlantic. 

"  Let  the  threatened  prohibition  take  place.  Our  hats,  our  shoes, 
and  our  tea  kettles,  must  find  some  other  market  for  a  few  months  ; 
unless  the  American  merchants  should  be  impatient  enough  to  im- 
port them  by  smuggling,  into  that  country,  in  the  mean  time  ;  which, 
I  doubt  not,  they  will,  in  a  more  than  usual  abundance.  Perhaps 
when  our  minister  arrives,  the  advanced  price  of  British  goods,  and 
the  loss  of  the  duties  upon  them,  may  form  an  argument  of  some 
weight  in  our  favor." 


242  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH 


CHAPTEK   XXXI 

CLOSING  SCENE. 

IN  looking  over  the  House  of  Representatives  of  the  ninth  Congress, 
who  had  devolved  on  them  the  important  duty  of  giving  the  first  im- 
pulse and  direction  to  the  policy  of  the  country  in  regard  to  foreign 
nations,  at  this  critical  period,  when  the  powers  of  Europe,  not 
content  with  destroying  one  another,  seemed  to  be  aiming  at 
the  commercial  and  political  annihilation  of  this  transatlantic  re- 
public also,  we  are  struck  with  the  very  common  and  unimportant 
characters  of  which  it  was  composed.  There  were,  doubtless,  some 
modest  and  retiring  men,  of  sound  judgment,  who  were  content  to 
give  their  vote  in  silence,  and  to  pass  their  opinions  on  men  and  things 
around  them  without  giving  the  world  the  benefit  of  their  wisdom- 
But  all  those  who  were  most  prominent  in  the  lead  of  affairs,  were 
without  reputation,  without  political  experience  or  information,  the 
mere  hacks  of  a  party,  possessing  none  of  the  qualities  of  head  or 
heart  that  constitute  the  statesman,  filled  at  the  same  time  with  all 
the  narrow  conceptions  and  the  intolerance  of  political  bigotry.  The 
reputation  of  not  one  has  survived  the  age  in  which  he  lived.  The 
world  is  none  the  wiser  for  what  they  have  said  or  done.  Their 
names,  with  all  their  acts,  have  gone  down  to  oblivion.  Such  men 
require  a  head  to  think  for  them ;  without  knowledge,  or  indepen- 
dence of  character,  they  needed  a  leader  to  guide  and  to  instruct  them 
in  their  duty.  Coming  into  office  under  the  auspices  of  Mr.  Jeffer- 
son, his  opinion  was  law  to  their  understanding,  his  will  the  harmo- 
nizing agent  to  all  their  actions.  The  true  character  of  the  repre- 
sentative office,  and  the  delicate  relationship  existing  between  that 
and  the  Executive,  was  beyond  their  conception ;  and  they  made  a 
boast  and  a  virtue  of  their  unbounded  confidence  in  the  source  of  all 
power  and  patronage.  In  the  hands  of  a  virtuous  President,  these 
men  were  the  confiding  representatives  without  question  to  approve 
his  measures  ;  in  the  hands  of  a  corrupt  and  ambitious  aspirant,  they 
would  have  been  the  subtle  tools  to  enregister  his  edicts  of  usur- 
pation or  oppression.  Fortunately  for  the  country,  Mr.  Jefferson 


CLOSING  SCENE.  243 

was  a  pure  patriot  and  an  honest  man  ;  he  seemed  to  have  no  other 
wish  but  the  good  of  his  country.  And,  perhaps,  it  was  a  conscious- 
ness of  this  fact  that  made  his  followers  place  such  implicit  reliance 
on  the  propriety  and  the  wisdom  of  whatever  he  did.  What  is  blind 
fidelity  to  the  leader  of  an  opposition,  will  soon  be  converted  into 
corrupt  adulation  to  the  bountiful  dispenser  of  all  honors  and  re- 
wards. An  honest  coincidence  of  opinion  will  be  the  source  of  alle- 
giance in  the  one  case  ;  but  a  base  affinity  for  the  loaves  and  fishes 
will  be  the  means  of  cohesion  in  the  other.  Corruption  follows  pow- 
er ;  and  the  rapacious  and  the  profligate,  like  sharks  in  the  sea,  are 
sure  to  swim  in  the  wake  of  the  rich  freighted  argosy  of  state. 

The  proceedings  of  Congress,  in  regard  to  our  foreign  relations, 
furnish  a  fruitful  commentary  on  the  facility  with  which  men  will  sur- 
render their  opinions  and  their  consciences  into  the  keeping  of  a 
popular  leader ;  and  the  readiness  with  which  bodies  of  men,  in  a 
corporate  capacity,  will  do  an  act  that  would  disgrace  an  individual 
of  common  respectability.  As  to  these  foreign  affairs,  so  complica- 
ted and  so  critical,  the  President  had  no  plan  to  propose.  On  this 
subject,  above  all  others,  he  had  a  right  to  give  a  direction  to  the  acts 
of  the  legislature  ;  the  treaty-making  power  belonged  to  him  and  to 
the  Senate.  He  did  not  comply  with  the  Constitution;  he  in- 
formed them  of  the  facts  in  his  possession,  but  did  not  recommend 
what  should  be  done.  He  had  no  well-digested  plan,  on  which  he 
was  willing  to  stake  his  reputation  as  a  statesman  ;  but  he  stimula- 
ted the  legislature,  by  an  expression  of  his  secret  wishes,  to  do  those 
things  which  he  was  not  willing  to  assume  the  responsibility  of  re- 
commending. This  was  certainly  degrading  the  representative  body 
to  a  menial  purpose.  But  they  were  wholly  unconscious  of  the  part 
they  were  made  to  act ;  and  when  the  proud  and  independent  spirit 
of  their  leader  rose  in  rebellion,  they  sought  to  hunt  him  down  like 
some  wild  beast  that  had  broken  into  the  quiet  close  of  a  browsing 
herd.  -But  in  justice  to  these  men,  it  must  be  conceded,  that  it  was 
not  so  much  the  acts  of  Mr.  Randolph  on  the  Spanish  question  that 
offended  them,  as  the  bitter  and  sarcastic  words  used  by  him  on  all 
occasions  towards  some  of  those  who  professed  to  belong  to  the  same 
party,  and  claimed  to  be  his  political  friends.  It  is  true,  he  did  not 
mince  his  words,  and  in  the  heat  of  debate,  he  spoke  the  plain  truth 
in  strongest  terms.  There  was  no  diplomatic  ambiguity  about  him ; 
17 


244  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

and  often  hiy  blunt  directness  of  expression  gave  offence  where  it  was 
not  intended.  But  possessing,  as  he  did,  a  keen  insight  into  the  mo- 
tives of  men  ;  having  a  high  sense  of  the  dignity  and  purity  of  the 
representative  character,  and  a  strong  disgust  for  selfishness  and 
grovelling  meanness  in  those  who  should  be  patterns  of  truth  and 
nobleness,  he  was  unsparing  in  his  denunciations  of  men  who,  under 
the  guise  of  republicanism,  had  crept  into  official  places  for  no  other 
purpose  but  to  rob  the  treasury.  And  it  must  be  confessed  that 
there  were  not  a  few  of  this  class  to  be  found  in  all  the  departments 
of  government.  The  Yazoo  speculation,  Proteus-like,  had  assumed 
every  shape  by  which  it  could  glide  into  the  councils  of  the  nation, 
and  find  favor  in  the  eyes  of  the  people :  it  was  the  dry-rot  of  the 
body  politic,  that  secretly  consumed  the  very  joints  of  its  masshe 
timbers.  A  member  of  the  President's  cabinet,  as  we  already  know, 
was  the  Hercules  on  whose  shoulders  was  upreared  this  vast  fabric 
of  speculation ;  the  boundless  patronage  of  his  office  was  prostituted 
to  his  purposes ;  and  he  insolently  boasted  of  the  means  that  he 
used  and  the  triumph  he  anticipated  over  the  public  virtue.  There 
were  many  post-office  contractors  in  the  House  of  Representatives ; 
the  evil  had  grown  to  such  an  extent  that  Randolph  moved  an  amend- 
ment to  the  Constitution,  prohibiting  all  contractors  from  holding  a 
seat  on  the  floor  of  Congress.  "  I  have  said,  and  I  repeat  it,"  said 
Mr.  Randolph,  "  that  the  aspect  in  which  this  thing  presents  itself, 
would  alone  determine  me  to  resist  it.  (The  Yazoo  petitioners.)  In 
one  of  the  petitioners  I  behold  an  executive  officer,  who  receives  and 
distributes  a  yearly  revenue  of  three  hundred  thousand  dollars, 
yielding  scarcely  any  net  profit  to  the  government — a  patronage 
limited  only  by  the  extent  of  our  country.  Is  this  right  ?  Is  it 
even  decent  ?  Shall  political  power  be  made  the  engine  of  private 
interest  ?  Shall  such  a  suspicion  tarnish  your  proceedings  ?  How 
would  you  receive  a  petition  from  a  President  of  the  United  States, 
if  such  a  case  can  be  supposed  possible  1  Sir,  I  wish  to  see  the  same 
purity  pervading  every  subordinate  branch  of  administration,  which 
I  am  persuaded  exists  in  its  great  departments.  Shall  persons  hold- 
ing appointments  under  the  great  and  good  man  who  presides  over 
our  counsels,  draw  on  the  rich  fund  of  his  well-earned  reputation,  to 
eke  out  their  flimsy  and  scanty  pretensions?  Is  the  relation  in 
which  they  stand  to  him  to  be  made  the  cloak  and  cover  of  their  dark 


CLOSING  SCENE.  245 

designs  ?  To  the  gentleman  from  New-York,  who  takes  fire  at  every 
insinuation  against  his  friend,  I  have  only  to  observe  on  this  subject, 
that  what  I  dare  say,  I  dare  to  justify.  To  the  House  I  will  relate 
an  incident  how  far  I  have  lightly  conceived  or  expressed  an  opinion 
to  the  prejudice  of  any  man.  I  owe  an  apology  to  my  informant  for 
making  public  what  he  certainly  did  not  authorize  me  to  reveal. 
There  is  no  reparation  which  can  be  offered  by  one  gentleman  and 
accepted  by  another  that  I  shall  not  be  ready  to  make  him,  but  I  feel 
myself  already  justified  to  him,  since  he  sees  the  circumstances  under 
which  I  act.  A  few  evenings  since  a  profitable  contract  for  carrying 
the  mail  was  offered  to  a  friend  of  mine,  who  is  a  member  of  this 
House.  You  must  know,  sir,  the  person  so  often  alluded  to,  main- 
tains a  jackal;  fed  not,  as  you  would  suppose,  upon  the  offal  of 
contract,  but  with  the  fairest  pieces  in  the  shambles ;  and  at  night, 
when  honest  men  are  abed,  does  this  obscene  animal  prowl  through 
the  streets  of  this  vast  and  desolate  city,  seeking  whom  he  may  tam- 
per with.  Well,  sir,  when  this  worthy  plenipotentiary  had  made  his 
proposal  in  due  form,  the  independent  man  to  whom  it  was  addressed, 
saw  at  once  its  drift.  '  Tell  your  principal,'  said  he,  *  that  I  will 
take  his  contract,  but  I  shall  vote  against  the  Yazoo  claim,  notwith- 
standing.' Next  day  he  was  told  that  there  had  been  some  misun- 
derstanding of  the  business,  that  he  could  not  have  the  contract,  as 
it  was  previously  bespoken  by  another. 

"  Sir,  I  well  recollect,  when  first  I  had  the  honor  of  a  seat  in  this 
House,  we  were  then  members  of  a  small  minority — a  poor  forlorn 
hope — that  this  very  petitioner  appeared  at  Philadelphia  on  behalf 
of  another  great  land  company  on  Lake  Erie.  He  then  told  us,  as 
an  inducement  to  vote  for  the  Connecticut  reserve  (as  it  was  called), 
that  if  that  measure  failed,  it  would  ruin  the  republicans  and  the 
cause  in  that  State.  You,  sir,  cannot  have  forgotten  the  reply  he  re- 
ceived :  '  That  we  did  not  understand  the  republicanism  that  was  to 
be  paid  for ;  that  we  feared  it  was  not  of  the  right  sort,  but  spuri- 
ous.' And  having  maintained  our  principles  through  the  ordeal  of 
that  day,  shall  we  now  abandon  them  to  act  with  the  men  and  upon  the 
measures  which  we  then  abjured  ?  Shall  we  now  condescend  to  means 
which  we  disdained  to  use  in  the  most  desperate  crisis  of  our  polit- 
ical fortunes  ?  This  is  indeed  the  age  of  monstrous  coalitions ;  and 
this  corruption  has  the  qualities  of  connecting  the  most  inveterate 


246  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

enemies,  personal  as  well  as  political.  It  has  united  in  close  concert 
those,  of  whom  it  has  been  said,  not  in  the  figurative  language  of  pro- 
phecy, but  in  the  sober  narrative  of  history,  l  I  have  bruised  thy 
head  and  thou  hast  bruised  my  heel.'  Such  is  the  description  of  per- 
sons  who  would  present  to  the  President  of  the  United  States  an 
act,  to  which,  when  he  puts  his  hand,  he  signs  a  libel  on  his  whole 
political  life.  But  he  will  never  tarnish  the  unsullied  lustre  of  his 
fame ;  he  will  never  sanction  the  monstrous  position  (for  such  it  is, 
dress  it  up  as  you  will),  that  a  legislator  may  sell  his  vote,  and  a 
right  whiqh  cannot  be  divested  will  pass  under  such  sale.  Establish 
this  doctrine,  and  there  is  an  end  of  representative  government ;  from 
that  moment  republicanism  receives  its  death-blow. 

"  The  feeble  cry  of  Virginian  influence  and  ambitious  leaders,  is 
attempted  to  be  raised.  If  such  insinuations  were  worthy  of  a  reply, 
I  might  appeal  to  you,  Mr.  Speaker,  for  the  fact,  that  no  man  in  this 
House  (yourself  perhaps  excepted)  is  oftener  in  a  minority  than  I 
am.  If  by  a  leader  be  meant  one  who  speaks  his  opinion  frankly  and 
boldly — who  claims  something  of  that  independence,  of  which  the 
gentleman  from  New- York  so  loudly  vaunts — who  will  not  connive  at 
public  robbery,  be  the  robbers  who  they  may, — then  the  imputation 
may  be  just ;  such  is  the  nature  of  my  ambition :  but  in  the  common 
acceptation  of  words,  nothing  can  be  more  false.  In  the  coarse  but 
strong  language  of  the  proverb,  '  'tis  the  still  sow  that  sucks  the 
draff.' 

"  No,  sir,  we  are  not  the  leaders.  There  they  sit !  and  well  they 
know  it,  forcing  down  our  throats  the  most  obnoxious  measures. 
Gentlemen  may  be  silent,  but  they  shall  be  dragged  into  public  view. 
If  they  direct  our  public  counsels,  at  least  let  them  answer  for  the 
result.  We  will  not  be  responsible  for  their  measures.  If  we  do 
not  hold  the  reins,  we  will  not  be  accountable  for  the  accidents  which 
may  befall  the  carriage. 

"  But,  sir,  I  am  a  denunciator !  Of  whom  ?  Of  the  gentlemen  on 
my  left  ?  Not  at  all ;  but  of  those  men  and  their  principles  whom 
the  people  themselves  have  denounced ;  on  whom  they  have  burnt 
their  indelible  curse,  deep  and  lasting  as  the  lightning  from  heaven. 

"  Mr.  Speaker,  I  had  hoped  that  we  should  not  be  content  to  live 
upon  the  principal  of  our  popularity,  that  we  should  go  on  to  deserve 
the  public  confidence,  and  the  disapprobation  of  the  gentleman  over 


CLOSING  SCENE,  247 

the  way  ;  but  if  every  thing  is  to  be  reversed  —  if  official  influence  ia 
to  become  the  handmaid  of  private  interest  —  if  the  old  system  is  to 
be  revived  with  the  old  men,  or  any  that  can  be  picked  up,  —  I  may 
deplore  the  defection,  but  never  will  cease  to  stigmatize  it.  Never 
shall  I  hesitate  between  any  minority,  far  less  that  in  which  I  find 
myself,  and  such  a  majority  as  is  opposed  to  us.  I  took  my  degrees, 
sir,  in  this  House  in  a  minority,  much  smaller,  indeed,  but  of  the 
same  stamp  :  a  minority,  whose  very  act  bore  the  test  of  rigorous 
principle,  and  with  them  to  the  last  I  will  exclaim,  Fiat  justitia  ruat 


It  is  too  plainly  to  be  perceived,  that  a  man  of  this  be  id,  fearless, 
and  independent  character,  was  not  to  be  tolerated  by  those  who,  in 
their  connection  with  the  government,  had  far  other  objects  in  view 
than  pure  principle  or  patriotism  ;  or  even  by  those  honest  plodding 
men,  whose  blundering  mediocrity  was  awed  and  overshadowed  by  his 
superior  genius.  He  must  be  put  down  ;  the  fiat,  we  know,  had 
already  gone  forth.  Whole  States  had  been  traversed  last  summer 
to  organize  an  opposition  to  him  ;  he  must  be  silenced,  or  driven  into 
the  ranks  of  the  federalists,  and  then  nobody  will  believe  what  he 
says.  The  plot  was  now  ripe  for  execution  :  like  Caesar,  he  was  to 
fall  on  the  floor  of  the  Senate  by  the  hands  of  his  treacherous  friends. 
The  evening  of  the  21st  of  April,  on  the  final  adjournment  of  the 
House,  was  selected  as  the  time  —  that  parting  hour,  usually  given  up 
to  hilarity,  to  friendship,  and  an  oblivious  forgetfulness  of  all  past 
animosities,  was  chosen  as  the  fit  occasion  to  stab  to  the  heart  one 
who  should  have  been  their  pride  and  their  ornament  —  one,  whosfc 
only  crime  was,  not  that  of  having  conspired  against  the  liberties  of 
his  country,  but  that  of  having  spoken  the  truth,  and  maintained 
right.  Alas  !  for  the  virtue  and  the  liberties  of  mankind.  This 
has  most  usually  been  the  crime  they  have  ignorantly  pursued  and 
punished.  Corruption  opens  a  path  where  truth  finds  an  impassable 
barrier. 

As  the  shades  of  night  were  gathering  over  the  legislative  hall, 
while  the  dim  light  of  the  taper  served  only  to  make  darkness  visible, 
the  conspirators,  each  with  his  part  well  conned  and  prepared,  com- 
menced the  assault  on  their  unsuspecting  victim,  who  sat  as  a  confiding 
friend  in  their  midst. 

Mr.  William  Findley,  a  member  from  Pennsylvania,  rose  and  ad- 


248  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

dressed  the  House,  without  provocation,  in  a  strain  of  gross  and  inde 
cent  personal  abuse  of  Mr.  Randolph,  charging  him  with  having 
designs  to  pull  down  the  present  administration.  It  was  plainly  to 
be  perceived,  from  the  language  and  manner  of  Findley,  that  he  was 
at  this  time  very  much  intoxicated  with  strong  drink ;  and  many  of 
the  members  then  present  declared  the  same  opinion.  Mr.  Findley 
was  so  outrageously  indecent  in  his  language,  that  he  was  repeatedly 
called  to  order ;  but,  without  regarding  the  call,  he  continued  to 
speak  in  the  same  strain,  until  the  House  was  thrown  into  a  state  of 
confusion,  perhaps  never  before  witnessed. 

As  soon  as  Findley  sat  down,  John  Randolph  rose,  and  without 
taking  particular  notice  of  the  conduct  of  the  unfortunate  old  man, 
observed,  in  a  manner  the  most  mild,  dignified  and  conciliatory,  that 
"  he  had  hoped,  however  we  might  have  differed  in  opinion  on  the  va- 
rious subjects  discussed  this  session,  we  should,  on  the  eve  of  separa- 
tion, have  forgiven  and  forgotten  any  asperities  and  political  animos- 
ities that  had  occurred  during  the  session ;  and  that  we  should  have 
parted  like  men  and  friends.  He  had  hoped  the  harmony  of  that 
House  would  not  have  been  disturbed  in  the  last  moments  of  the  ses- 
sion, either  by  those  who  had  been  habitual  declaimers.  or  by  those 
who  had  kept  ike  noiseless  tenor  of  their  way ;  that  contumely  and 
personal  hatred  would  have  been  banished  from  these  walls,  and  that 
we  should  at  least  have  separated  in  good  humor."  These  remarks 
produced  a  gleam  of  pleasure  on  the  countenance  of  almost  every  per- 
son present.  The  language  he  used  and  the  sentiments  he  expressed 
were  so  mild  and  conciliatory,  that  Mr.  Randolph's  friends  were  par- 
ticularly delighted.  Although  there  was  nothing  in  his  language  or 
manner  that  would  justify  in  the  smallest  degree  an  idea  that  he  in- 
tended to  make  any  particular  or  personal  allusion,  yet  the  attention 
of  every  member  then  present  was  immediately  directed  to  Mr. 
Thomas  Mann  Randolph,  the  President's  son-in-law,  who,  under  the 
impression  that  John  Randolph  had  made  some  allusion  to  him 
(which  no  person  present  but  himself  could  have  supposed),  rose,  and 
in  a  manner  indicative  of  rage  and  defiance,  vociferated : 

"  Mr.  Speaker,  I  rise  to  reply  to  the  gentleman  from  Virginia.  I 
will  not  pretend  to  vie  with  him  in  point  of  talent  or  of  eloquence : 
in  these  he  is  far,  very  far,  my  superior.  This  is  not  the  first  time 
that  gentleman  has  availed  himself  of  the  sanction  and  the  presence 


CLOSING  SCENE.  249 

of  this  assembly,  to  apply  his  personal  allusions  to  me,  and  to  make 
use  of  language  and  conduct  here,  which  he  would  not  do  out  of  this 
House. 

"  But,  sir,  I  will  tell  that  gentleman,  that  however  he  may  be  my 
superior  in  talents  and  eloquence,  in  patriotism  I.am  his  superior ; 
yes,  sir.  his  superior.  Last  year,  sir,  that  gentleman  commenced  flor- 
ist, and  dealt  in  flowers  and  gardening ;  I  saw  him  with  his  spade 
and  pitchfork,  and  rake  and  manure,  cultivating  his  flower-garden. 
This,  sir,  was  on  the  Yazoo  question ;  and  then  I  perceived  the  gen- 
tleman launch  forth  to  sea,  without  compass  or  rudder,  his  masts 
broken,  his  sails  tattered  and  torn,  and  his  vessel  in  a  leaky  condi- 
tion ;  and,  when  I  saw  that,  sir,  I  thought  it  high  time  to  quit  him, 
and  look  out  for  the  land.  The  gentleman  can  talk  and  boast  of  the 
arguments  of  lead,  and  powder,  and  steel;  with  these  arguments,  sir. 
I  am  as  expert  as  himself,  and  as  willing  as  he  may  be  to  use  them." 

Mr.  Thomas  Mann  Randolph  possessed  as  quick  and  as  fiery  a 
temper  as  his  kinsman ;  but  it  is  impossible  to  conceive  any  motive 
for  the  anger,  rage,  and  threatening  denunciation  exhibited  on  thirf 
occasion,  unless  it  was  premeditated,  and  the  deliberate  parfrof  a  con- 
certed scheme  to  immolate  John  Randolph  on  the  altar  of  party  in- 
tolerance, for  having  dared  to  differ  from  them  as  to  what  they  chose 
to  assume  and  hold  forth  as  the  wishes  of  the  Executive.  This  gen- 
tleman had  taken  no  part  in  the  previous  debate,  and  it  is  impossible 
that  ar.y  allusion  could  have  been  made  to  him.  As  he  progressed, 
towering  in  rage,  astonishment  and  regret  were  exhibited  in  the  looks 
and  expressions  of  the  members.  This  speech  had  the  most  strange 
and  alarming  effect.  The  atmosphere  seemed  to  be  surcharged  with 
electric  fire,  and  another  spark  would  blow  it  into  a  flame. 

Coming  from  the  quarter  it  did,  and  under  existing  circumstances, 
this  denunciation  excited  in  the  minds  of  a  gre&t  part  of  those  pres- 
ent, sentiments  of  the  most  serious  nature.  Where  this  thing  might 
end,  they  could  not  conjecture,  but  felt  the  most  anxious  apprehen- 
sion. That  Randolph  was  to  be  denounced  on  this  occasion  by  all 
the  self-anointed  priests  of  the  true  faith,  and  to  be  cast  out  of  the 
synagogue,  cannot  be  questioned.  The  moment  Thomas  Mann  took 
his  seat,  he  was  followed  by  James  Sloan,  of  New  Jersey,  who  read 
a  speech  of  about  two  sheets,  closely  written,  and  then  delivered  it 
over  into  the  hands  of  the  printer,  who  was  present  to  receive  it,  and 


250  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

to  publish  it.  Randolph  had  not  "been  sparing  in  his  ridicule  of  th« 
crude  conceptions  of  this  man,  put  forth  in  a  series  of  resolutions  on 
the  great  and  grave  questions  about  which  the  administration  itself 
had  no  settled  opinion.  He  called  the  nostrums  of  this  man 
"  Sloan's  mint-drops}'1  Now  was  the  time  for  revenge — when  the 
whole  pack  was  in  full  cry,  and  the  noble  stag  at  bay.  he  could 
slyly  thrust  his  fangs  into  his  side  with  impunity.  But  Randolph 
did  not  wait  to  hear  this  well-studied  lecture,  which  for  false  asser- 
tions, low  scurrility,  and  personal  abuse,  cannot  be  surpassed.  Tf  he 
heard  it  at  all,  it  fell  senseless  on  his  ears.  He  was  after  other 
game.  A  few  minutes  after  T.  M.  Randolph  closed  his  remarks, 
John  Randolph  left  his  seat,  and  desired  Mr.  Garnett  to  make  a  for- 
mal application  to  know  whether  the  remarks  that  had  fallen  from 
that  gentleman  were  addressed  to  him,  and  unless  he  disavowed  any 
such  intention,  to  demand  a  meeting.  Mr.  Garnett  seemed  deeply 
concerned  at  this  request,  and  endeavored  to  dissuade  his  friend  from 
the  step.  Randolph  replied,  that  his  resolution  was  irrevocably 
taken ;  that,  perhaps,  on  the  whole,  he  had  cause  to  be  obliged  to  Mr. 
Thomas  Mann  Randolph  ;  that  he  had  long  been  a  target  for  every 
worthless  scoundrel  in  that  House  to  aim  his  shafts  at ;  and  that  Mr. 
T.  M.  Randolph,  by  this  unprovoked  and  studied  outrage,  had  given 
him  an  opportunity  to  answer  them  all,  in  the  person  of  an  adversary 
who  would  not  disgrace  his  contest,  and  under  circumstances  in 
which  no  possible  blame  could  attach  to  him.  Mr.  T.  M.  Randolph 
replied  to  Mr.  Garnett,  that  unless  he  had  supposed  some  of  Mr. 
John  Randolph's  expressions  pointed  particularly  at  him,  he  should 
have  thought  himself  highly  culpable  in  saying  what  he  had  ;  but 
believing  that  they  were  intended  for  him,  he  felt  himself  called  upon 
to  say  something. 

Having  acknowledged  that  his  observations  were  levelled  at  Mr. 
John  Randolph,  he  was  told  that  that  gentleman  expected  to  meet 
him.  He  replied  that  he  was  ready  to  do  so ;  but  that  if  Mr.  John 
Randolph  would  only  say  that  he  meant  no  allusion  to  him,  there  was 
no  apology  which  a  man  of  honor  x;ould  or  ought  to  make,  which  he 
would  not  be  ready  to  offer.  When  Mr.  Garnett  delivered  this  mes- 
sage, Mr.  John  Randolph  observed  that  the  course  which  Mr.  T.  M. 
Randolph  had  chosen  to  pursue  precluded  any  sort  of  declaration 
or  acknowledgment  on  his  part ;  that  Mr.  T.  M.  R.  must  make  repa« 


CLOSING  SCENE.  251 

ration  commensurate  with  the  injury  aimed  at  his  feelings,  or  meet 
him,  and  give  him  satisfaction.  Mr.  Garnett  immediately  apprised 
the  gentleman  of  these  conditions,  and  requested  that  he  would  choose 
some  friend  with  whom  he  might  have  farther  conversation  on  the 
subject.  Mr.  Coles  was  called  in ;  after  a  short  consultation  aside  with 
his  friend,  he  rejoined  Mr.  Grarnett,  and  said :  All  that  Mr.  T.  M.  R. 
desired  was  an  assurance  that  none  of  Mr.  J.  R.'s  remarks  were  in- 
tended for  him,  and  that  he  would  be  willing  (in  that  case)  to  make 
any  apology  a  man  of  honor  could  offer.  Mr.  Garnett  replied,  that 
there  was  no  doubt  on  his  mind,  or,  he  believed,  of  any  other  specta- 
tor, that  Mr.  T.  M.  R.  had  entirely  misconceived  Mr.  J.  R.'s  expres- 
sions; but  that,  after  what  had  passed,  Mr.  J.  R.  would  make  no 
statement  whatever ;  and  if  Mr.  T.  M.  R.  could  not  reconcile  it  to  him- 
self to  make  a  suitable  apology,  Mr.  J.  R.  would  expect  Mr.  T.  M. 
R.  to  meet  him  either  that  night  (which  he  preferred)  or  in  the  morn- 
irg.  Mr.  Coles  said  he  was  too  much  engaged  in  the  public  busi- 
ness at  that  time  to  see  his  friend,  but  would  do  it  as  soon  as  he  could, 
and  let  Mr.  Garnett  know  the  result.  Mr.  Garnett  returned  with 
this  statement  to  Mr.  John  Randolph,  who  was  in  a  remote  room  of 
the  Capitol,  and  then  took  his  seat  in  the  House.  In  a  few  minutes 
afterwards,  Mr.  Thomas  Mann  Randolph  rose  in  his  place,  and  said 
that  he  had  been  assured,  by  several  of  those  who  sat  near  him,  that 
he  had  acted  in  what  he  had  before  said  under  a  misapprehension  of 
Mr.  John  Randolph's  remarks,  which  none  of  them  understood  as 
having  been  intended  for  him ;  that  under  this  misapprehension  he 
had  acted ;  it  was  the  sole  cause  of  his  saying  what  he  had  said ; 
and  that  he  was  then  persuaded  by  the  assurance  of  his  friends  of 
his  mistake.  He  regretted  very  much  what  he  had  said,  for  he  had 
no  disposition  to  wound  any  gentleman's  feelings  who  did  not  intend 
to  wound  his. 

Mr.  Garnett  immediately  went  to  Mr.  John  Randolph,  and  stated 
that  Mr.  T.  M.  R.  had  made  such  an  apology  in  the  House  as  Mr. 
G  arnett  conceived,  and  as  every  member  said  who  mentioned  the  sub- 
ject in  his  hearing  (which  several  did)  was  proper  for  Mr.  T.  M.  R. 
to  make  and  for  Mr.  J.  R.  to  receive. 

Mr.  Randolph  then  requested  his  friend  to  say  to  Mr.  Coles  that 
he  received  the  apology  of  Mr.  T,  M.  Randolph,  and  had  no  further 
commands  for  that  gentleman,  which  Mr.  Garnett  did  just  as  the 
House  was  breaking  up  ;  and  thus  the  business  terminated. 


252  L!FE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

CHAP  TEE    XXXII. 

AARON  BURR. 

MISFORTUNES,  'tis  said,  come  not  alone;  it  proved  so  with  Mr. 
Randolph  on  this  occasion.  In  his  retirement  at  Bizarre,  after  the 
stormy  session  just  passed,  and  other  occurrences  of  a  domestic  na- 
ture, his  reflections  could  not  have  been  of  the  most  pleasant  kind. 
However  conscious  of  rectitude,  the  prospect  before  him  must  have 
been  cheerless  indeed.  For  four  years  he  had  been  the  popular  lead- 
er of  a  triumphant  party,  who  were  successfully  carrying  into  opera- 
tion those  great  measures  of  reform  that  would  bring  back  the  Federal 
Government  to  the  few  simple  and  general  subjects  of  legislation  for 
which  alone  it  was  designed.  Never  had  a  young  man  risen  so  ra- 
pidly or  so  high  in  the  public  estimation.  He  was  the  idol  of  his 
party;  his  eloquence  and  his  practical  wisdom  were  extolled  on 
every  hand ;  and  it  seemed  that  there  was  no  station  or  honor  in  the 
gift  of  the  people  that  he  was  not  destined  to  attain.  But  now  the 
scene  was  changed.  For  having  ventured  to  suggest  a  plan  of  action 
different  from  that  which  seemed  to  be  favored  by  the  Executive,  he 
was  denounced  by  his  old  friends,  his  motives  calumniated,  and  he 
was  charged  with  a  design  of  pulling  down  the  present  administra- 
tion. How  bitter  must  have  been  his  feelings,  at  the  reflection  that 
the  highest  stretch  of  patriotism,  which  could  cause  a  sacrifice  of  all 
the  bright  prospects  before  him  for  the  sake  of  doing  his  duty,  should 
meet  with  such  a  reward.  But  it  has  always  been  so.  In  popular 
governments,  the  intolerant  spirit  of  a  triumphant  majority  will  al- 
low no  deviation  from  that  standard  of  orthodoxy  which  it  has  set  up 
for  itself.  Freedom  of  opinion  is  professed,  but  you  exercise  it  at 
the  peril  of  being  banished  from  the  society  of  those  who  hold  the 
reins  and  prescribe  the  course  that  ought  to  be  pursued.  There  are 
so  many  interested  in  degrading  a  popular  and  leading  man  in  a  po- 
litical party,  that  it  is  almost  impossible  for  him  ever  to  retrieve  the 
first  false  step.  It  matters  not  how  pure  his  motives,  or  how  far  it 
may  be  from  his  intention  to  separate  from  his  party  friends,  yet 
there  are  always  enough,  from  interested  motives,  to  take  advantage 


AARON  BURR.  253 

of  the  slightest  deviation  from  the  standard  of  the  majority,  to  de- 
nounce him  as  a  deserter,  and  to  drive  him  into  the  opposition.  Politi- 
cians, generally,  are  a  heartless  and  selfish  race  of  men.  There  are 
many  honorable  exceptions ;  but  for  the  most  part,  their  own  aggran- 
dizement is  the  end  of  their  patriotism  ;  and  they  always  look  with 
secret  satisfaction  on  the  disappointment  or  the  fall  of  one  whose  su- 
perior talents  overshadowed  their  own  self-importance,  or  whose  stern 
virtues  and  integrity  stood  in  the  way  of  the  accomplishment  cf  their 
selfish  ends. 

Mr.  Randolph  never  deviated  from  those  principles  he  professed, 
while  in  a  minority  ;  his  party,  in  many  instances,  had  departed  from 
them ;  he  undertook  the  ungracious  task  of  holding  up  to  view  their 
own  dereliction.  Sovereign  majorities,  as  well  as  sovereign  princes, 
do  not  like  to  hear  their  own  infallibility  brought  in  question — espe- 
cially will  they  not  tolerate  it  in  one  who  is  a  subject  of  their  power. 
Mr.  Randolph  had  no  faith  in  the  Cabinet,  while  he  retained  the  ut- 
most confidence  in  the  Chief  Magistrate.  He  knew  that  corruption 
had  crept  into  the  legislature,  through  the  Post  Office  department 
and  the  Yazoo  speculation,  and  that,  as  a  body,  they  had  surrenderc-d 
their  independence  into  the  hands  of  the  Executive.  His  great 
crime  was  that  of  maintaining  the  independence  of  the  legislature,  as 
a  co-ordinate  department  of  government.  Let  posterity  judge  how 
far  he  should  be  condemned  for  such  an  offence. 

During  the  excited  and  sleepless  hours  of  the  past  session,  Mr. 
Randolph  was  assailed  by  his  old  hereditary  disease,  in  its  most  ag- 
gravated form — he  was  prostrate  on  his  bed  for  many  weeks,  racked 
with  the  most  excruciating  torture.  With  repeated  accumulation  of 
mental  distress,  and  even  of  mental  agony,  caused  by  domestic  occurren- 
ces, the  diseases  of  the  tody  seemed  to  keep  pace  with  them,  and  to  pro- 
duce a  degree  of  suffering  such  as  no  mortal  man  ever  endured  before. 
With  heroic  fortitude,  he  suppressed  his  feelings,  and  the  world; 
while  they  condemned  his  outbursts  of  passion,  never  knew  the  real 
cause  of  his  eccentricities.  With  a  pride  and  a  haughty  reserve 
rarely  equalled,  he  shut  himself  up  from  common  observation,  and  was 
content  to  be  the  subject  of  misrepresentation  and  of  malicious  cal- 
umny, without  condescending  to  explanation  or  reply.  To  a  few 
only  did  he  unbosom  himself,  and  expose  the  wounds  of  body  and 
of  soul,  which  he  carried,  with  increased  aggravation,  to  the  grave. 


254  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

Hereafter,  the  reader  will  have  an  opportunity  of  reading  his  con- 
fessions, poured  into  the  bosom  of  his  most  intimate  friend,  and  to 
weep  over  the  many  sufferings  he  endured,  in  what  he  chose  to  call 
his  "  most  unprosperous  life." 

But  there  was  one  occurrence,  which  took  place  in  the  month  of 
March,  that  affected  Mr.  Randolph  more  than  all  things  else.  The 
reader  is  already  aware  of  the  great  attachment  he  had  formed, 
many  years  ago,  to  a  young  lady  of  remarkable  beauty,  virtues, 
and  accomplishments — one  I  loved  more  than  my  own  soul,  or  the 
God  that  made  it.  Many  untoward  events  had  prevented  their 
union,  and  made  it  impossible — yet  he  vainly  cherished  ^he  hope  that 
their  love,  sublimated  into  a  pure,  Platonic  affection,  might  last  to  the 
end  of  life — idle  expectation,  that  no  other  human  being  could  have 
indulged.  There  was  no  reason  in  the  indulgence  of  such  a  wish  ; 
but  love  is  blind,  tyrannical,  and  has  no  reason.  The  lady  thought 
proper  to  unite  her  fortunes  with  one  in  whose  society  she  might  hope 
to  live  a  more  happy  life,  than  in  that  of  her  present  most  devoted 
but  unfortunate  lover.  This  event,  which  took  place  in  the  midst  of 
the  excited  debates  of  Congress,  and  at  a  moment  when  his  friends 
were  deserting  him  on  every  hand,  struck  deep  into  the  heart  of  Mr. 
Randolph — he  never  recovered  from  it — it  had  a  visible  influence  on 
the  whole  of  his  after  life.  His  love,  now  purified  of  all  earthly 
desire,  became  a  genuine  worship — the  image  of  the  beloved  object, 
mirrored  in  the  distance,  hovered  over  his  path,  like  some  angelic  be- 
ing, whose  celestial  smiles  shed  benignest  influence  on  his  heart, 
where  all  else  had  grown  cold  and  desolate.  Long  years  afterwards, 
when  the  body  was  locked  in  the  fitful  embraces  of  a  feverish  sleep, 
and  the  soul  wandering  in  dreams,  that  once  loved  name  has  been 
heard  to  escape  from  his  lips,  in  a  tone  that  evinced  how  deeply  the 
love  of  the  being  who  bore  it  had  been  engraven  on  the  inmost 
sanctuary  of  his  heart.  But  why  do  we  call  up  these  things  ?  Read- 
er !  there  was  a  tragedy  in  the  life  of  this  man,  more  thrilling  than 
romance.  But  this  is  a  subject  not  for  us  to  deal  with ;  we  promised 
not  to  touch  it  more ;  let  it  go  down  to  the  oblivion  of  the  grave, 
and  there  sleep  with  those  who,  in  life,  endured  its  agonies.  We  ask 
pardon  for  having  glanced  at  it  here,  and  for  the  last  time,  because  it 
is  impossible  to  form  a  correct  estimate  of  the  man,  without  some 
knowledge  of  this  occurrence,  which  constituted  one  of  the  most  im- 


AARON  BURR.  255 

portant  events  of  his  life.     Let  the  skeptical  look  into  his  own  heart, 
and  see  whether  he  is  capable  of  elevating  his  affections  above  a  mere 
sensual  appetite.     If  not,  then  he  is  no  fit  judge  of  that  man,  whose  ex- ' 
alted  passion,  rising  above  all  earthly  desire,  knows  no  other  bounds  but 
the  infinite  longing  of  an  immortal  soul. 

Let  us  now  proceed  with  our  narrative. 

Notwithstanding  the  harsh  and  unfriendly  manner  in  which  he 
had  been  treated,  Mr.  Randolph  returned  to  Washington  in  Decem- 
ber, with  every  disposition  to  harmonize  and  co-operate  with  the  re- 
publican party.  His  difference  from  them  last  session,  was  on  a 
question  of  mere  expediency — the  propriety  of  which  time  alone  could 
*rove.  Unless  they  intended  to  abandon,  in  the  conduct  of  affairs, 
all  the  principles  they  professed  while  in  a  minority,  it  was  impossi- 
ble for  him  to  co-operate  with  any  other  body  of  men.  However 
much  he  might  be  irritated  in  his  feelings  towards  certain  individuals, 
he  did  not  allow  that  circumstance  so  far  to  influence  his  judgment  as 
to  cause  him  to  vote  for  or  against  a  measure  merely  to  be  in  op- 
position to  them.  Accordingly  we  find  him,  on  most  occasions,  work- 
ing in  harmony  with  the  friends  of  the  administration ;  and  there 
seems  to  have  been  a  good  feeling  restored  between  him  and  some  of 
the  leading  members.  It  is  true,  there  was  no  important  question 
on  which  there  was  likely  to  be  a  diversity  of  sentiment.  The  non- 
importation law,  by  the  terms  of  its  enactment,  was  not  to  go  into 
operation  till  the  last  of  November;  and  now  that  the  time  had 
arrived,  it  was  proposed,  on  the  part  of  its  friends,  to  postpone  it  to 
a  still  later  period.  It  was  alleged  that  the  British  commissioners 
desired  not  a  repeal,  but  a  postponement  merely,  while  negotiations 
were  pending  between  the  two  countries.  Of  course  Mr.  Randolph 
readily  united  with  them  in  this  measure ;  and  it  is  not  surprising 
that  he  took  occasion  to  intimate  that,  in  his  judgment,  time  had 
proved  the  impolicy  and  inemciency  of  the  original  enactment.  But 
the  only  question  of  any  importance  to  which  their  attention  was 
called,  during  the  last  session  of  the  ninth  Congress,  was  the  con- 
spiracy of  Aaron  Burr.  After  his  bitter  disappointments,  both  on 
the  national  theatre  and  in  New- York,  his  adopted  State — after  the 
sudden  and  irretrievable  fall  of  this  ambitious  man,  and  when  the 
cold  eye  of  neglect  had  chilled,  like  a  frost,  the  last  spark  of  patriot- 
ism in  the  breast  of  this  legalized  murderer,  he  had  gone  into  the 


256  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

great  Mississippi  Valley,  in  search  of  some  adventure  adequate  to  his 
genius  and  his  ambition.  Here,  indeed,  was  a  vast  field  for  enter 
prise — abundant  material  for  any  undertaking  that  might  require 
perseverance,  privation,  and  heroic  daring — there  was  also  a  little 
discontent  in  the  popular  mind,  in  some  parts  of  the  West,  which 
might  have  inspired  a  less  sanguine  man  than  Aaron  Burr  with  hopes 
of  tampering  with  their  patriotism. 

Soon  rumors  came  that  this  man  was  planning  and  organizing 
some  vast  expedition,  the  precise  object  of  which  was  the  subject  only 
of  conjecture.  Whether  it  was  his  design  to  make  war  on  the 
Spanish  province  of  Mexico,  or  whether,  in  co-operation  with  Spanij 
he  was  aiding  her  in  the  long  cherished  scheme  of  separating  the 
western  country  from  the  United  States,  none  could  tell;  but  all 
agreed  that  the  genius  and  the  resources  of  the  chief  director  of  the 
enterprise  were  adequate  to  any  desperate  adventure,  whether  of 
foreign  aggression  or  domestic  treason. 

The  Executive  was  soon  apprised  of  the  state  of  things,  and  were 
endeavoring  to  get  all  the  information  they  could  in  regard  to  the 
matter.  But  the  newspapers  were  so  full  of  rumors  and  statements, 
implicating  the  Spanish  Government  as  the  prime  mover  of  this  con- 
spiracy, that  Mr.  Randolph,  after  having  waited  five  or  six  weeks  for 
official  intelligence,  at  length  moved  a  resolution  to  call  on  the  Presi- 
dent for  information.  We  give  his  speech  entire  on  this  occasion,  as 
it  shows  his  views  of  the  Spanish  question  twelve  months  after  his 
separation  from  the  administration  on  that  subject. 

"  In  the  President's  Message,"  said  Mr.  Randolph,  '•  at  the  com- 
mencement of  the  session,  he  announced  to  us  as  follows  : 

" '  Having  received  information,  that  in  another  part  of  the  United 
States  a  great  number  of  private  individuals  were  combining  toge- 
ther, arming  and  organizing  themselves,  contrary  to  law,  to  carry  on 
a  military  expedition  against  the  territories  of  Spain,  I  thought  it 
necessary,  by  proclamation,  as  well  as  by  special  orders,  to  take  mea- 
sures for  preventing  and  suppressing  this  enterprise,  for  seizing  the 
vessels,  arms,  and  other  means  provided  for  it,  and  for  arresting  and 
bringing  to  justice  its  authors  and  abettors.' 

"  So  long,"  said  Mr.  Randolph,  "  as  the  illegal  movements  of  these 
persons  were  supposed  to  be  directed  against  a  foreign  nation, 
although  the  interest  of  the  United  States,  and  their  honor  too, 


AARON  BURR.  257 

that  prompt  and  decisive  measures  should  be  taken  for  sup< 
pressing  their  designs,  yet  I  believe  there  is  no  gentleman  in  this 
House  but  will- agree  with  me  in  the  opinion  that  the  United  States, 
and  this  House  in  particular,  could  not  feel  so  deep  and  lively  an  in- 
terest against  a  conspiracy  of  that  kind  as  against  one  for  the  subver- 
sion of  the  Union,  and  perhaps  of  the  liberties  of  those  who  compose 
it.  I  have  waited  with  anxious  solicitude  for  some  information  in 
relation  to  this  subject,  that  might  be  depended  upon — for  some 
official  information.  I  contented  myself  for  a  long  time  with  the 
belief,  inasmuch  as  no  information  had  been  given  to  the  House, 
that  there  were  imperious  reasons  connected  with  the  public  welfare 
which  forbade  a  disclosure ;  but  the  aspect  which  affairs  have  taken 
on  the  Mississippi  is  such,  that  I  can  no  longer  reconcile  it  to  my 
sense  of  duty,  as  the  independent  representative  of  an  independent 
people,  to  rest  satisfied  in  that  state  of  supineness  and  apathy  in 
which  the  House  has  been  satisfied  to  remain  for  the  six  or  seven 
weeks  past.  Sir,  from  the  information  I  have  been  able  to  collect — 
and  it  is  such  that  I  am  obliged  to  place  great  if  not  implicit  reliance 
on  it — it  does  appear  to  me,  that  if  the  government  of  Spain  is  in 
any  wise  connected  in  these  measures,  it  is  concerned  not  as  the  de- 
fendant, but  as  the  plaintiff — as  the  aggressing  party,  and  not  as  the 
party  on  whom  the  aggression  is  made.  So  long  as  I  was  induced  to 
believe,  that  by  withholding  correct  information  from  the  Legislature 
the  substantial  interests  of  the  nation  would  be  more  essentially  sub- 
served than  by  laying  it  before  them,  so  long,  though  not  without 
reluctance,  I  acquiesced  in  its  being  withheld.  But  from  the  hostile 
appearances  on  the  Mississippi,  it  seems  to  me  that  the  state  of  things 
is  such  as  requires  the  most  prompt  and  efficacious  measures  for 
securing  the  Union.  The  bubble  is  said  to  have  burst,  and  there  no 
longer  remains  any  reason  why  the  information  in  the  possession  of 
the  Executive  ought  to  be  withheld.  But  to  guard  against  all  pos- 
sible objection,  I  have  endeavored  so  to  frame  the  motion  as  to  do 
away  with  any  objection  arising  from  this  consideration.  It  does 
appear — from  the  newspapers  it  is  true,  but  under  a  much  higher  sanc- 
tion than  is  generally  attached  to  information  received  through  such  a 
channel — it  does  appear  in  evidence,  under  the  sanction  of  an  exami- 
nation before  the  legislature  of  Kentucky,  that  ever  since  the  peace 
of  1783,  Spain  has  incessantly  labored  to  detach  the  western  people 


258  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

from  the  Union ;  that  subsequently  to  the  peace  of  San  Lorenzo  she 
has  carried  on  intrigues,  and  in  the  most  faithless  manner  withheld 
acceding  to  its  stipulations,  in  order  to  excite  a  spirit  in  the  western 
country  subversive  of  the  Union  ;  that  she  subsequently  made  a  pro- 
position of  the  most  flagitious  kind  to  several  leading  characters  in 
Kentucky,  and  as  I  believe  elsewhere.  It  seems,  indeed,  that  she  has 
never  lost  sight  of  this  object;  and  I  believe  she  never  will  lose 
sight  of  it  so  long  as  she  shall  find  materials  to  work  upon,  or  a  sha- 
dow of  hope  that  she  will  succeed.  It  appears  to  me  that  she  has 
found  those  materials ;  that  they  are  of  the  most  dangerous  nature  ; 
that  they  are  now  in  operation ;  and  that,  perhaps,  at  this  moment, 
while  I  am  addressing  you,  at  least  for  a  time,  the  fate  of  the  West- 
ern country  may  have  been  decided. 

"  Sir,  this  subject  offers  strong  arguments,  in  addition  to  the  nume- 
rous reasons  offered  at  the  present  session  of  Congress,  to  justify  the 
policy  avowed  by  certain  gentlemen  during  the  last  session,  so  highly 
condemned ;  and  if  I  am  correctly  informed,  the  other  branch  of 
the  Legislature  are  now  acting  on  that  policy  so  condemned  and 
despised. 

"We  have  had  a  bill  before  us  authorizing  the  President  to  accept 
volunteers.  A  member  of  the  committee  with  whom  this  bill  origi- 
nated, and  with  whom  I  have  the  pleasure  of  concurring,  intimately 
connected  and  domesticated  with  the  Secretary  of  War,  did  make  a 
proposition  before  that  committee,  substantially  the  same  with  that 
rejected  the  last  session — to  augment  the  military  forces  to  meet  the 
pressing  exigencies  of  the  times ;  and  which  I  presume  must  have 
had  the  sanction  of  that  officer.  Is  there  a  man  in  this  House  who 
at  this  day  doubts,  that  if  the  Government — I  mean  the  Executive 
and  Legislature — had  taken  a  manly  and  decisive  attitude  towards 
Spain,  and  instead  of  pen,  ink,  and  paper,  had  given  men  and  arms — 
is  there  a  man  who  disbelieves  that  not  only  Spain  would  have  been 
overawed,  but  that  those  domestic  traitors  also  would  have  been  in- 
timidated and  overawed,  whose  plans  threaten  to  be  so  dangerous  ? 
Would  any  man  have  dreamed  of  descending  the  Mississippi  at  the 
head  of  an  unprincipled  banditti,  if  New  Orleans  had  been  fortified, 
and  strong  fortifications  erected  in  its  neighborhood  ?  What  did  we 
then  hear  1  Money !  dollars  and  cents !  Is  there  not  now  every 
reason  to  believe,  especially  when  we  consider  the  superintendence 


AARON  BURR.  259 

under  winch  the  expenses  are  incurred,  that  the  saving  of  the  cam- 
paign on  the  Sabine,  and  the  saving  of  the  costly  measures  taken  by 
the  commander-in-chief  on  his  own  responsibility,  would  have  been 
equal  to  the  expense  of  raising  and  maintaining  for  one  year  the 
additional  forces  proposed  at  the  last  session  to  be  raised.  There 
can  be  no  doubt,  but  that  on  the  piinciple  of  economy,  without 
taking  into  view  the  effect  on  the  Union,  the  United  States  would 
have  been  gainers.  A  spectator,  not  in  the  habit  of  reading  our  pub- 
lic prints,  or  of  conversing  with  individuals  out  of  doors,  but  who 
should  draw  his  ideas  of  the  situation  of  the  country  from  the  pro- 
ceedings of  this  House  during  the  present  session,  would  be  led  to 
infer  that  there  never  existed  in  any  nation  a  greater  degree  of  peace, 
tranquillity,  or  union,  at  home  or  abroad,  than  in  the  United  States 
at  this  time ;  and  yet,  what  is  the  fact  ?  That  the  United  States  are 
not  only  threatened  with  external  war,  but  with  conspiracies  and 
treasons,  the  more  alarming  from  their  not  being  defined.  And  yet 
we  sit,  and  adjourn;  adjourn,  and  sit;  take  things  as  schoolboys, 
do  as  we  are  bid,  and  ask  no  questions.  I  cannot  reconcile  this  line 
of  conduct  to  my  ideas  of  the  duty  of  a  member  on  this  floor.  Yes, 
the  youngest  member  of  the  federal  family  has  been  found  to  be  the 
first  to  ward  off  the  impending  danger,  while  the  eldest  members  are 
sleeping,  snoring,  and  dozing  over  their  liberties  at  home. 

Under  this  view  of  the  subject,  I  beg  leave  to  offer  the  following 
resolution : 

"  Kesolved— That  the  President  of  the  United  States  be  and  he 
is  hereby  requested  to  lay  before  this  House  any  information  in  pos- 
session of  the  Executive,  except  such  as  he  may  deem  the  public  wel- 
fare to  require  not  to  be  disclosed,  touching  any  illegal  combination 
of  private  individuals  against  the  peace  and  safety  of  the  Union,  or 
any  military  expedition  planned  by  such  individuals  against  the  ter- 
ritories of  any  power  in  amity  with  the  United  States ;  together  with 
the  measures  which  the  Executive  has  pursued  and  proposes  to  take, 
for  suppressing  or  defeating  the  same." 

The  resolution  was  carried  by  a  large  majority.  As  more  authen- 
tic news  came  of  the  designs  and  actual  movements  of  the  conspira- 
tors, the  country  became  still  more  alarmed  ;  every  one  of  discern- 
ment saw  the  danger  of  this  enterprise ;  they  knew  the  combustible 
materials  that  artful  intriguer  had  to  work  upon,  and  could  readily 
18 


260  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

perceive  how  he  might  take  advantage  of  the  unfriendly  relation;! 
existing  between  the  United  States  and  Spain,  and  by  the  secret  aid, 
if  not  the  open  co-operation  of  that  discontented  power,  effect  a  dis- 
memberment of  the  Union. 

The  Senate,  in  their  alarm,  went  so  far  as  to  suspend  the  "  Ha- 
beas Corpus  Act,"  which  is  never  resorted  to  except  in  extreme  cases 
of  danger  to  the  peace  and  integrity  of  the  country.  This  act  of  sus- 
pension was  arrested  in  the  House.  Mr.  Randolph  was  most  active 
and  efficient  in  his  opposition  :  he  denounced  it  as  unnecessary,  oppres- 
sive, and  tyrannical.  Most  fortunately  it  was  rejected  by  the  House, 
and  can  never  be  set  up  as  a  precedent. 

Aaron  Burr,  it  is.  well  known,  was  arrested  in  Alabama,  and 
brought  to  trial  in  Virginia,  on  the  ground  that  he  had  levied  his 
forces  and  commenced  his  treasonable  acts  within  the  borders  of  that 
State.  The  trial  took  place  in  the  city  of  Richmond,  in  the  month 
of  May,  1807  ;  it  excited  a  great  deal  of  interest,  and  brought  toge- 
ther many  of  the  most  distinguished  men  of  the  Union.  John  Ran- 
dolph was  foreman  of  the  grand  jury  that  brought  in  a  true  bill 
against  Aaron  Burr  of  high  treason  against  his  country.  It  is  not 
our  purpose  to  go  into  the  details  of  this  trial,  or  the  incidents  of  the 
conspiracy  :  they  belong  to  the  general  historian,  and  must  form  an 
interesting  and  important  chapter  in  the  history  of  those  critical  and 
eventful  times. 

During  his  sojourn  in  Richmond  on  this  occasion,  Mr.  Randolph 
formed  many  new  and  valuable  acquaintances.  Mr.  Wirt  was  at  this 
time  collecting  materials  for  his  Life  of  Patrick  Henry.  He  was 
conversing  one  day  on  that  subject  in  a  company  of  gentlemen,  when 
Mr.  Tazewell,  who  was  present,  said  to  him  :  "  Mr.  Wirt,  you  should, 
by  all  means,  see  John  Randolph  on  that  subject ;  he  knows  more 
of  Patrick  Henry  than  any  other  man  now  living."  Mr.  Wirt  con- 
fessed that  he  was  not  personally  acquainted  with  that  gentleman. 
The  difficulty  was,  how  to  bring  them  together  ;  for  Tazewell  said  it 
would  not  do  to  make  a  formal  introduction,  and  say,  "  This  is  Mr. 
Wirt,  sir,  who  is  desirous  of  obtaining  from  you  some  materials  for 
his  Life  of  Henry.  In  that  case  Randolph  would  not  open  his  lips. 
However,"  said  he,  "  I  will  contrive  a  meeting."  In  a  few  days  Mr. 
Wirt  was  invited  to  Tazewell's  room,  where  he  found  Randolph  and 
other  gentlemen  assembled.  Very  soon,  in  the  course  of  conversa 


AARON  BURR.  261 

tion,  as  if  by  accident,  the  name  of  Patrick  Henry  was  mentioned. 
Randolph  immediately  caught  up  the  theme,  and  delighted  the 
company  with  a  graphic  account  of  his  personal  appearance,  his 
habits,  and  his  eloquence.  He  frequently  rose  from  his  seat,  and 
repeated  passages  from  the  speeches,  and  imitated  the  peculiar  style 
and  fervid  manner  of  the  renowned  orator.  Wirt  was  so  much 
pleased,  that  when  he  retired  he  wrote  a  note  to  Mr.  Randolph, 
thanking  him  for  the  rich  treat  he  had  given  him,  and  begging  that 
he  would  put  down  in  writing  the  substance  of  what  he  had 
said.  Randolph  now  saw  the  trick  that  was  played  upon  him.  He 
immediately  went  to  his  friend  Tazewell,  and  chided  him  soundly  for 
having  made  an  exhibition  of  him  in  that  way.  Tazewell  turned  it 
off  as  a  pleasant  joke  ;  nevertheless,  the  biographer  of  Patrick  Henry 
never  got  from  that  quarter  any  additional  materials  for  the  subject 
of  his  memoir.  It  was  on  this  occasion  also  that  Mr.  Randolph  first 
made  the  acquaintance  of  Dr.  John  Brockenbrough,  who  from  that 
time  to  the  day  of  his  death  was  the  most  intimate  friend  of  his  bo- 
som — the  friend  to  whom  he  daily  unfolded  without  reserve  or  fear 
of  exposure  the  inmost  thoughts  and  feelings  of  his  heart.  The  doc- 
tor was  a  member  of  the  grand  jury,  and  the  acquaintance  commenced 
in  a  way  peculiar  to  John  Randolph.  K  I  did  not  seek  his  acquaint- 
ance," says  the  doctor,  "  because  it  had  been  impressed  on  my  mind 
that  he  was  a  man  of  a  wayward  and  irritable  temper ;  but  as  he  knew 
that  I  had  been  a  school-fellow  of  his  brothers,  Richard  and  The- 
odoric  (while  he  was  in  Bermuda  for  the  benefit  of  his  health)  Uo 
very  courteously  made  advances  to  me  to  converse  about  his  brothers, 
to  whom  he  had  been  much  devoted,  and  ever  afterwards  I  found  him 
a  steady  and  confiding  friend.  He  frequently  passed  much  of  his 
time  at  my  house,  and  was  the  most  agreeable  and  interesting  inmate 
you  can  imagine.  No  little  personal  attention  was  ever  lost  on  him, 
and  he  rendered  himself  peculiarly  a  favorite  with  my  wife  by  his 
conversation  on  belles-lettres,  in  which  he  was  so  well  versed ;  and  he 
read  (in  which  he  excelled)  to  her  very  many  of  the  choice  passages  of 
Milton  and  Shakspeare.  Mr.  Randolph  also  had  another  remarkable 
quality,  irritable  and  sensitive  as  he  was ;  when  alone  with  a  friend 
he  would  not  only  bear  with  patience,  but  would  invite  a  full  expres- 
sion of  his  friend's  opinion  on  his  conduct,  or  acts  and  sentiments. 
on  any  subject,  either  private  or  public." 


202  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

CHAPTEE  XXXIII. 

EMBARGO — THE  ILIAD  OF  ALL  OUR  WOES. 

BY  Jay's  treaty  of  1794,  our  difficulties  with  Great  Britain, 
though  not  settled,  were  quieted  for  the  time  being  ;  while  in  conse* 
quenee  of  the  same  cause  we  were  nearly  involved  in  an  open  rup- 
ture with  France. 

The  change  of  administration  and  the  convention  with  France 
in  1800  restored  a  more  friendly  feeling  between  the  two  repub- 
lics—and the  purchase  of  Louisiana  in  1803  was  accomplished  with 
more  ease  than  Mr.  Jefferson  himself  could  have  expected.  Our 
commerce  for  the  first  four  years  of  the  new  administration  was 
exceedingly  prosperous — and  the  management  of  our  domestic 
affairs  was  conducted  on  strictly  republican  principles.  Had  peace 
continued  in  Europe  during  the  remainder  of  his  term,  Mr.  Jeffer- 
son's would  have  been  a  most  brilliant  and  successful  career.  But 
after  the  rupture  of  the  treaty  of  Amiens  and  the  renewal  of  hos- 
tilities between  the  great  belligerent  powers,  an  unfavoralle  change 
took  place  in  our  foreign  relations. 

By  a -series  of  extraordinary  victories,  Great  Britain  had  annihi- 
lated the  combined  fleets  of  France,  Spain  and  Holland,  and  made 
herself  undisputed  mistress  of  the  sea.  The  trade  between  these 
countries  and  their  colonies,  their  navies  being  destroyed,  was  now 
for  the  first  time  opened  to  foreign  bottoms.  The  United  States 
were  the  only  people  that  could  avail  themselves  of  this  advantage. 
Their  commercial  marine  in  consequence  was  greatly  enlarged,  and 
commerce  itself  was  more  than  ever  expanded  and  prosperous. 

But  England  soon  perceived  that  so  long  as  this  kind  of  traffic 
was  permitted  she  would  derive  no  advantage  from  her  naval  victo- 
ries. She  commenced  a  series  of  measures  to  put  an  end  to  it. 

Bonaparte,  in  the  mean  time,  having  elevated  himself  to  the 
imperial  throne  of  France,  had  conquered  nearly  all  Europe, 
driven  the  Russian  bear  back  into  his  polar  regions,  and  was  now 
seriously  contemplating  the  destruction  of  England  as  the  only 
barrier  in  the  way  of  universal  conquest.  But  sad  experience  had 


EMBARGO.  263 

taught  him  that  the  only  way  in  which  he  could  reach  that  sea-girt 
empire  was  through  her  manufactures  and  commerce.  His  restric- 
tive system  on  the  continent  was  designed  to  sap  and  undermine 
these  two  sources  of  English  wealth  and  power.  In  their  gigantic 
efforts  to  destroy  each  other,  these  great  belligerents  paid  no  respect 
to  neutral  rights  or  to  the  laws  of  nations — might  became  right,  and 
Robin  Hood's  law  of  the  strongest  was  the  only  available  rule. 
Whatever  could  affect  the  other  injuriously  was  unhesitatingly 
adopted  without  regard  to  the  effect  it  might  have  on  the  rights  of 
neutral  parties.  They  even  resolved  there  should  be  no  neutrals  in 
the  contest ;  and  as  the  United  States  were  the  only  independent 
power  left,  this  warfare  on  their  commerce  was  intended  to  force 
them  into  the  controversy  on  the  one  side  or  the  other. 

The  first  act  of  hostility  was  commenced  by  Great  Britain  on  the 
16th  May,  1806  :  the  British  government,  by  an  order  of  the  King  in 
council,  decreed  that  all  the  rivers  and  ports  from  Brest  to  the  Elbe 
(being  about  a  thousand  miles  of  sea-coast)  should  be  considered  in 
a  state  of  blockade.  Where  a  port  is  actually  blockaded  by  an 
adequate  force,  any  vessel  attempting  to  enter  is  liable  to  be  captur- 
ed by  the  besieging  squadron,  and  to  be  condemned  as  lawful  prize. 
But  where  no  fleet  was  stationed  on  the  prohibited  coast,  and  the 
blockade  merely  consisted  in  a  decree  of  the  government,  all  vessels 
laden  or  sailing  for  the  ports  decreed  to  be  in  a  state  of  siege,  were 
liable  to  be  captured  and  condemned  wherever  found.  This  was  re- 
garded as  a  gross  violation  of  neutral  rights ;  and  on  the  21st 
November,  Bonaparte  commenced  his  acts  of  retaliation.  After  charg- 
ing England  with  disregarding  the  law  of  nations  and  the  rights  of 
neutrality,  and  with  declaring  places  in  a  state  of  blockade  before 
which  she  hau  not  a  ship,  he  declared  all  the  British  Isles  in  a 
state  of  blockade,  and  prohibited  all  trade  and  commerce  with 
them.  He  provided  also  in  the  decree  (Berlin  decree)  for  the  cap- 
ture and  condemnation  of  English  produce  and  manufactures,  and 
prohibited  all  neutral  ships  coming  direct  from  England  or  the 
English  colonies,  or  having  been  there,  from  entering  the  ports  of 
France. 

By  this  decree  all  commerce  between  England  and  the  conti- 
nent and  between  the  United  States  and  England  was  intended  to 
be  cut  off.  Any  neutral  vessel  (and  there  were  none  but  those  be- 


264  L]FE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

longing  to  citizens  of  the  United  States)  sailing  for  England,  01 
from  an  English  port  to  the  continent,  was  subject  to  capture  and 
condemnation.  The  French  minister,  in  consequence  of  a  remon- 
strance on  the  part  of  the  United  States,  gave  it  as  his  opinion,  that 
the  decree  of  blockade  would  be  so  qualified  by  the  existing  treaty 
as  not  to  operate  on  American  commerce.  Not  much  respect,  how- 
ever, was  paid  to  this  opinion  by  French  cruisers ;  and  in  September 
1807  the  decree  was  ordered  to  be  fully  enforced  against  all  neutrals. 
In  the  mean  time  a  negotiation  was  going  on  between  the  com- 
missioners of  England  and  the  United  States.  On  the  30th  of 
December,  1806,  a  treaty  was  signed  settling  amicably,  if  not  satis- 
factorily, all  the  difficulties  between  the  two  nations.  But  Bona- 
parte's Berlin  decree  having  come  to  their  knowledge,  the  British 
commissioners,  in  a  note  delivered  by  order  of  the  King,  declared  to 
the  American  commissioners,  that  if  France  should  execute  that 
decree,  and  the  United  States  acquiesce  in  it,  the  British  govern- 
ment would  hold  themselves  discharged  from  the  treaty  and  issue 
retaliatory  orders  against  neutral  commerce  with  France.  Had  the 
treaty  been  ratified  on  that  condition,  it  would  have  pledged  the 
United  States  to  such  a  co-operation  with  Great  Britain  against 
France,  as  must  have  ended  in  hostilities  with  the  one  and  alliance 
with  the  other.  This  was  the  object  of  England — but  Mr.  Jefferson 
was  determined  if  possible  to  continue  in  his  position  of  neutrality. 
The  treaty  was  received  before  the  adjournment  of  Congress,  the  4th 
March,  1807;  but  he  boldly  suppressed  it,  and  would  not  even  sub- 
mit it  to  the  Senate  for  their  consideration.  He  remembered  too 
well  the  effect  of  Jay's  treaty  on  the  public  mind  to  venture  one 
himself.  A  total  surrender  of  all  her  claims  by  Great  Britain  at  that 
time  would  not  have  been  acceptable,  because  it  would  have  forced 
the  United  States  into  an  alliance  with  England,  contrary  to  the 
popular  sentiment,  which  was  decidedly  in  favor  of  the  French  cause. 
In  times  of  peace  that  treaty  would  have  been  favorably  received; 
but  under  existing  circumstances,  the  President  had  no  intention  of 
suffering  himself  to  be  treaty-foundered  as  his  predecessors  had  been. 
Mr.  Monroe,  the  principal  negotiator,  was  much  offended  at  tho 
rejection  or  rather  unceremonious  suppression  of  his  treaty ;  he  had 
hoped  to  gain  much  credit  by  this  act  of  pacification. 

In  the  mean  time  the  affair  of  the  Chesapeake  took  place,  which 


EMBARGO.  2  65 

greatly  inflamed  the  public  mind.  A  British  squadron  it  seems  was 
lying  near  the  mouth  of  Hampton  Roads,  in  Lynnhaven  Bay ;  sev- 
eral sailors  deserted  and  took  refuge  on  board  the  American  frigate 
Chesapeake,  then  in  the  port  of  Norfolk,  fitting  out  for  sea,  the  sail- 
ors were  demanded,  but  were  refused  to  be  given  up  on  the  ground 
that  they  were  American  citizens.  As  the  Chesapeake,  on  her  des- 
tined voyage,  passed  out  of  the  Capes,  she  was  followed  by  a  Brit- 
ish vessel  detached  from  the  squadron  for  that  purpose  ;  so  soon  as 
the  Chesapeake  got  out  of  neutral  waters  into  the  ocean,  she  was 
fired  upon,  her  hull  and  rigging  were  much  injured  and  several  per- 
sons were  killed  ;  she  was  boarded,  the  sailors  recaptured,  and -some 
of  them  were  put  to  death.  This  gross  outrage,  though  unauthor- 
ized and  disavowed  by  the  government,  had  an  unhappy  effect  on  the 
public  mind  in  the  United  States.  A  spirit  of  revenge  seized  /lie 
people  ;  and  although  England  sent  over  a  special  minister  to  settle 
the  difficulty,  a  slight  punctilio  in  the  forms  and  etiquette  of  diplomacy 
was  seized  upon  as  a  pretext  to  prevent  any  advancements  or  ex- 
planations on  the  part  of  the  British  envoy. 

Such  was  the  situation  of  affairs,  when,  on  the  llth  of  November. 
1807,  before  the  Berlin  decree  had  been  enforced  against  American 
vessels,  and  while  the  government  had  reason  to  hope  it  would  not  be 
enforced,  Great  Britain  executed  her  threat  intimated  at  the  signing 
of  the  treaty.  By  an  order  in  council  (with  a  preamble,  charging 
France  with  a  want  of  respect  to  the  laws  of  nations  and  rights  of 
neutrality),  it  was  decreed  that  all  the  ports  and  places  of  France 
and  her  allies,  or  any  other  country  at  war  with  his  majesty,  and  all 
other  ports  and  places  in  Europe  from  which,  although  not  at  war 
with  his  majesty,  the  British  flag  is  excluded,  and  all  ports  and 
places  in  the  colonies  belonging  to  his  majesty's  enemies,  shall  from 
henceforth  be  subject  to  the  same  restrictions,  in  point  of  trade  and 
navigation,  (with  certain  exceptions.)  as  if  the  same  were  actually 
blockaded  by  his  majesty's  naval  forces,  in  the  most  strict  and  vigor- 
ous manner. 

By  these  acts  of  England  and  France,  professing  to  be  acts  of  re- 
taliation, and  not  at  all  in  a  spirit  of  hostility  to  the  United  States, 
the  neutral  commerce  of  America  was  entirely  destroyed.  Not  a  ves- 
sel could  sail  to  Europe  or  to  England,  to  the  vast  colonial  regions  of 
North  and  South  America,  and  the  East  and  West  Indies,  without 


266  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

being  subject  to  capture  and  condemnation.  The  trade  of  the  whole 
world,  in  fact,  was  interdicted,  and  could  not  be  carried  on  without 
the  risk  of  forfeiture.  Both  belligerents,  however,  had  distinctly  in- 
timated that  if  the  United  States  would  side  with  them,  every  advan- 
tage should  be  given  to  their  commerce.  But  this  is  what  they  did 
not  intend  to  do ;  they  did  not  mean  to  surrender  all  the  advantages 
they  had  hitherto  enjoyed  from  their  neutral  position,  if  it  could  be 
avoided.  To  side  with  England  was  war  with  France — with  France 
was  war  with  England.  Mr.  Jefferson  was  not  prepared  for  either 
alternative.  What  was  to  be  done  1  Commerce,  left  thus  exposed, 
must  be  ground  into  powder  between  the  upper  and  nether  millstone, 
and  be  scattered  as  chaff  before  the  winds  of  heaven.  The  Presi- 
dent advised  a  dignified  retirement  from  the  ocean,  until  the  storm 
should  have  passed  over.  For  the  fir£t  time  since  our  difficulties 
with  foreign  nations,  he  took  the  responsibility  of  advising  a  definite 
course  of  action.  In  a  secret  message  to  Congress,  about  the  19th  of 
December,  1807,  he  recommended  that  an  embargo  should  be  laid  on 
all  American  vessels.  In  a  few  days  a  bill  to  that  effect  was  passed 
into  a  law :  all  American  vessels  were  prohibited,  under  high  penal- 
ties, from  sailing  to  foreign  ports,  or  from  port  to  port  within  the 
United  States,  without  license. 

The  measure  of  an  embargo  was  at  first  advocated  by  Mr.  Ran- 
dolph. He  introduced  the  resolution,  in  accordance  with  the  Presi- 
dent's message ;  but  the  bill  which  was  finally  adopted,  originated  in 
the  Senate  ;  it  contained  provisions  that  he  could  not  approve,  and  he 
opposed  it  on  its  passage.  This  is  given  as  an  instance  of  Mr. 
Randolph's  fickleness  and  want  of  object  in  his  parliamentary  course. 
The  debates  were  conducted  in  secret — in  fact,  the  bill  was  hurried 
through  the  forms  of  legislation,  with  scarcely  any  debate.  We  do 
not  know,  therefore,  what  was  said  on  the  occasion,  and  are  left  to 
infer  the  grounds  of  Mr.  Randolph's  opposition  to  the  bill,  from  his 
general  vbws  on  the  subject  of  an  embargo.  He  approved  of  such  a 
step  in  the  beginning,  as  a  war  measure.  An  embargo  of  sixty  or 
ninety  days,  collecting  and  protecting  all  our  resources,  followed  by  a 
declaration  of  war,  at  the  end  of  that  period,  against  that  one  of  the 
belligerents  whose  restrictive  course  manifested  the  strongest  spirit  of 
hostility,  would  have  fulfilled  Mr.  Randolph's  idea  of  such  a  meas- 
ure. But  such  was  not  the  intention  of  the  friends  of  the  adminis- 


EMBARGO.  267 

tration,  in  passing  the  act  now  under  consideration.  It  was  designed 
as  a  measure  to  be  permanent  for  an  indefinite  period.  France  and 
England  were  told  that  it  was  not  conceived  in  a  spirit  of  hostility 
to  them,  but  was  merely  intended  as  a  municipal  regulation.  The 
truth  was,  however,  and  they  did  not  fail  to  perceive  it,  that  the  whole 
object  of  withdrawing  our  commerce  from  the?  ocean,  was  to  operate 
on  those  two  nations.  It  was  intended  to  starve  France  and  her  de- 
pendencies, and  to  break  England,  unless  they  would  abandon  their 
absurd  pretensions  over  the  rights  of  neutral  nations.  But  when  this 
happy  result  would  take  place,  it  was  impossible  to  tell.  For  a  meas- 
ure of  this  kind  to  come  home  to  the  bosom  and  the  business  of  a 
great  nation,  must  necessarily  take  a  very  long  time.  Indeed,  it  was 
reasonable  to  suppose  that  the  desired  object  never  could  be  accom- 
plished in  that  way.  The  resources  of  England  and  of  France  were 
too  great  and  too  varied,  to  be  seriously  affected  by  a  suspension  of 
even  the  whole  of  American  commerce.  The  event  proved  what,  it 
would  seem,  a  little  forethought  ought  to  have  anticipated.  After  the 
embargo  had  been  in  operation  for  twelve  months,  those  two  nations 
were  no  nearer  being  forced  into  terms  than  they  were  at  first ;  while 
their  spirit  of  hostility  was  greatly  exasperated. 

But  what  effect  did  the  measure  have  on  affairs  at  home — on  the 
character  of  our  own  people  1  Here,  it  was  disastrous  in  the  extreme. 
An  embargo  is  the  most  heroic  remedy  that  can  be  applied  to  state 
diseases.  It  must  soon  run  its  course,  and  kill  or  cure  in  a  short 
time.  It  is  like  one  holding  his  breath  to  rush  through  flame  or  me- 
phitic  gas :  the  suspension  may  be  endured  for  a  short  time,  but  the 
lungs  at  length  must  be  inflated,  even  at  the  hazard  of  suffocation. 
Commerce  is  the  breath  that  fills  the  lungs  of  a  nation,  and  a  total 
suspension  of  it  is  like  taking  away  vital*  air  from  the  human  system ; 
convulsions  or  death  must  soon  follow.  By  the  embargo,  the  farmer, 
the  merchant,  the  mechanic,  the  capitalist,  the  ship-owner,  the  sailor, 
and  the  day-laborer,  found  themselves  suddenly  arrested  in  their  daily 
business.  Crops  were  left  to  rot  in  the  warehouses;  ships  in  the 
docks :  capital  was  compelled  to  seek  new  channels  for  investment, 
while  labor  was  driven  to  every  shift  to  keep  from  starvation. 

Sailors,  seeing  the  uncertain  continuation  of  this  state  of  things, 
flocked  in  great  numbers  to  the  British  navy.  That  service  which,  in 
former  years,  they  most  dreaded,  necessity  now  compelled  them  to 


268  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

seek  with  avidity.  Smuggling  was  extensively  carried  on  through 
the  whole  extent  of  our  wide-spread  borders ;  the  revenue  was 
greatly  reduced ;  and  the  morals  of  the  people  were  corrupted  by 
the  vast  temptations  held  out  to  evade  the  laws.  It  is  difficult  to  tell 
on  what  classes  of  the  community  this  disastrous  measure  did  not 
operate.  On  the  planting  and  shipping  interest,  perhaps,  it  was  most 
serious.  On  the  one,  it  was  more  immediate,  on  the  other,  more 
permanent,  in  its  evil  consequences. 

In  cities  and  commercial  regions,  capital  and  labor  are  easily  di- 
verted from  one  employment  to  another.  That  which  to-day  is  profit- 
ably engaged  in  commerce,  may  to-morrow,  if  an  inducement  offers, 
be  as  readily  turned  into  successful  manufactures.  Not  so  with  the 
labor  and  capital  employed  in  agriculture ;  here  the  change  jnust  be 
slow.  But  with  the  capital  and  the  kind  of  labor  employed  in  the 
tobacco  and  cotton  planting  of  the  South,  no  change,  to  any  percepti- 
ble degree,  was  possible.  The  Southern  people,  being  wholly  agri- 
cultural, could  live  a  few  years  without  the  sale  of  their  crops ;  but 
the  Northern  people,  being  mainly  dependent  on  their  labor  and  com- 
merce, could  not  exist  with  an  embargo  of  long  duration.  Hence  we 
find  a  patient  endurance  of  its  evils  on  the  part  of  the  South,  while  a 
spirit  of  insurrection  pervaded  the  people  of  the  North.  In  this  rest- 
less condition,  much  of  their  capital  and  labor  were  permanently  di- 
rected to  manufactures.  The  bounties  offered  by  a  total  prohibition 
of  foreign  articles,  stimulated  this  branch  of  business  in  a  remarkable 
degree ;  and  when  the  embargo,  non-intercourse,  and  war  ceased  to 
operate  as  a  bounty,  they  have  had  to  be  sustained  by  heavy  duties 
imposed  on  foreign  commerce,  at  the  expense  of  the  planting  interest 
of  the  South,  which  is  mainly  dependent  on  a  foreign  market  for  the 
sale  of  its  commodities.  Every  dollar  taken  from  commerce,  and  in- 
vested in  manufactures,  was  turning  the  current  from  a  friendly  into 
a  hostile  channel,  to  that  kind  of  agriculture  which  was  dependent  on 
foreign  trade  for  its  prosperity.  The  immediate  effect  of  the  embargo 
was,  to  starve  New  England.  Its  more  permanent  consequence  has 
been,  to  build  it  up  at  the  expense  of  the  planting  interest  of  the 
South.  New  England  has  now  two  sources  of  wealth,  in  her  manu- 
factures and  commerce  ;  while  the  South  have  still  the  only  one  of 
planting  tobacco  and  cotton  on  exhausted  lands,  and  with  a  reduced 
market  for  the  sale  of  her  commodities. 


EMBARGO.  269 

It  was  impossible  for  Mr.  Randolph  to  advocate  such  a  measure. 
He  could  not  foresee  all  the  evils  it  might  entail  on  his  country ;  but 
his  practical  wisdom,  aided  by  his  deep  interest  in  the  welfare  of  his 
constituents,  taught  him  that  no  good  could  come  out  of  an  embargo 
reduced  to  a  system,  and  made  a  part  of  the  municipal  regulations  of 
the  Government.  As  the  first  step  towai?ds  an  immediate  prepara- 
tion for  war,  he  could  approve  the  act ;  but  as  a  scheme  destined  to 
act  on  foreign  countries,  while  it  was  wasting  the  resources  of  Govern- 
ment, and  consuming  the  substance  of  the  people  at  home,  it  met  his 
decided  disapprobation. 

Twelve  months  had  now  rolled  around,  and  all  parties  had  become 
of  his  opinion.  No  impression  abroad.  Nothing  but  disaster  at 
home.  The  legislature  of  Massachusetts  pronounced  it  an  unconsti 
tutional  act.  They  were  not  far  from  the  truth.  For  a  short  period, 
and  as  a  war  measure,  an  embargo  would  be  constitutional ;  but  the 
embargo  acts  adopted  from  time  to  time  by  Congress,  and  persisted 
in  for  more  than  a  year,  were  very  far  from  being  clearly  constitutional. 
Massachusetts  pronounced  them  not  only  unconstitutional,  but  unjust 
and  oppressive. 

In  1799,  when  Virginia  interposed  her  State  authority,  and  de- 
clared the  alien  and  sedition  laws  unconstitutional,  Massachusetts 
then  said,  that  the  Supreme  Court  was  alone  competent  to  pronounce 
on  the  constitutionality  of  a  federal  law.  But  she  now  saw  the  error 
and  the  evil  consequences  of  such  a  doctrine.  The  Supreme  Court 
had  declared  the  embargo  acts  to  be  constitutional ;  while  a  sovereign 
State,  crushed  and  ruined  by  the  burdens  they  imposed,  saw  those 
enactments  in  a  very  different  light.  "Was  she  to  be  silent,  and 
bear  the  evils  mflicted  by  those  laws,  merely  because  the  courts  had 
pronounced  in  their  favor?  By  no  means.  She  was  one  of  the 
sovereign  parties  who  had  ordained  the  Constitution  as  a  common 
government,  endowing  it  with  certain  general  powers  for  that  pur 
pose  ;  and  surely,  from  the  very  nature  of  things,  she  had  a  right  to 
say  whether  this  or  that  law  transcended  those  delegated  powers 
or  not. 

Whether  Massachusetts  strictly  followed  the  doctrine  of  State 
rights,  as  laid  down  by  Mason,  Jefferson,  and  Madison,  we  pretend 
not  to  say ;  but  we  do  say,  that  she  had  a  right  to  interpose  her  au- 
thority, to  pronounce  the  embargo  laws  unconstitutional,  to  show 


270  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

their  injustice  and  oppression,  and  to  demand  their  repeal  bv  instruc- 
tions to  her  own  senators  and  representatives.  Massachusetts  did 
interpose ;  pronounced  her  repugnance  to  the  law ;  and  her  will  was 
respected. 

Mr.  Jefferson  might  have  taken  a  very  different  course  from  the 
one  pursued  by  him.  He  might  have  said,  This  disaffection  is  only 
found  among  the  federalists ;  they  despise  State  rights,  and  have 
only  resorted  to  them  on  this  occasion  to  abuse  them ;  the  people  of 
Massachusetts  are  favorable  to  my  administration,  and  to  the  ob- 
noxious law ;  my  popularity  and  influence  are  unbounded  in  other 
sections  of  the  Union ;  by  persevering  a  little  longer,  we  shall  accom- 
plish all  that  was  designed  by  the  embargo ;  I  will  therefore  disre- 
gard the  clamors  of  these  people,  and  persist  in  enforcing  the  law, 
even  should  it  drive  them  to  extremity.  But  Mr.  Jefferson  did  not 
reason  in  this  way.  He  saw  that  a  sovereign  State,  through  her 
regular  legislative  forms,  had  pronounced  against  the  law  ;  it  was  not 
for  him  to  scrutinize  the  character  and  composition  of  that  legisla- 
ture ;  it  was  enough  for  him  to  know,  that  a  State  had  solemnly  de- 
clared the  law  unconstitutional,  unjust,  and  oppressive.  When,  in 
addition,  he  was  told  by  a  distinguished  statesman  from  Massachu- 
setts, that  a  longer  persistence  might  endanger  the  integrity  of  the 
Union,  he  unhesitatingly  acquiesced  in  a  repeal  of  the  most  important 
and  favored  measure  of  his  administration. 

What  might  have  been  the  consequences  if  Massachusetts  had 
been  driven  to  extremities,  we  will  not  conjecture — we  do  not  reason 
from  extreme  cases.  All  we  have  to  say  is,  that  so  long  as  the  States 
have  the  independence  to  maintain  those  rights  guaranteed  to  them 
by  the  Constitution,  and  that  so  long  as  there  is  patriotism  and 
virtue  in  the  administration  of  the  Federal  Government,  there  will 
never  be  the  necessity  of  driving  the  States  into  those  extreme 
measures  of  secession  or  nullification. 


GUNBOATS  271 

CHAPTEE    XXXIV 

GUNBOATS. 

THE  question  may  be  asked  here.  Why  did  Mr,  Jefferson  make  so 
little  preparation  for  a  war  which,  sooner  or  later,  seemed  to  be  inevi- 
table ?  To  understand  his  policy,  we  must  first  know  the  political 
principles  that  governed  his  conduct.  He  came  into  power  as  the 
leader  of  the  republican  State-Rights  party.  During  the  first  four 
years  of  his  administration,  he  applied  the  few  simple  and  abste- 
mious doctrines  of  that  party  most  successfully  in  the  management 
of  our  domestic  affairs.  But  now  a  new  and  untried  scene  waa  opened 
before  him.  Never  were  the  embarrassments  of  any  government  in 
regard  to  foreign  powers  more  intricate  and  perplexing;  and,  to 
increase  his  difficulties,  he  had  to  deal  with  the  most  powerful  nations 
on  earth,  who,  in  their  hostility  to  each  other,  paid  no  respect  to  the 
laws  of  nations  or  the  rights  of  neutrality.  The  Constitution  was 
ordained  mainly  for  the  purpose  of  regulating  commerce,  foreign  and 
domestic,  and  establishing  a  common  rule  of  action  in  our  intercourse 
with  other  countries.  While  the  States  at  home  preserved  their  poli- 
tical existence,  retained  mu*  h  of  their  original  sovereignty,  were  dis- 
tinct, variant,  and  even  hostile  in  some  of  their  domestic  interests,  to 
the  world  abroad  they  presented  but  one  front.  At  home  each  pur- 
sued its  own  policy,  developed  its  own  internal  resources,  and  was 
unconscious  of  the  existence  of  a  common  government,  save  in  the 
negative  blessing  that  it  bestowed  upon  them  of  peace  with  each  other 
and  with  the  world.  They  literally  fulfilled  the  spirit  of  their  national 
motto,  E  pluribus  unum — at  home  many,  abroad  one.  It  is  obvious 
that  peace  must  be  an  essential  element  in  the  successful  operation 
of  such  a  complicated  system  of  government.  War  of  whatever  kind, 
especially  an  aggressive  war,  whether  by  land  or  sea,  must  destroy 
its  equilibrium,  and  precipitate  all  its  movements  on  the  common  cen- 
tre, which,  by  an  intense  over-action,  must  finally  absorb  all  counter- 
vailing influences.  Mr.  Jefferson  was  thoroughly  penetrated  with 
the  true  spirit  of  our  Constitution  ;  so  was  John  Randolph.  These 
profound  statesmen  thought  alike  on  that  subject :  they  differed  as  tc 


272  LIFE  OF  JOH.N  RANDOLPH 

certain  measures  of  policy,  but  not  at  all  in  their  principles.  They 
both  sought  the  peace  of  the  country,  not  only  as  the  best  condition 
for  developing  its  resources,  but  as  an  essential  means  for  preserving 
the  purity  of  its  institutions.  Neither  could  look  with  complacency 
on  a  standing  army  or  a  large  naval  establishment.  They  did  not  even 
consider  them  as  essential  in  the  present  emergency,  more  imminent, 
perhaps,  than  any  that  could  possibly  occur  at  a  future  period. 

Negotiation  having  failed,  and  both  belligerents  still  continuing 
to  plunder  our  commerce,  Mr.  Jefferson  recommended,  as  the  only 
remedy,  a  total  abandonment  of  the  ocean.  Mr.  Randolph's  advice 
was  to  arm  the  merchant  marine,  and  let  them  go  forth  and  defend 
themselves  in  the  highways  of  a  lawful  commerce.  As  the  means  of 
home  defence,  Jefferson  recommended  the  construction  and  equip- 
ment of  gunboats,  in  numbers  sufficient  to  protect  the  harbors  and 
seaports  from  sudden  invasion.  Randolph  advised  to  arm  the  mili- 
tia, put  a  weapon  in  the  hands  of  every  yeoman  of  the  land,  and  fur- 
nish the  towns  and  seaports  with  a  heavy  train  of  artillery  for  their 
defence. 

In  all  this  we  perceive  but  one  object — a  defence  of  the  natal  soil 
(natale  solum)  by  the  people  themselves,  and  a  total  abstinence  from 
all  aggression.  "  Pour  out  your  blood,"  said  these  wise  statesmen  to 
the  people ;  "  pour  out  your  blood  in  defence  of  your  borders ;  but 
shed  not  a  drop  beyond."  Happy  for  tht  country  could  this  advice 
have  always  been  followed  !  As  Randolph  foresaw  and  predicted, 
we  came  out  of  the  war  with  Great  Britain  without  a  constitution ; 
mainly  to  his  exertions  in  after  years  are  we  indebted  for  its  restora- 
tion. The  late  war  with  Mexico  has  engendered  a  spirit  of  aggres- 
sion and  of  conquest  among  the  people,  and  has  taught  the  ambitious, 
aspiring  men  of  the  country,  that  military  fame  achieved  in  an  hour 
is  worth  more  than  the  solid  reputation  of  a  statesman  acquired  by 
long  years  of  labor  and  self-sacrifice.  Where  these  things  are  to  end 
it  does  not  require  much  sagacity  to  foresee.  Let  the  people  take 
warning  in  time,  and  give  heed  to  the  counsel  of  their  wisest  states- 
men ;  let  them  dismiss  their  army  and  their  navy,  relieve  the  coun- 
try of  those  burthensome  and  dangerous  accompaniments  of  a  mili- 
tary government,  and  trust  to  negotiation,  justice,  and  their  own  ener- 
gies and  resources  for  defence.  What  was  visionary  and  impracti- 
cable in  the  warlike  days  of  Jefferson,  is  now  wholly  reasonable  and 


GUNBOATS.  273 

proper.  \Yhat  gunboats  could  not  do,  steam  vessels  can  fully  accom- 
plish. For  defence  there  is  no  need  of  a  navy ;  for  aggressive  war, 
we  trust  the  day  may  never  come  when  it  shall  be  called  into  requi- 
sition. 

There  was  one  subject  on  which  Randolph  and  Jefferson  differed 
so  essentially  that  it  would  seem  to  indicate  a  more  radical  diver- 
gency of  principles  than  we  are  willing  to  admit  existed  between 
them.  They  both  sincerely  labored  to  preserve  a  strict  neutrality 
between  the  great  belligerents  of  Europe ;  but  when  driven  to  ex- 
tremity, and  forced  to  choose  between  the  one  and  the  other,  Jeffer- 
son would  have  selected  France  as  a  friend,  whilst  Randolph  would 
have  chosen  England.  In  the  days  of  John  Adams  these  predilec- 
tions would  have  marked  their  political  characters  as  being  essentially 
different  on  all  the  great  principles  of  government.  But  Randolph 
contended  that  since  that  day  circumstances  had  greatly  altered. 
France  was  then  a  free  republic,  fighting  for  the  liberties  of  Europe, 
while  England  was  in  coalition  with  the  old  monarchies  to  destroy 
them.  France  was  now  a  military  despotism,  grasping  at  the  empire 
of  the  world,  while  England  was  the  only  barrier  in  the  way  of  uni- 
versal conquest.  To  suffer  old  partialities  and  prejudices  to  influence 
their  conduct  in  such  a  state  of  affairs,  he  thought,  was  the  height  of 
folly  and  madness.  He  had  no  greater  friendship  for  England  and 
her  institutions  than  before ;  but  she  had  become  essential  for  his 
own  protection,  and  he  was  willing  to  use  her  for  that  purpose.  These 
views  seem  not  only  to  be  plausible,  but  just.  A  practical  states- 
man, at  that  time,  looking  at  events  as  they  transpired  around  him. 
ar.d  gazing  on  the  rapid  strides  of  Napoleon  towards  universal  con- 
quest, would  have  coincided  with  Mr.  Randolph — have  exclaimed 
with  him  that  it  was  poor  consolation  to  reflect  that  we  were  to  be 
the  last  to  be  devoured,  and  have  taken  refuge  behind  the  floating 
batteries  of  England  as  the  last  retreat  to  the  expiring  liberties  of  the 
world.  But  Thomas  Jefferson  did  not  view  the  subject  in  this  prac- 
tical way :  he  was  the  profound  philosopher  that  looked  at  political 
causes  and  consequences  in  their  radical  and  essential  relations  to 
each  other,  and  the  bold  pioneer  that  dared  to  sacrifice  what  seemed 
to  be  the  present  interest  to  the  future  and  more  permanent  welfare 
of  his  country. 

In  his  judgment  the  great  causes  that  produced  the  marvellous 


274  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

events  then  daily  transpiring  on  the  theatre  of  Europe,  had  not 
changed ;  it  was  still  the  spirit  of  democracy  contending  against  the 
old  feudal  aristocracy,  which  had  so  long  oppressed  and  enslaved  the 
nations.  The  crusade  of  Bonaparte,  aside  from  his  own  personal 
ambition,  had  no  other  end  but  the  overthrow  of  those  rotten  dynas- 
ties that  *  sat  like  a  leaden  weight  on  the  hearts  of  the  people ;  and  a 
revival  of  those  old  memories  of  privileges  and  franchises  that  lay 
buried  and  forgotten  beneath  the  rubbish  and  worthless  trivialities  of 
a  profligate  court  and  a  heartless  monarchy. 

To  repress  the  numerous  factions  that  were  tearing  her  vitals 
within,  and  to  beat  back  the  myrmidons  of  power  that  assailed  her 
from  without,  it  was  necessary  that  France  should  concentrate  all 
her  energies  in  the  hands  of  a  military  despot.     The  times  called  for 
a  dictator.     But  Napoleon  himself  was  a  phenomenon  that  must 
soon  pass  away ;  his  long  existence  was  incompatible  with  the  just 
order  of  things ;  his  downfall  must  be  followed  by  a  restoration  of  the 
Bourbons,  or  by  a  revival  of  the  Republic,  chastened  and  purified  by 
the  ordeal  through  which  she  had  passed.    Bonaparte  saw  to  the  root 
of  the  matter  when  he  said,  that  in  a  few  years  Europe  must  be  Re- 
publican or  Cossack.    Jefferson  perceived  and  acted  on  this  profound 
principle  long  before  Bonaparte  gave  utterance  to  it.     He  knew  well 
that  England  was  the  same  now  that  she  was  in  the  days  of  the  coa- 
lition ;  her  allies  were  gone,  because  the  arms  of  France  and  the 
insurrection  of  their  own  subjects  had  overturned  their  power ;  the 
French  evil  had  spread  over  Europe,  and  her  battle  was  still  against 
that ;  the  right  of  the  people  to  pull  down  and  to  build  up  dynasties 
— the  doctrine  that  governments  belong  to  the  people  and  not  the 
people  to  governments,  and  that  they  can  alter  or  abolish  them  at 
pleasure,  were  principles  that  she  fought  against  and  labored  to  re- 
press and  to  destroy.     Had  she  succeeded  in  overturning  the  power 
of  Napoleon,  she  would  have  forced  on  the  nations  of  Europe,  by  vir- 
tue of  her  cherished  doctrine  of  legitimacy,  the  worst  of  all  govern- 
ments— a  restoration  of  the  old  monarchies  claiming  to  rule,  not  by 
the  will  of  the  people,  but  by  the  divine  right  of  kings.     It  was  not 
in  the  nature  of  Thomas  Jefferson  to  aid  in  the  remotest  degree  in 
the  accomplishment  of  such  an  end.     Besides  all  this,  he  knew  there 
was  no  sympathy  between  the  democracy  of  America  and  the  aris- 
tocracy of  England  ;  the  one  was  progressive,  the  other  conservative; 


GUNBOATS.  275 

the  one  readily  embraced  every  measure  that  tended  to  elevate  and 
to  improve  the  masses  of  mankind,  the  other  repressed  every  propo« 
sition  that  contemplated  a  change  in  the  present  order  of  things ;  the 
one  held  that  government  must  spring  from  the  will  of  the  people, 
and  is  but  an  agent  in  the  hands  of  their  representatives  for  the  good 
of  the  whole ;  the  other  that  all  wealth  and  power  belong  to  the 
few,  and  government  but  an  instrument  to  preserve  and  perpetuate 
their  authority.  Any  coalition  or  union  between  elements  so  repug- 
nant would  have  produced  evil  rather  than  good  ;  it  would  hat  e  shed 
a  malign  influence  on  the  one  hand,  while  on  the  other  the  contact 
would  have  been  regarded  as  a  vile  contamination.  Jefferson  was 
the  embodiment  of  American  democracy ;  the  masses  of  the  people 
felt  that  he  gave  form  and  expression  to  the  great  sentiments  that 
lay  confused  and  voiceless  in  their  own  bosoms,  and  they  knew  that 
he  would  be  faithful  in  following  the  impulses  of  that  mighty  concen- 
tration of  a  people's  will  in  his  own  person  :  hence  his  influence  over 
the  public  mind — his  almost  despotic  sway  over  the  legislation  of  the 
country.  In  1806,  a  subservient  legislature,  in  obedience  to  his 
secret  wishes,  voted  him  money  without  restriction  to  negotiate  with 
Spain  and  France,  when  his  public  messages  declared  that  negotiation 
was  at  an  end,  and  breathed  the  strongest  spirit  of  resistance.  In 
1807  his  commissioners,  his  favorite  negotiator,  Monroe,  being  one 
of  them,  had  made  a  treaty  with  England,  as  favorable  as  could  be 
expected  at  that  time,  but  he  put  it  in  his  pocket  and  refused  to  sub- 
mit it  to  the  consideration  of  that  branch  of  the  government  which 
had  a  right  and  might  have  advised  its  ratification.  When  Great 
Britain  sent  a  special  envoy  to  make  reparation  for  the  unauthorized 
attack  on  the  Chesapeake,  he  stood  on  an  untenable  point  of  etiquette, 
refused  to  receive  or  even  to  hear  any  propositions  on  that  subject, 
and  suffered  the  public  mind  to  be  inflamed  by  an  unnecessary  delay 
of  adjustment.  Before  he  had  any  official  information  of  the  orders 
in  council,  issued  in  retaliation  to  the  Berlin  decree,  on  the  mere 
authority  of  newspaper  reports,  he  sent  a  secret  message  to  Congress 
advising  an  embargo :  in  silence  and  in  haste  his  will  was  obeyed — 
a  sudden  pause  was  given  to  business — at  his  command  the  people 
stood  still,  and  let  fall  from  their  hands  the  implements  of  trade  and 
the  means  of  their  subsistence.  This  measure,  whether  so  intended 
or  not,  coincided  with  the  view 3  of  Napoleon:  while  it  could  affect 
19 


276  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

France  but  slightly,  it  formed  an  essential  part  of  that  great  conti- 
nental system  that  had  for  its  object  the  subjugation  of  England  by 
a  destruction  of  her  commerce  and  manufactures. 

Bonaparte  approved,  and  the  indomitable  Saxon  spirit  of  England 
refused  to  yield :  the  dire  recoil  was  most  severely  felt  at  home,  but  the 
patriotism  of  the  people  increased  with  the  disasters  inflicted  upon 
them  ;  and  they  continued  to  follow  their  bold  leader  with  a  fortitude 
and  intrepidity  that  would  have  persevered  to  the  bitter  end,  had  he 
not  said,  enough !  and  acquiesced  in  the  repeal  of  his  favorite  mea- 
sure. Jefferson  stood  to  the  people  of  America  as  Napoleon  to  the 
people  of  France — he  embodied  the  will  of  a  free  and  enlightened 
republic,  devoted  to  the  arts  of  peace,  and  governed  by  laws  and  a 
written  constitution  ;  Napoleon  was  the  dread  symbol  of  a  wild 
democracy,  sprung  from  the  bosom  of  a  volcano,  chaotic  in  all  its 
fiery  elements,  and  armed  with  firebrands  to  burn  up  the  dross  and 
stubble  of  the  worn-out  and  rotten  monarchies  that  surrounded  it ;  both 
were  invincible,  so  long  as  they  continued  to  stand  in  the  focus,  and  to 
reflect  the  mighty  energies  that  were  concentrated  in  their  own  person. 

We  say,  then,  that  the  policy  of  Jefferson,  viewed  by  a  practical 
statesman,  would  seem  to  be  unwise.  It  inflicted  many  evils  on  the 
country  at  the  time,  and  entailed  a  lasting  injury  on  the  planting 
interests  of  the  South :  but  it  saved  the  principles  of  democracy ;  and 
it  saved  the  country,  if  not  from  an  actual  participation  in  the  Con- 
gress of  Vienna,  it  saved  them  from  a  humiliating  acquiescence  in 
the  holy  alliance  of  despots,  confederated  under  a  solemn  oath  to 
smother  and  extinguish  every  sentiment  of  liberty  that  might  dare 
to  breathe  its  existence  in  the  bosoms  of  their  oppressed  and  de- 
graded subjects. 


CHAPTER    XXXY. 

JAMES  MADISON — PRESIDENTIAL  ELECTION. 

MR.  RANDOLPH  was  opposed  to  the  elevation  of  James  Madison  to 
the  presidency.  His  objections  extended  back  to  an  early  period  in 
the  political  history  of  that  gentleman.  As  we  have  said,  the  coun- 


JAMES  MADISON.  277 

try  is  in4ebted  to  the  efforts  of  Mr.  Madison  for  tlieir  present  Con- 
stitution. His  great  labors  and  untiring  zeal,  both  in  the  Federal 
convention  that  framed  it,  and  the  Virginia  convention  that  ratified 
it,  overcame  every  obstacle,  and  finally  presented  to  the  people  a  form 
of  government  to  strengthen  and  consolidate  their  union.  But  the 
happy  blending  of  national  and  federal  features  in  the  constitution, 
whereby  the  States  have  preserved  their  independence,  and  much  of 
their  sovereignty,  was  not  the  conception  of  Mr.  Madison.  He 
thought  the  States  ought  not  to  be  entirely  obliterated  ;  but  until  the 
plan  of  George  Mason  was  developed,  he  did  not  understand  how  their 
existence  could  be  made  compatible  with  a  common  central  govern- 
ment, operating  alike  on  all  the  people.  He  did  not  cordially  acqui- 
esce in  the  States-rights  doctrine  ingrafted  on  the  Constitution.  In 
all  the  debates  in  both  conventions,  he  is  generally  found  opposed  to 
the  views  of  Mr.  Mason.  And  it  was  charged  against  him,  that  in 
the  essays  which  he  wrote,  in  conjunction  with  Jay  and  Hamilton, 
with  the  view  of  recommending  the  Constitution  to  the  people,  he  ad- 
vocated, with  as  much  earnestness  as  those  avowed  centralists,  a 
strong  consolidated  government.  When  party  excitement  grew  very 
violent,  in  the  times  of  the  whisk}7  insurrection,  and  of  Jay's  treaty, 
when  Randolph  was  driven,  in  disgrace,  from  the  Cabinet,  and  Mon- 
roe recalled,  under  sentiments  of  strong  displeasure,  Mr.  Madison 
was  charged  with  having  abandoned  his  post  on  the  floor  of  Con- 
gress, and  seeking  ease  and  personal  safety  in  retirement.  In  the 
Virginia  legislature  it  was  said  he  opposed  the  general  ticket  system, 
which  was  adopted  with  the  view  of  casting -the  whole  vote  of  the 
State  in  favor  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  at  the  approaching  election,  and  with- 
out which  he  would  have  been  defeated.  But  the  weightiest  charge 
of  all  was  that  preferred  by  John  Randolph,  on  the  floor  of  Congress, 
The  reader  is  already  familiar  with  that  subject.  Randolph  declared 
that  the  Secretary  of  State,  in  a  conversation  with  him,  expressed  his 
willingness  to  buy  peace  with  Spain,  by  paying  tribute  to  France  : 
and  he  averred  that,  on  the  expression  of  such  pusillanimous  senti- 
ments, his  confidence,  which  at  no  time  was  very  great,  had  entirely 
vanished.  Mr.  Madison,  it  was  also  said,  was  a  mere  closet  philoso- 
pher— an  able  logician,  but  a  weak  and  timid  statesman.  The  times 
required  a  man  of  nerve  and  energy.  James  Monroe  was  held  up  by 
his  friends,  as  combining,  more  than  any  other  man,  all  the  qualities 


278  LIFE  OF  JOH^  RANDOLPH. 

needed  for  the  present  exigency.  A  number  of  the  republican  men 
bers  of  Congress  met  together  in  caucus,  and  nominated  Mr.  MadisoL 
for  the  presidency.  John  Randolph  and  some  sixteen  or  seventeen 
others,  denounced  this  nomination,  and  protested  against  the  right  of 
members  of  Congress  to  make  it.  They  said  that  such  a  plan  had 
been  resorted  to  on  a  former  occasion,  in  order  to  concentrate  the 
votes  of  the  republican  party  on  one  candidate,  to  prevent  their  de- 
feat by  the  federalists ;  but  there  was  no  necessity  for  that  concert 
of  action  now ;  the  federalists,  as  a  party,  had  been  annihilated,  had 
no  intention  of  bringing  out  a  candidate  ;  and  that  whoever  was  elected 
must  be  a  republican.  They  contended,  therefore,  that  each  should 
have  a  fair  field,  and  that  no  advantage  should  be  given  to  either  by 
a  resort  to  party  machinery.  Shortly  after  this,  Mr.  Monroe  was  no- 
minated by  a  convention  in  Virginia,  called  together  from  the  differ- 
ent counties  of  the  State.  Thus  we  see  two  candidates  from  the  same 
state,  for  the  highest  office  within  the  gift  of  the  people  ;  both  pro- 
fessed the  same  political  principles,  each  had  high  claims  to  the  con- 
fidence and  support  of  their  country,  and  each  was  put  forward  and 
sustained  by  a  fraction  of  the  same  party.  We  may  well  imagine  the 
heart-burnings  and  the  angry  feelings  excited  by  such  a  contest. 
The  ablest  men  in  the  State  employed  their  talents  in  writing  for  the 
newspapers.  Their  essays,  for  the  most  part,  were  elaborate,  well 
written,  and  not  unfrequently  filled  with  wit,  ridicule,  irony,  and  the 
bitterest  sarcasm,  and  too  frequently  did  they  descend  to  the  most 
direct  and  pointed  personalities.  Mr.  Madison  was  the  candidate  of 
the  administration — Monroe  of  the  Tirtium  Quids,  as  they  were 
called.  John  Randolph  was  the  master-spirit  of  this  third  party. 
He  of  course  came  in  for  his  full  share  of  abuse.  Even  ridicule  and 
doggerel  rhyme  were  resorted  to  as  the  means  of  bringing  his  name 
into  disrepute. 

"  Thou  art  a  pretty  little  speaker,  John — 
Though  some  there  are  who  think  you've  spoke  too  long ; 
And  even  call,  sweet  sir,  your  tongue  a  bell, 
That  ding-dong,  dong-ding,  tolls  away  ! 
Yet  mind  not  what  such  '  ragamuffins'  say, 
Roar  still  'gainst  '  back-stairs  influence,'  I  pray, 
And  lash  '  the  pages  of  the  water-closet'  well  j 
To  c  dust  and  ashes'  pray  thee  grind  'em, 
Though  I'm  told  'twould  puzzle  you  to  find  'em. 


JAMES  MADISON.  279 

"  But  John,  like  water,  tliou  must  find  thy  '  level,' 
Those  horn-book  politicians  are  the  devil, 
Some  how  or  other  they've  so  pleased  the  nation ; 
For  spite  of  «  cobweb  theories'  and  '  sharks/ 
Russels,  Garnetts,  Clays  and  Clarks, 
'  Strait-jackets,'  '  water  gruel,'  and  '  depletion,' 
Yes,  yes,  in  spite  of  all  those  curious  things, 
The  name  of  each  with  glory  around  us  rings, 
Whilst  thou  of  even  patriotism  doubted, 
Art  on  all  hands  detested — laughed  at — '  scouted,' 
Nay,  many  think  (though  this  perhaps  is  scandal,) 
That  soon  you'll  nothing  be  but  plain  Jack  R dal." 

Many  a  volley  was  aimed  at  his  head,  and  many  a  valiant  pen 
was  wielded  in  his  defence.  He  sometimes  descended  into  the  lists 
himself,  and  under  a  borrowed  name  hurled  his  polished  and  effective 
shafts  against  the  exposed  and  vulnerable  points  of  his  adversaries. 
Many  of  the  most  distingushed  men  of  the  State  were  on  his  side  of 
the  question  ;  indeed,  it  may  be  said  that  most  of  the  young  men  of 
talents  and  independence  of  character  were  his  admirers  and  follow- 
ers. But  it  soon  became  manifest  that  Mr.  Monroe  would  get  no 
support  out  of  the  State  of  Virginia,  and  that  the  contest  would  be 
between  Mr.  Madison  and  DeWitt  Clinton,  of  New- York.  Many  of 
the  best  friends  of  Mr.  Monroe  were  unwilling  to  contribute  to  the 
election  of  Clinton,  by  a  loss  of  the  State  of  Virginia  to  his  opponent: 
they  therefore  determined,  however  reluctantly,  to  cast  their  votes  for. 
Mr.  Madison  ;  so  that  when  the  election  came  on,  the  vote  for  Mon- 
roe was  very  thin.  It  would  seem  that  the  Tirtium  Quids,  with  all 
their  genius,  eloquence,  and  fine  writing,  had  made  no  impression  on 
the  people.  We  can  well  conceive  how  this  exposure  of  their  weak- 
ness operated  on  the  nerves  of  those  politicians  who  love  always  to 
be  found  on  the  side  of  the  majority.  One  by  one  they  began  to  re- 
cant their  heresies,  and  to  fall  into  the  ranks  of  the  administration. 
Mr.  Monroe  became  a  candidate  for  the  legislature  in  the  county  of 
Albcmarle :  he  was  interrogated  on  the  subject,  and  professed  him 
self  friendly  to  the  new  dynasty ;  was  elected ;  appointed  Governor 
of  the  State ;  and  in  due  time  was  placed  by  Mr.  Madison  in  his 
Cabinet. 

Very  soon  Randolph  was  left  with  only  a  few  personal  and  devo- 
ted friends  to  stand  by  him.     Those  who  valued   consistency  more 


280  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

than  office,  and  who  regarded  it  as  an  act  of  dishonor  to  abandon  a 
friend  in  his  hour  of  need,  still  adhered  to  him ;  but  the  majority  of 
politicians,  who  look  only  to  the  loaves  and  fishes,  had  no  hesitation  in 
making  their  escape  from  what  they  conceived  to  be  a  falling  house. 
This  "  ratting,"  as  he  called  it,  Mr.  Randolph  never  forgot  nor  for- 
gave. His  pride  was  cut  to  the  quick ;  his  disgust  was  unbounded ; 
and  to  the  events  of  this  period  may  be  traced  much  of  that  bitter- 
ness of  feeling  which  he  manifested  towards  certain  individuals  in 
after  life.  Never  did  he  suffer  an  occasion  to  pass  that  he  did  not 
make  them  feel,  by  some  cutting  allusion,  his  deep  indignation.  This 
seemed  to  the  world  a  wanton  indulgence  of  a  vile,  cruel,  and  sarcas- 
tic temper :  but  the  parties  themselves  understood  and  keenly  felt 
the  meaning  of  his  allusions ;  and  well  did  they  repay  his  disgust  and 
contempt,  by  a  most  cordial  hatred. 

"  "Why  have  you  not  gone  to  Philadelphia  ?"  says  one  of  his  flat- 
terers, writing  to  him  about  this  time — "  every  one  there  whose  atten- 
tion could  confer  either  pleasure  or  honor  was  prepared  for  your 
reception.  The  learning,  the  genius,  and  the  eloquence  of  the  city, 
with  all  its  train  of  social  manners,  wit,  beauty,  gayety  and  inno- 
cence, were  prepared  to  spread  for  you  a  rich  and  varied  feast  of 
enjoyment.  You  have  ceased  to  be  the  head  of  a  great  triumphant 
party,  but,  rely  upon  it,  you  are  at  the  head  of  the  taste,  feeling  and 
honor  of  the  nation." 

Yet  this  man  in  a  few  years  glided  into  the  ranks  of  the  admin- 
istration— became  the  secret  reviler  of  one  on  whom  he  had  bestow- 
ed the  grossest  adulation  :  and  finally  supported  all  the  Federal 
measures  of  Monroe  and  John  Quincy  Adams  ;  bank,  tariff,  inter- 
nal improvements,  and  whatever  else  that  tended  to  produce  a 
strong,  magnificent,  corrupt,  and  consolidated  government.  It  is 
not  surprising  that  a  man  of  Mr.  Randolph's  temper,  exasperated  as 
it  had  been  by  so  many  instances  of  the  same  kind,  could  not  look 
with  complacency  on  such  characters  ;  but  he  visited  as  a  crime  on 
the  head  of  the  offender  that  which  he  should  have  forgiven  as  a 
weakness  of  our  common  nature.  He  understood  mankind  too  well 
not  to  have  known  the  certain  consequences  of  defeat ;  the  abdica- 
ting Emperor  at  Fontainebleau,  when  abandoned  by  all  those  whom 
he  had  made  marshals  and  princes,  might  have  told  him  that  mis- 
fortune is  like  a  nipping  frost,  that  scatters  the  leaves  and  the 


JAMES  MADISON.  281 

blossoms,  and  leaves  bare  the  naked  limbs  to  battle  alone  with  the 
rude  blasts  of  winter. 

The  following  extract  taken  from  an  unpublished  essay,  dated 
August  31,  1808,  will  throw  much  light  on  the  excited  and  angry 
nature  of  the  controversy  carried  on  at  that  time  between  the  fol- 
lowers of  John  Randolph  and  the  adherents  of  Mr.  Madison : 

"  I  addressed  you  formerly  with  a  view  to  the  approaching  presi- 
dential election  ;  but  before  I  could  recover  from  the  repulse  ^vhich 
I  met  in  my  first  attempt  to  approach  the  people,  it  was  already  too 
late.  Every  man  had  already  chosen  his  part  in  that  drama — many 
were  already  in  imagination  tricked  out  in  the  robes  of  office  in 
which  they  were  to  assist  at  the  installation  of  Mr.  Madison  ;  and, 
so  far  as  it  could  depend  upon  the  votes  of  Virginia,  that  election 
was  already  decided.  The  partisans  of  government  have  ceased 
to  bestow  their  attention  upon  this  subject,  and  have  already  turned 
it  to  another.  I  mean  the  election  of  a  representative  from  the 
counties  of  Cumberland,  &c.  The  stormy  rage  of  the  presidential 
contest  has  been  no  sooner  hushed,  than  both  the  Argus  and  the 
Enquirer  have,  at  once,  turned  their  batteries  against  the  gentleman 
who  at  present  represents  that  district.  Writers,  scarcely  worthy  to  be 
noticed,  and  whom  it  would  be  a  disgrace  to  answer,  have  hastened 
to  engage  in  the  meritorious  service  of  removing  the  only  eye  that 
watches  over  the  administration.  Looking  forward  to  the  election 
of  Mr.  Madison,  they  no  doubt  anticipate  much  from  this  at- 
tempting to  destroy  the  man,  before  whom,  in  spite  of  all  the  pomp 
of  office,  he  would  be  compelled  to  feel  the  intrinsic  littleness  of  his 
character.  Unworthy  as  their  childish  arguments  and  groundless 
assertions  are  of  the  poor  respect  of  refutation  and  contradiction, 
they  at  least  remind  us  of  the  proverbial  truth,  l  that  straws  show 
the  course  of  the  wind ;'  and  if  I  mistake  them  not,  it  is  not  the 
only  occasion  on  which  they  have  displayed  the  properties  of  the 
weathercock.  Though  their  arguments  prove  nothing,  their  attempts 
at  argument  prove  much.  They'  show  the  real  offence  of  Mr.  R., 
they  show  the  real  causes  of  the  clamor  which  is  raised  against  him. 
It  is  the  usual  fate  of  fools  and  knaves  that  the  weapons  which  they 
pretend  to  wield,  recoil  upon  their  own  heads.  These  men  have 
endeavored  to  detract  from  the  merit  of  Mr.  R.,  but  they  have 
exposed  their  own  weakness  ;  they  have  evinced  the  irreconcileable 


282  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

malignity  of  themselves  and  their  party  towards  him,  at  the  same 
time  that  they  have  stated  objections,  which,  if  true  and  well  found- 
ed, as  they  are  false  and  groundless,  would  be  utterly  inadequate  to 
the  production  of  such  an  effect ;  and  they  compel  us  to  believe 
that  there  is  some  other  secret  cause  or  motive  for  their  antipathy 
to  that  gentleman,  which  is  not  revealed,  only  because  it  will  not 
bear  the  light.  Mr.  R's  constituents  have  been  much  at  a  loss  to 
know  wherefore  the  whole  force  of  the  government  has  been  exerted 
to  provide  them  a  representative,  some  worthy  associate  of  John 
Love  and  John  Dawson.  They  feel  indeed  the  importance  of  his 
past  services,  and  they  see  in  them  some  evidence  of  abilities  not  to 
be  despised.  They  perceive  also  that  he  differs  from  the  adminis- 
tration on  some  points.  They  are  even  told  by  the  newspapers  that 
he  is  opposed  to  them  on  all,  but  at  the  same  time  they  are  assur- 
ed, that  he  stands  alone  in  this  opposition,  without  a  party,  even 
without  personal  friends,  and  that  there  is  more  to  pity  in  his  infat- 
uation than  to  dread  from  this  hostility.  Why  then  all  this  strug- 
gle, this  ceaseless  anxiety  ?  and  (to  use  a  quotation  of  your  own  Mr. 
Ritchie,)  this  'ocean  into  tempest  wrought  to  drown  a  fly?'  Is 
the  spirit  of  federalism  then  extinct;  is  that  monster  no  more, 
that  nothing  remains  but  to  turn  the  whole  force  of  the  administra- 
tion to  the  destruction  of  such  an  insect,  as  they  would  represent 
Mr.  Randolph  ?  This  surely  is  not  the  case.  The  federal  represen- 
tation of  Connecticut  yet  remains  entire.  Its  banners  are  yet  dis- 
played, and  those  who  yesterday  deserted,  are,  to-day,  returning  to 
them.  The  mighty  State  of  Massachusetts,  which  of  late  the  admin- 
istration so  proudly  numbered  among  their  supporters,  has  already 
repented  of  her  conversion  ;  while  the  Vermontese  are  newly  bap- 
tized to  the  federal  faith  in  the  blood  of  their  countrymen.  Perhaps 
indeed  they  balance  all  this  with  the  conversion  of  Mr.  J.  Q.  Adams, 
and  by  the  same  political  arithmetic,  which  teaches  them  that  the 
downfall  of  Mr.  Randolph  is  of  more  importance  than  the  defeat  of 
the  federalists,  they  think  the  acquisition  of  this  gentleman  an 
ample  compensation  for  the  loss  of  two  entire  States.  No  doubt 
indeed  they  augur  well  from  it,  no  doubt  they  regard  it  as  an  all- 
sufficient  evidence  of  Mr.  Adams's  conviction  of  the  stability  of 
their  power.  Ten  years  ago  they  would  have  told  you  that  this 
gentleman  knew,  as  well  as  any  one,  who  kept  the  key  of  the  ex 


JAMES  MADISON.  283 

chequer,  and  it  would  be  strange  indeed,  if,  when  his  father  held 
it  so  long,  he  had  not  found  out  the  value  of  the  coin.  They  per- 
haps remember  too,  that  about  that  time  he  was  talked  of  as  the 
contemplated  successor  to  the  crown  of  these  realms,  and  they  pos- 
sibly regard  his  accession  to  their  party  as  an  implied  relinquishment 
of  his  title,  in  favor  of  the  hopeful  progeny  of  our  modern  Livia. 
I  would  warn  them,  however,  not  to  build  too  much  upon  that. 
They  should  rather  infer  from  the  example  of  Spain,  that  the  mino- 
rity of  the  imperial  nephew  of  his  majesty,  the  emperor  and  king, 
may  be  terminated  by  an  invitation  to  Bayonne. 

"  But  it  cannot  be  that  the  administration,  and  the  friends  of  the 
<*.' ministration,  think  that  there  is  less  to  be  feared  from  the  federal 
party  than  there  was  three  years  ago.  How  then  does  it  happen  that 
the  necessity  of  putting  down  this  great  and  growing  evil  is  forgotten 
in  the  struggle  to  remove  that  gentleman  from  the  confidence  of  his 
constituents?  They  tell  us  indeed,  themselves,  that  the  republican 
cause  has  nothing  to  fear  from  Mr.  R.,  and  they  say  true,  sir.  They 
know  that  the  republican  cause  has  nothing  to  fear  from  him ;  but 
they  feel  at  the  same  time,  that  the  pretended  supporters  of  that 
cause  have  every  thing  to  fear  from  him,  They  see  in  him  the  only 
man  on  the  floor  of  Congress  who  has  the  sagacity  to  detect  and  the 
spirit  to  expose  their  unconstitutional  practices  and  their  nefarious 
designs,  and  they  wish  his  ruin,  for  the  same  reason  that  rogues  wish 
the  absence  of  the  sun.  How  else  can  their  conduct  be  explained  ? 
At  a  time  when  the  shattered  forces  of  the  federalists  are  again 
assembling,  when  they  are  even  enjoying  a  partial  triumph,  the  Go- 
vernment are  seen  endeavoring  to  drive  from  their  ranks  the  most 
distinguished  and  formidable  adversary  to  that  cause.  No,  sir ;  they 
love  not  the  light,  because  their  deeds  are  evil.  And  do  those  who 
urge  this  clamor  against  Mr.  R.  suppose  that  the  people  are  blind 
to  the  real  cause  of  it,  that  they  form  no  judgment  of  the  motives 
and  characters  of  the  men  who  seek  his  ruin,  by  the  means  they  use 
for  that  purpose  ?  No  ;  they  know  that  dirty  tools  are  used  for  dirty 
work,  and  that  he  who  employs  them  in  that  way  cannot  have  clean 
hands.  "What  can  they  think  when  they  see  his  private  letters  be- 
trayed, and  Ids  unguarded  moments  of  gayety  and  conviviality  watched 
and  exposed  ?  Shall  they  be  told  that  these  are  private  occurrences  ? 
No.  sir.  Mr  Gr.  will  not  do  even  an  act  of  treachery  for  nothing. 


284  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

Indeed,  some  of  the  partisans  of  Mr.  Madison  have  not  scrupled  tc 
declare,  that  they  consider  his  election  as  of  little  more  importance 
than  the  defeat  of  Mr.  R.  Can  the  people  be  at  a  loss  to  understand 
wherefore  ?  As  long  as  the  views  of  Mr.  Madison  are  constitutional, 
and  his  conduct  honorable,  he  can  have  nothing  to  fear  from  Mr.  R. 
In  questions  of  mere  policy,  the  weight  of  Executive  patronage  will 
always  preponderate,  and,  in  questions  of  right,  always  powerful, 
becomes  invincible  when  supported  by  the  name  and  authority  of  a 
President.  It  is  not  until  he  transcends  the  limits  of  the  Constitu- 
tion that  any  opposition  can  be  formidable.  If  such  be  their  projected 
course — if  the  system  of  standing  armies  and  navies,  of  treason  bills 
and  habeas  corpus  acts,  of  unauthorized .  expenditures,  and  splendid 
impunity  to  favored  traitors  and  felons,  with  the  practice  of  buying 
peace,  and  giving  to  the  President  the  powers  of  Congress — are  still 
to  be  persisted  in,  let  them  beware  of  Mr.  R.  Already  has  he  de- 
claimed against  these  practices,  and  he  has  not  been  heard ;  but  they 
know  that  the  slumbers  of  the  people  axe  not  to  last  for  ever,  and 
they  look  forward  with  the  apprehensions  of  a  sinner,  trembling  in  the 
midst  of  his  guilt,  to  the  day  when  the  vengeance  of  a  deluded  nation 
shall  be  roused ;  and  at  the  sound  of  his  voice,  as  at  that  of  the  last 
trump,  they  snail  call  upon  the  mountains  to  cover  them.  I  have  no 
doubt  that  those  who  made  this  avowal  have  somewhat  transcended  their 
orders.  Their  instinctive  sagacity  leads  them  to  the  game  which 
their  master  is  in  pursuit  of ;  but  in  the  eagerness  of  their  zeal,  they 
have  flushed  it  too  soon.  They  are  at  this  moment  trembling  in  the 
expectation  of  being  corrected  for  the  blunder ;  but  they  are  not  so 
true  spaniels  as  I  take  them  to  be,  if  they  will  not  consent  to  have 
their  ears  pulled  for  the  mistake,  provided  they  be  fed  for  their 
activity." 


CHAPTER    XXXYI. 

WAR  WITH  ENGLAND. 

THE  great  event  of  Mr.  Madison's  administration  was  the  war  with 
England.  For  a  long  time,  the  grounds  of  complaint  against  that 
Government  were,  the  carrying  trade  and  the  impressment  of  sea- 


WAR  WITH  ENGLAND.  285 

men.  Since  1806,  another  and  more  serious  difficulty,  if  possible,  Lad 
been  thrown  in  the  way  of  an  amicable  arrangement  between  the  two 
countries.  By  the  Berlin  decree  and  its  supplements,  France  inter- 
dicted all  trade  between  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain  and  her 
dependencies.  By  her  orders  in  council,  professing  to  be  in  retalia- 
tion of  the  Berlin  decree,  Grekt  Britain  interdicted  all  trade  between 
the  United  States  and  France,  and  her  allies  and  their  dependencies, 
which  embraced  nearly  all  Europe  and  the  civilized  world.  These 
edicts  did  not  affect  the  carrying  trade  merely,  which  was  of  very 
doubtful  justice,  but  they  destroyed  all  commerce  whatever. 

By  the  British  orders  in  council,  American  citizens  were  not  al- 
lowed to  carry  the  products  of  their  own  country,  in  their  own  ships, 
to  a  country  hostile  to  England,  and  to  bring  back,  in  exchange,  the 
commodities  of  that  country,  without  first  paying  tribute  in  a  British 
port,  and  obtaining  license  for  that  purpose.  This  extraordinary 
assumption  of  power  was  acknowledged  to  be  contrary  to  the  law  of 
nations  and  the  rights  of  neutrality;  but  it  was  justified  on  the 
ground  of  necessity.  Lex  talionis  was  the  only  plea.  To  bring 
about  a  sense  of  justice  in  the  great  belligerents,  and  a  repeal  of  their 
unwarrantable  edicts,  the  embargo  law  was  enacted ;  but  that  proved 
to  be  a  two-edged  sword,  more  deeply  wounding  our  own  sides  than 
those  of  the  parties  it  was  designed  to  effect.  It  was  repealed,  and  a 
non-importation  act,  as  to  England  and  France,  substituted  in  its 
place.  This  proving  ineffectual,  also,  the  olive  branch  was  at  length 
held  out,  with  these  words :  "  That  if  Great  Britain  or  France  (Act  of 
May  V  1810,)  should  cease  to  violate  the  neutral  commerce  of  the 
United  States,  which  fact  the  President  should  declare  by  proclama- 
tion, and  the  other  should  not,  within  three  months  thereafter,  revote 
or  modify  its  edicts  in  like  manner,  that  then  certain  sections  in  a 
former  act,  interdicting  the  commercial  intercourse  between  the 
United  States  and  Great  Britain  and  France,  and  their  depend- 
encies, should,  from  and  after  the  expiration  of  three  months 
from  the  date  of  the  proclamation,  be  revived,  and  have  full  force 
against  the  former,  its  colonies,  and  dependencies,  and  against  all  arti- 
cles the  growth,  produce,  or  manufacture  of  the  same."  France  ac- 
ceded to  this  proposition.  On  the  5th  of  August,  1810,  the  minister 
of  foreign  affairs  addressed  a  note  to  the  minister  plenipotentiary  of 
the  United  States  at  Paris,  informing  him  that  the  decrees  of  Berlin 


286  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

and  Milan  were  revoked — tha  revocation  to  take  effect  on  the  first  of 
November  following ;  that  the  measure  had  been  taken  by  his  Gov- 
ernment, in  confidence  that  the  British  Government  would  revoke 
its  orders,  and  renounce  its  new  principles  of  blockade,  or  that  tha 
United  States  would  cause  their  rights  to  be  respected.  The  meana 
by  which  the  United  States  should  cause  their  right  to  be  respected, 
in  case  Great  Britain  should  not  revoke  her  edicts,  it  was  understood, 
consisted  merely  in  the  enforcement  of  the  non-importation  act  against 
that  nation. 

Great  Britain  declined  to  revoke  her  edicts ;  insisted  that  those 
of  France  had  not  been  revoked,  and  complained  that  the  United 
States  had  done  injustice,  by  earring  into  effect  the  non-importation 
act  against  her. 

Great  Britain  contended  that,  in  the  French  decrees,  it  was  ex- 
pressly avowed,  that  the  principles  on  which  they  were  founded,  and 
the  provisions  contained  in  them,  were  wholly  new,  unprecedented, 
and  in  direct  contradiction  to  all  ideas  of  justice,  and  the  principles 
and  usages  of  civilized  nations.  The  French  Government  did  not 
pretend  to  say  that  any  one  of  the  regulations  contained  in  those  de- 
crees was  a  regulation  which  France  had  ever  been  in  the  previous 
practice  of.  They  were,  consequently,  to  be  considered,  and  were  in- 
deed allowed  by  France  herself  to  be,  all  of  them,  parts  of  a  new 
system  of  warfare,  unauthorized  by  the  established  law  of  nations.  It 
was  in  this  light  in  which  France  herself  had  placed  her  decrees,  that 
Great  Britain  was  obliged  to  consider  them. 

The  submission  of  neutrals  to  any  regulation  made  by  France,  au- 
thorized by  the  law  of  nations,  and  practised  in  former  wars,  would 
never  be  complained  of  by  Great  Britain  ;  but  the  regulations  of  the 
Berlin  and  Milan  decrees  did,  and  were  declared  to  violate  the  laws 
of  nations  and  the  rights  of  neutrals,  for  the  purpose  of  attacking, 
through  them,  the  resources  of  Great  Britain.  The  ruler  of  France 
had  drawn  no  distinction  between  any  of  them,  nor  had  he  declared 
the  cessation  of  any  one  of  them. 

Not  until  the  French  decrees,  therefore,  it  was  contended  by  the 
British  minister,  shall  be  effectually  repealed,  and  thereby  neutral 
commerce  be  restored  to  the  situation  in  which  it  stood  previously  to 
their  promulgation,  can  his  royal  highness  conceive  himself  justified, 
consistently  with  what  he  owes  to  the  safety  and  honor  of  Great 


WAR  WITH  ENGLAND.  287 

Britain,  in  foregoing  the  just  measures  of  retaliation  which  his  majesty, 
in  his  defence,  was  necessitated  to  adopt  against  them. 

The  Berlin  and  Milan  decrees  prohibited  every  thing  that  was 
the  manufacture  or  product  of  Great  Britain  from  being  imported  to 
the  Continent,  under  any  pretence  whatever,  whether  owned  by 
British  subjects,  or  owned  and  transported  by  neutrals.  This  latter 
part  of  the  decrees  was  in  violation  of  the  rights  of  neutrality.  They 
also,  at  the  same  time,  prohibited  all  trade,  on  the  part  of  neutrals, 
with  the  British  dominions.  This  portion  was  now  repealed,  so  far 
as  it  affected  the  United  States.  They  were  allowed  to  trade  with 
Great  Britain  and  her  dependencies,  but  were  not  permitted  to  carry 
to  the  Continent  any  goods  that  were  the  manufacture  or  produce  of 
Great  Britain,  though  they  might  have  been  purchased,  and  were 
actually  owned  by  American  citizens.  Great  Britain  insisted  that 
she  could  not  repeal  her  orders  in  council,  so  long  as  the  United 
States  suffered  this  infraction  of  their  rights  of  neutrality.  On  the 
other  hand,  it  was  contended  that  Great  Britain  had  pledged  herself 
to  repeal  the  orders  in  council  whenever  the  decrees  were  revoked. 
The  decrees,  it  was  said,  were  now  revoked  as  it  regarded  the  United 
States  ;  but  Britain,  in  violation  of  her  pledge,  persisted  in  refusing 
to  repeal  her  orders.  The  whole  question,  then,  was  narrowed  down 
to  this :  Had  the  Berlin  and  Milan  decrees  been  revoked,  in  the 
sense  it  was  understood  by  the  parties,  at  the  time  of  the  pledge  ? 
Great  Britain  said  they  had  not.  The  United  States  said  they  had 
been  revoked,  according  to  the  understanding. 

In  this  attitude  matters  stood,  when  Congress,  on  the  4th  of  No- 
vember, 1811,  was  called  together  by  proclamation  of  the  President. 
"  At  the  close  of  the  last  session  of  Congress,"  says  the  message, 
'•'  it  was  hoped  that  the  successive  confirmations  of  the  extinction  of 
the  French  decrees,  so  far  as  they  violated  our  neutral  commerce, 
would  have  induced  the  government  of  Great  Britain  to  repeal  its 
orders  in  council,  and  thereby  authorize  the  removal  of  the  existing 
obstructions  to  her  commerce  with  the  United  States.  Instead  of 
this  reasonable  step  towards  satisfaction  and  friendship  between  the 
two  nations,  the  orders  were,  at  a  moment  when  least  to  have  been 
expected,  put  into  more  rigorous  execution ;  and  it  was  communi- 
cated, through  the  British  envoy  just  arrived,  that  whilst  the  revocation 
of  the  edicts  of  France,  as  officially  made  known  to  the  British  Gov- 


288  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

eminent,  was  denied  to  have  taken  place,  it  was  an  indispensable  coil 
dition  of  the  repeal  of  the  British  orders  that  commerce  should  be 
restored  to  a  footing  that  would  admit  the  manufactures  and  pro- 
ductions of  Great  Britain,  when  owned  by  neutrals,  into  markets 
shut  against  them  by  her  enemy — the  United  States  being  given  to 
understand  that,  in  the  mean  time,  a  continuation  of  the  non-importa- 
tion act  would  lead  to  measures  of  retaliation.  ****** 

"  "With  the  evidence  of  hostile  inflexibility,  in  trampling  on  our 
rights,  which  no  independent  nation  can  reliquish,  Congress  will 
feel  the  duty  of  putting  the  United  States  into  an  armor  and  an 
attitude  demanded  by  the  crisis,  and  corresponding  with  the  national 
spirit  and  expectations." 

The  subject  was  referred  to  a  committee,  who,  in  a  report,  reviewed 
the  grounds  of  complaint,  and  concluded  with  offering  a  series  of  reso- 
lutions, the  object  of  which  was,  to  put  the  United  States  imme- 
diately "into  an  armor  and  attitude  demanded  by  the  crisis."  The 
friends  of  the  administration  admitted  that  they  urged  the  resolu- 
tions as  an  immediate  preparation  for  war.  That  war  was  inevitable, 
and  would  be  declared  so  soon  as  the  nation  was  put  into  a  posture 
of  defence.  It  was  also  said  in  debate  that  one  of  the  objects,  and 
a  necessary  result  of  the  war,  would  be  the  conquest  of  Canada. 

On  the  10th  day  of  December,  Mr.  Randolph  made  one  of  his 
most  powerful  and  eloquent  speeches  in  opposition  to  these  war  mea- 
sures. As  the  speech  is  to  be  found  in  most  of  the  collections  of 
American  eloquence  that  have  been  published  from  time  to  time,  we 
must  content  ourselves  with  an  extract  here  and  there,  barely  suffi- 
cient to  explain  in  his  own  words  the  grounds  of  opposition. 

u  It  is  a  question,"  said  Mr.  Randolph,  "  as  it  has  been  presented 
to  the  House,  of  peace  or  war.  In  that  light  it  has  been  regarded ; 
in  no  other  light  can  I  consider  it,  after  declarations  made  by  mem* 
bers  of  the  Committee  of  Foreign  Relations.  Without  intending  any 
disrespect  to  the  chair,  I  must  be  permitted  to  say,  that  if  the  deci- 
sion yesterday  was  correct,  *  that  it  was  not  in  order  to  advance  any 
arguments  against  the  resolution,  drawn  from  topics  before  other 
committees  of  the  House,'  the  whole  debate — nay,  the  report  itself 
on  which  we  are  acting — is  disorderly,  since  the  increase  of  the  mili- 
tary force  is  a  subject  at  this  time  in  agitation  by  the  select  com- 
mittee raised  on  that  branch  of  the  President's  message.  But  it  ia 


WAR  WITH  ENGLAND.  289 

impossible  that  the  discussion  of  a  question,  broad  as  the  wide  ocean, 
of  our  foreign  concerns,  involving  every  consideration  of  interest,  of 
right,  of  happiness,  and  of  safety  at  home  ;  touching  in  every  point 
all  that  is  dear  to  freemen — 'their  lives;  their  fortunes,  and  their 
sacred  honor ; '  can  be  tied  down  by  the  narrow  rules  of  technical 
routine.  The  Committee  of  Foreign  Relations  has  indeed  decided 
that  the  subject  of  arming  the  militia  (which  I  pressed  upon  them  as 
indispensable  to  the  public  safety)  does  not  come  within  the  scope  of 
their  authority.  On  what  ground,  I  have  been,  and  still  am,  unable 
to  see.  They  have  felt  themselves  authorized  (when  the  subject  was 
before  another  committee)  to  recommend  the  raising  of  standing 
armies,  with  a  view  (as  has  been  declared)  of  immediate  war — a  war 
not  of  defence,  but  of  conquest,  of  aggrandizement,  of  ambition — a 
war  foreign  to  the  interests  of  this  country,  to  the  interests  of  huma- 
nity itself. 

"  I  know  not  how  gentlemen  calling  themselves  republicans  can 
advocate  such  a  war.  What  was  their  doctrine  in  1798-9,  when  the 
command  of  the  army,  that  highest  of  all  possible  trusts  in  any 
government,  be  the  form  what  it  may,  was  reposed  in  the  bosom 
of  the  Father  of  his  country !  the  sanctuary  of  a  nation's  love ! — 
the  only  hope  that  never  came  in  vain?  When  other  worthies 
of  the  revolution,  Hamilton,  Pinckney,  and  the  younger  Wash- 
ington, .men  of  tried  patriotism,  of  approved  conduct  and  valor, 
of  untarnished  honor,  held  subordinate  command  under  him  ? 
Republicans  were  then  unwilling  to  trust  a  standing  army  even 
to  his  hands,  who  had  given  proof  that  he  was  above  all  human 
temptation.  Wh?re  now  is  the  revolutionary  hero  to  whom  you  are 
about  to  confide  this  sacred  trust  ?  To  whom  will  you  confide  the 
charge  of  leading  the  flower  of  your  youth  to  the  heights  of  Abra- 
ham ?  Will  you  find  him  in  the  person  of  an  acquitted  felon  ? 
What !  Then  you  were  unwilling  to  vote  an  army,  when  such  men  as 
have  been  named  held  high  command  !  When  Washington  himself 
was  at  the  head,  did  you  then  show  such  reluctance,  feel  such  scru- 
ple ?  And  are  you  now  nothing  loth,  fearless  of  every  consequence  ? 
Will  you  say  that  your  provocations  were  less  then  than  now,  when 
your  direct  commerce  was  interdicted,  your  ambassadors  hooted  with 
derision  from  the  French  court,  tribute  demanded,  actual  war  waged 
upon  you  ?  Those  who  opposed  the  army  then  were  indeed  denounced 


290  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

as  the  partisans  of  France,  as  the  same  men — some  of  them  at  least-  • 
are  now  held  up  as  the  advocates  of  England ;  those  firm  and  ^de- 
viating republicans,  who  then  dared,  and  now  dare,  to  cling  to  the 
ark  of  the  Constitution,  to  defend  it  even  at  the  expense  of  their  fame, 
rather  than  surrender  themselves  to  the  wild  projects  of  mad  ambi- 
tion. There  is  a  fatality,  sir,  attending  plenitude  of  power.  Soon  or 
late  some  mania  seizes  upon  its  possessors  ;  they  fall  from  the  dizzy 
height,  through  the  giddiness  of  their  own  heads.  Like  a  vast  estate, 
heaped  up  by  the  labor  and  industry  of  one  man,  which  seldom  sur- 
vives the  third  generation.  Power  gained  by  patient  assiduity,  by  a 
faithful  and  regular  discharge  of  its  attendant  duties,  soon  gets  above 
its  own  origin.  Intoxicated  with  their  own  greatness,  the  federal 
party  fell.  Will  not  the  same  causes  produce  the  same  effects  now 
as  then  ?  Sir,  you  may  raise  this  army,  you  may  build  up  this  vast 
structure  of  patronage,  this  mighty  apparatus  of  favoritism;  but 
1  lay  not  the  nattering  unction  to  your  souls,'  you  will  never  live  to 
enjoy  the  succession  :  you  sign  your  political  death  warrant.  *  *  *  * 

"  This  war  of  conquest,  a  war  for  the  acquisition  of  territory  and 
subjects,  is  to  be  a  new  commentary  on  the  doctrine  that  republics 
are  destitute  of  ambition  ;  they  are  addicted  to  peace,  wedded  to  the 
happiness  and  safety  of  the  great  body  of  their  people.  But  it  seems 
this  is  to  be  a  holiday  campaign ;  there  is  to  be  no  expense  of  blood 
or  treasure  on  our  part ;  Canada  is  to  conquer  herself ;  she  is  to  be 
subdued  by  the  principles  of  fraternity.  The  people  of  that  country 
are  first  to  be  seduced  from  their  allegiance,  and  converted  into  trai- 
tors, as  preparatory  to  the  making  them  good  citizens.  Although  I 
must  acknowledge  that  some  of  our  flaming  patriots  were  thus  man- 
ufactured, I  do  not  think  the  process  would  hold  good  with  a  whole 
community.  It  is  a  dangerous  experiment.  We  are  to  succeed  in 
the  French  mode — by  the  system  of  fraternization.  All  is  French  i 
But  how  dreadfully  it  might  be  retorted  on  the  southern  and  western 
slaveholding  States.  I  detest  this  subornation  of  treason.  No :  if 
we  must  have  them,  let  them  fall  by  the  valor  of  our  arms ;  by  fair, 
legitimate  conquest ;  not  become  the  victims  of  treacherous  seduction. 

"  I  am  not  surprised  at  the  war-spirit  which  is  manifesting  itself 
in  gentlemen  from  the  South.  In  the  year  1805-6,  in  a  struggle  for 
the  carrying  trade  of  belligerent  colonial  produce,  this  country  was 
most  unwisely  brought  into  collision  with  the  graat  powers  of  Europe. 


WAR  WITH  ENGLAND.  21U 

By  a  series  of  most  impolitic  and  ruinous  measures,  utterly  incoin< 
prehensible  to  every  rational,  sober-minded  man,  the  Southern  plant' 
ers,  by  their  own  votes,  succeeded  in  knocking  down  the  price  of  cot- 
ton to  seven  cents,  and  of  tobacco  (a  few  choice  crops  excepted)  to 
nothing,  and  in  raising  the  price  of  blankets  (of  which  a  few  would 
not  be  amiss  in  a  Canadian  campaign),  coarse  woollens,  and  every  ar- 
ticle of  first  necessity,  three  or  four  hundred  per  cent.  And  now 
that  by  our  own  acts  we  have  brought  ourselves  into  this  unprece- 
dented condition,  we  must  get  out  of  it  in  any  way  but  by  an  ac- 
knowledgment of  our  own  want  of  wisdom  and  forecast.  But  is  war 
the  true  remedy  ?  Who  will  profit  by  it  ?  Speculators  ;  a  few  lucky 
merchants,  who  draw  prizes  in  the  lottery ;  commissaries  and  con- 
tractors. Who  must  suffer  by  it  ?  The  people.  It  is  their  blood, 
their  taxes,  that  must  flow  to  support  it. 

"  But  gentlemen  avowed  that  they  would  not  go  to  war  for  the 
carrying  trade ;  that  is,  for  any  other  but  the  direct  export  and  im- 
port trade — that  which  carries  our  native  products  abroad,  and  brings 
back  the  return  cargo ;  and  yet  they  stickle  for  our  commercial 
rights,  and  will  go  to  war  for  them !  I  wish  to  know,  in  point  of 
principle,  what  difference  gentlemen  can  point  out  between  the  aban- 
donment of  this  or  of  that  maritime  right  1  Do  gentlemen  assume 
the  lofty  port  and  tone  of  chivalrous  redressers  of  maritime  wrongs, 
and  declare  their  readiness  to  surrender  every  other  maritime  right, 
provided  they  may  remain  unmolested  in  the  exercise  of  the  humble 
privilege  of  carrying  their  own  produce  abroad,  and  bringing  back  a 
return  cargo?  Do  you  make  this  declaration  to  the  enemy  at  the 
outset  1  Do  you  state  the  minimum  with  which  you  will  be  contented, 
and  put  it  in  her  power  to  close  with  your  proposals  at  her  option  ? 
give  her  the  basis  of  a  treaty  ruinous  and  disgraceful  beyond  exam- 
ple and  expression  ?  and  this  too  after  having  turned  up  your  noses 
in  disdain  at  the  treaties  of  Mr.  Jay  and  Mr.  Monroe  ?  Will  you 
say  to  England,  '  End  the  fwar  wlien  you  please  ;  give  us  the  direct 
trade  in  our  own  produce,  we  are  content  F  But  what  will  the  mer- 
chants of  Salem,  and  Boston,  and  New  York,  and  Philadelphia,  and 
Baltimore — the  men  of  Marblehead  and  Cape  Cod,  say  to  this  ? 
Will  they  join  in  a  war  professing  to  have  for  its  object  what  they 
would  consider,  and  justly  too.  as  the  sacrifice  of  their  maritime 
rights,  yet  affecting  to  be  a  war  for  the  2^'otcction  of  cominerce  ? 
20 


292  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

"  I  am  gratified  to  find  gentlemen  acknowledging  the  demoral- 
izing and  destructive  consequences  of  the  non-importation  law ;  con« 
fessing  the  truth  of  all  that  its  opponents  foretold  when  enacted  ;  and 
will  you  plunge  yourselves  in  war,  because  you  have  passed  a  foolish 
and  ruinous  law,  and  are  ashamed  to  repeal  it?  'But  our  good 
friend,  the  French  Emperor,  stands  in  the  way  of  its  repeal/  and,  as 
we  cannot  go  too  far  in  making  sacrifices  to  him,  \\jjho  has  given  such 
demonstration  of  his  love  for  the  Americans,  we  must,  in  point  of  fact, 
become  parties  to  this  war.  '  Who  can  be  so  cruel  as  to  refuse  him 
this  favor?'  My  imagination  shrinks  from  the  miseries  of  such  con- 
nection. I  call  upon  the  House  to  reflect  whether  they  are  not  about 
to  abandon  all  reclamation  for  the  unparalleled  outrages, '  insults  and 
injuries'  of  the  French  Government ;  to  give  up  our  claim  for  plun- 
dered millions,  and  ask  what  reparation  or  atonement  we  can  expect 
to  obtain  in  hours  of  future  dalliance,  after  we  shall  have  made  a  ten- 
der of  cur  persons  to  this  great  deflowerer  of  the  virginity  of  repub- 
lics. We  have,  by  our  own  wise  (I  will  not  say  wise-acre]  measures, 
so  increased  the  trade  of  Montreal  and  Quebec,  that  at  last  we  be- 
gin to  cast  a  wistful  eye  at  Canada.  Having  done  so  much  towards 
its  improvement,  by  the  exercise  of  our  '  restrictive  energies,'  we  be- 
gin to  think  the  laborer  is  worthy  of  his  hire,  and  to  put  in  claim  for 
our  portion.  Suppose  it  ours,  are  we  any  nearer  our  point  ?  As  his 
minister  said  to  the  King  of  Epirus, '  May  we  not  as  well  take  our 
bottle  of  wine  before  as  after  this  exploit?'  Go  !  march  to  Canada  ! 
Leave  the  broad  bosom  of  the  Chesapeake,  and  her  hundred  tributary 
rivers,  the  whole  line  of  sea-coast,  from  Machias  to  St.  Mary's,  unpro- 
tected :  you  have  taken  Quebec — have  you  conquered  England  ? 
Will  you  seek  for  the  deep  foundations  of  her  power  in  the  frozen 
deserts  of  Labrador  ? 

'  Her  march  is  on  the  mountain  wave, 
Her  home  is  on  the  deep !' 

Will  you  call  upon  her  to  leave  your  ports  and  harbors  untouched, 
only  just  till  you  can  return  from  Canada  to  defend  them  ?  The  coast 
is  to  be  left  defenceless,  whilst  men  of ,  the  interior  are  revelling  in 
conquest  and  spoil.  But  grant  for  a  moment,  for  mere  argument's 
sake,  that  in  Canada  you  touched  the  sinews  of  her  strength,  instead 
of  removing  a  clog  upon  her  resources — an  iucumbrance,  but  one, 


WAR  WITH  ENGLAND.  293 

which,  from  a  spirit  of  honor,  she  will  vigorously  defend.  In  what 
situation  would  you  then  place  some  of  the  best  men  of  the  nation  1 
As  Chatham  and  Burke,  and  the  whole  band  of  her  patriots  prayed 
for  her  defeat  in  1776,  so  must  some  of  the  truest  friends  of  the 
country  deprecate  the  success  of  our  arms  against  the  only  power  that 
holds  in  check  the  arch  enemy  of  mankind. 

"  Our  people  will  not  submit  to  be  taxed  for  this  war  of  conquest 
and  dominion.  The  government  of  the  United  States  was  not  calcu- 
lated to  wage  offensive  foreign  ivar ;  it  was  instituted  for  the  common 
defence  and  general  welfare ;  and  whosoever  will  embark  it  in  a  war 
of  offence,  will  put  it  to  a  test  which  it  is  by  no  means  calculated  to 
endure.  Make  it  out  that  Great  Britain  did  instigate  the  Indiana 
on  a  late  occasion,  and  I  am  ready  for  battle,  but  not  for  dominion. 
I  am  unwilling,  however,  under  present  circumstances,  to  take  Can- 
ada at  the  risk  of  the  Constitution ;  to  embark  in  a  common  cause 
with  France,  and  be  dragged  at  the  wheels  of  the  car  of  some  Burr 
or  Bonaparte.  For  a  gentleman  from  Tennessee,  or  G-enesee,  or  lake 
Champlain,  there  may  be  some  prospect  of  advantage.  Their  hemp 
would  bear  a  great  price  by  the  exclusion  of  foreign  supply.  In  that; 
too,  the  great  importers  were  deeply  interested.  The  upper  country 
on  the  Hudson  and  the  lakes,  would  be  enriched  by  the  supplies  for 
the  troops,  which  they  alone  could  furnish.  They  would  have  the 
exclusive  market;  to  say  nothing  of  the  increased  preponderance 
from  the  acquisition  of  Canada,  and  that  section  of  the  Union,  which 
the  southern  and  western  States  had  already  felt  so  severely  in  the 
apportionment  bill." 

Mr.  Randolph  dwelt  on  the  danger  arising  from  the  black  popula- 
tion. He  said  he  would  touch  this  subject  as  tenderly  as  possible; 
it  was  with  reluctance  that  he  touched  it  at  all ;  but  in  cases  of  great 
emergency  the  state  physician  must  not  be  deterred  by  a  sickly,  hys- 
terical humanity,  from  probing  the  wound  of  his  patient ;  he  must  not 
be  withheld  by  a  fastidious  and  mistaken  humanity  from  representing 
his  true  situation  to  his  friends,  or  even  to  the  sick  man  himself,  where 
the  occasion  called  for  it.  «  What,  sir,  is  the  situation  of  the  slavehold- 
ing  States?  During  the  war  of  the  Revolution,  so  fixed  were  their 
habits  of  subordination,  that  while  the  whole  country  was  overrun  by 
the  enemy,  who  invited  them  to  desert,  no  fear  was  ever  entertained 
of  an  insurrection  of  the  slaves.  During  a  war  of  seven  years,  with 


294  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

our  country  in  possession  of  the  enemy,  no  such  danger  was  ever  ap- 
prehended. But  should  we  therefore  be  unobservant  spectators  of 
the  progress  of  society  within  the  last  twenty  years  ?  of  the  silent 
but  powerful  change  wrought  by  time  and  chance  upon  its  composi- 
tion and  temper  ?  When  the  fountains  of  the  great  deep  of  abomi- 
nation were  broken  up,  even  the  poor  slaves  escaped  not  the  general 
deluge.  The  French  revolution  polluted  even  them.  Nay,  there 
were  not  wanting  men  in  that  House — witness  their  legislative  Le- 
gendre,  the  butcher  who  once  held  a  seat  there — to  preach  upon  that 
floor,  these  imprescriptable  rights  to  a  crowded  audience  of  blacks  in 
the  galleries ;  teaching  them  that  they  are  equal  to  their  masters ;  in 
other  words,  advising  them  to  cut  their  throats.  Similar  doctrines 
are  disseminated  by  pedlars  from  New  England,  and  elsewhere, 
throughout  the  Southern  country  ;  and  masters*  have  been  found  so 
infatuated,  as  by  their  lives  and  conversation,  by  a  general  contempt 
of  order,  morality  and  religion,  unthinkingly  to  cherish  those  seeds 
of  self-destruction  to  them  and  their  families.  What  is  the  conse- 
quence ?  Within  the  last  ten  years,  repeated  alarms  of  insurrection 
among  the  slaves ;  some  of  them  awful  indeed.  From  the  spread- 
ing of  this  infernal  doctrine,  the  whole  Southern  country  has  been 
thrown  into  a  state  of  insecurity.  Men  dead  to  the  operation  of 
moral  causes,  have  taken  away  from  the  poor  slave  his  habits  of  loy- 
alty and  obedience  to  his  master,  which  lightened  his  servitude  by  a 
double  operation — beguiling  his  own  cares,  and  disarming  his  mas- 
ter's suspicions  and  severity ;  and  now,  like  true  empirics  in  politics, 
you  are  called  upon  to  trust  to  the  mere  physical  strength  of  the  fet- 
ter which  holds  him  in  bondage.  You  have  deprived  him  of  all 
moral  restraint ;  you  have  tempted  him  to  eat  of  the  tree  of  knowl- 
edge, just  enough  to  perfect  him  in  wickedness ;  you  have  opened  his 
eyes  to  his  nakedness ;  you  have  armed  his  nature  against  the  hand 
that  has  fed,  that  has  clothed  him,  that  has  cherished  him  in  sick- 
ness ;  that  hand  which,  before  he  became  a  pupil  of  your  school,  he 
had  been  accustomed  to  press  with  respectful  affection.  You  have 
done  all  this,  and  then,  show  him  the  gibbet  and  the  wheel,  as  incen- 
tives to  a  sullen,  repugnant  obedience.  God  forbid,  sir,  that  the 
southern  States  should  ever  see  an  enemy  on  their  shores,  with  these 
infernal  principles  of  French  fraternity  in  the  van.  While  talking 
ftf  taking  Canada,  some  of  us  are  shuddering  for  our  own  safety  at 


WAR  WITH  ENGLAND.  295 

nome.  I  speak  from  facts  when  I  say,  that  the  night-bell  never  tolls 
for  fire  in  Richmond,  that  the  mother  does  not  hug  the  infant  more 
closely  to  her  "bosom.  I  have  been  a  witness  of  some  of  the  alarms 
in  the  capital  of  Virginia." 

Mr.  Randolph  then  proceeded  to  notice  the  unjust  and  illiberal 
imputation  of  British  attachments^  against  certain  characters  in  this 
country ;  sometimes  insinuated  in  the  House,  but  openly  avowed 
out  of  it.  "  Against  whom  are  these  charges  brought  ?  Against  men 
who  in  the  war  of  the  Revolution  were  in  the  councils  of  the  nation,  or 
fighting  the  battles  of  your  country.  And  by  whom  are  they  made  ? 
By  runaway  s,  chiefly  from  the  British  dominions,  since  the  breaking 
out  of  the  French  troubles.  It  is  insufferable  !  It  cannot  be  borne  I 
It  must,  and  ought,  with  severity,  to  be  put  down  in  this  House,  and 
out  of  it,  to  meet  the  lie  direct.  We  have  no  fellow-feeling  for  the 
suffering  and  oppressed  Spaniards !  Yet  even  them  we  do  not  rep- 
robate. Strange !  that  we  should  have  no  objection  to  any  other 
people  or  government,  civilized  or  savage,  in  the  whole  world.  The 
great  autocrat  of  all  the  Russias  receives  the  homage  of  our  high 
consideration ;  the  Dey  of  Algiers,  and  his  divan  of  pirates,  are  very 
civil,  good  sort  of  people,  with  whom  we  find  no  difficulty  in  main- 
taining the  relations  of  peace  and  amity ;  '  Turks,  Jews,  and  Infi- 
dels;' MelimelZi,  or  the  Little  Turtle;  barbarians  and  savages,  of 
every  clime  and  color,  are  welcome  to  our  arms  ;  with  chiefs  of  ban- 
ditti, negro  or  mulatto,  we  can  treat  and  can  trade — name,  however, 
but  England,  and  all  our  antipathies  are  up  in  arms  against  her. 
Against  whom  1  Against  those  whose  blood  runs  in  our  own  veins  ; 
in  common  with  whom  we  can  claim  Shakspeare,  and  Newton,  and 
Chatham  for  our  countrymen ;  whose  form  of  government  is  the  freest 
on  earth,  our  own  only  excepted ;  from  whom  every  valuable  princi- 
ple of  our  own  institutions  has  been  borrowed — representation,  jury 
trial,  voting  the  supplies,  writs  of  habeas  corpus — our  whole  civil  and 
criminal  jurisprudence ;  against  our  felloiv-protestants,  identified  in 
blood,  in  language,  in  religion  with  ourselves.  In  what  school  did 
the  worthies  of  our  land,  the  Washingtons,  Henrys,  Hancocks,  Frank- 
lins. Rutleges,  of  America,  learn  those  principles  of  civil  liberty  which 
were  so  nobly  asserted  by  their  wisdom  and  valor  ?  And  American 
resistance  to  British  usurpation  had  not  been  more  warmly  cherished 
oy  these  great  men  and  their  compatriots ;  not  more  by  Washington. 


296  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

Hancock,  and  Henry,  than  by  Chatham,  and  his  illustrious  associates 
in  the  British  Parliament.  It  ought  to  be  remembered,  too,  that  tho 
heart  of  the  English  people  was  with  us.  It  was  a  selfish  and  cor- 
rupt ministry,  and  their  servile  tools,  to  whom  we  were  not  more  op- 
posed than  they  were.  I  trust  that  none  such  may  ever  exist  among 
us  ;  for  tools  will  never  be  wanted  to  subserve  the  purposes,  however 
ruinous  or  wicked,  of  kings  and  ministers  of  state. 

"  But  the  outrages  and  injuries  of  England.  Bred  up  in  the 
principles  of  the  Revolution,  I  can  never  palliate,  much  less  defend 
them.  I  well  remember  flying  with  my  mother,  and  her  new-born 
child,  from  Arnold  and  Philips ;  and  they  had  been  driven  by  Tarle- 
ton,  and  other  British  pandours,  from  pillar  to  post,  while  her  hus- 
band was  fighting  the  battles  of  his  country.  The  impression  is  in- 
delible on  my  memory ;  and  yet  (like  my  worthy  old  neighbor,  who 
added  seven  buckshot  to  every  cartridge  at  the  battle  of  Ghiilford, 
and  drew  a  fine  sight  at  his  man)  I  must  be  content  to  be  called  a 
tory  by  a  patriot  of  the  last  importation.  Let  us  not  get  rid  of  one 
evil,  supposing  it  possible,  at  the  expense  of  a  greater.  Suppose 
France  in  possession  of  the  British  naval  power — and  to  her  the  tri- 
dent must  pass  should  England  be  unable  to  wield  it — what  would 
be  your  condition  ?  "What  would  be  the  situation  of  your  seaports 
and  their  seafaring  inhabitants  ?  Ask  Hamburg,  Lubec — ask  Savan- 
nah ?  What !  sir,  when  their  privateers  are  pent  up  in  our  harbors 
by  the  British  bull-dogs ;  when  they  receive  at  our  hands  every  rite 
of  hospitality,  from  which  their  enemy  is  excluded  ;  when  they  cap- 
ture within  our  waters,  interdicted  to  British  armed  ships,  American 
vessels ;  when  such  is  their  deportment  toward  you,  under  such  cir- 
cumstances, what  could  you  expect  if  they  were  the  uncontrolled  lords 
of  the  ocean?  Had  those  privateers  at  Savannah  borne  British  com- 
missions, or  had  your  shipments  of  cotton,  tobacco,  ashes,  and  what 
not,  to  London  and  Liverpool  been  confiscated,  and  the  proceeds 
poured  into  the  English  exchequer,  my  life  upon  it !  you  would 
never  have  listened  to  any  miserable  wire-drawn  distinctions  between 
'  orders  and  decrees  affecting  our  neutral  rights,'  and  <•  municipal  de- 
crees,' confiscating  in  mass  your  whole  property.  You  would  have 
had  instant  war  !  The  whole  land  would  have  blazed  out  in  war. 

"  And  shall  republicans  become  the  instruments  of  him  who  has 
effaced  th'e  title  of  Attila  to  the  '  SCOURGE  OF  GOD  !'     Yet,  even 


WAR  WITH  ENGLAND.  297 

Attila,  in  the  falling  fortunes  of  civilization,  had,  no  doubt,  his  advo- 
cates, his  tools,  his  minions,  his  parasites,  in  the  very  countries  that 
he  overran — sons  of  that  soil  whereon  his  horse  had  trod,  where  grass 
could  never  after  grow.  If  perfectly  fresh,"  Mr.  Randolph  said,  "in- 
stead of  being  as  I  am — my  memory  clouded,  my  intellect  stupefied, 
my  strength  and  spirits  exhausted — I  could  not  give  utterance  to  that 
strong  detestation  which  I  feel  toward  (above  all  other  works  of  the 
creation)  such  characters  as  Zingis,  Tamerlane,  Kouli  Khan,  or  Bo- 
naparte. My  instincts  involuntarily  revolt  at  their  bare  idea — male- 
factors of  the  human  race,  who  ground  down  man  to  a  mere  machine 
of  their  impious  and  bloody  ambition.  Yet,  under  all  the  accumu- 
lated wrongs,  and  insults,  and  robberies  of  the  last  of  these  chief- 
tains, are  we  not,  in  point  of  fact,  about  to  become  a  party  to  his 
views,  a  partner  in  his  wars  ? 

"  I  beseech  the  House,  before  they  run  their  heads  against  this 
post,  Quebec,  to  count  the  cost.  My  word  for  it,  Virginia  planters 
will  not  be  taxed  to  support  such  a  war ;  a  war  which  must  aggravate 
their  present  distresses  ;  in  which  they  have  not  the  remotest  inter- 
est. Where  is  the  Montgomery,  or  even  the  Arnold,  or  the  Burr, 
who  is  to  march  to  the  Point  Levi  ? 

"  I  call  upon  those  professing  to  be  republicans,  to  make  good  the 
promises  held  out  by  their  republican  predecessors  when  they  came 
into  power;  promises,  which  for  years  afterwards,  they  honestly, 
faithfully  fulfilled.  "We  vaunted  of  paying  off  the  national  debt,  of 
retrenching  useless  establishments ;  and  yet  have  now  become  as  in- 
fatuated with  standing  armies,  loans,  taxes,  navies  and  war,  as  ever 
were  the  Essex  junto.  What  republicanism  is  this  ?" 

Mr.  Randolph  resolutely  and  earnestly  combated  every  measure 
that  had  a  tendency  to  widen  the  breach  between  the  United  States 
and  Great  Britain,  and  to  precipitate  them  into  a  war. 

On  the  1st  of  April,  1812,  the  President  sent  in  a  secret  message^ 
recommending  an  immediate  embargo.  The  Committee  of  Foreign 
Relations,  in  anticipation  of  the  message,  had  a  bill  already  prepared : 
it  was  read  the  first  and  second  time,  reported  to  the  Committee  of 
the  Whole,  referred  back  to  the  House,  and  immediately  put  on  its 
passage.  Some  member  wished  to  know  whether  it  was  to  be  con- 
sidered as  a  peace  measure,  or  a  precursor  to  war. 

Mr.  Gryndy.  a  member  of  the  committee,  replied  that  he  under- 


298  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

stood  it  as  a  war  measure ;  and  it  is  meant,  said  he,  that  ifc  shall  lead 
directly  to  it. 

Mr.  Clay  (the  Speaker)  warmly  expressed  his  satisfaction  and  full 
approbation  of  the  message,  and  the  proposition  before  the  House. 

Mr.  Randolph  then  rose :  "  I  am  so  impressed,"  said  he,  "  with 
the  importance  of  the  subject  and  the  solemnity  of  the  occasion,  that 
I  cannot  be  silent.  Sir,  we  are  now  in  conclave  ;  the  eyes  of  the  sur- 
rounding world  are  not  upon  us :  we  are  shut  up  here  from  the  light  of 
heaven,  but  the  eyes  of  G-od  are  upon  us.  He  knows  the  spirit  of  our 
minds.  Shall  we  deliberate  upon  this  subject  with  the  spirit  of 
sobriety  and  candor,  or  with  that  spirit  which  has  too  often  charac- 
terized our  discussions  upon  occasions  like  the  present?  We  ought 
to  realize  that  we  are  in  the  presence  of  that  God  who  knows  our 
thoughts  and  motives,  and  to  whom  we  must  hereafter  render  an  ac- 
count for  the  deeds  done  in  the  body.  I  hope,  sir,  the  spirit  of  party, 
and  every  improper  passion,  will  be  exorcised,  that  our  hearts  may 
be  as  pure  and  clean  as  fall  to  the  lot  of  human  nature. 

"  I  am  confident  in  the  declaration,  Mr.  Chairman,  that  this  is 
not  a  measure  of  the  Executive ;  but  that  it  is  engendered  by  an 
extensive  excitement  upon  the  Executive —  *  *  *  * 

"  I  will  appeal  to  the  sobriety  and  reflection  of  the  House,  and 
ask,  what  new  cause  of  war  for  the  last  twelve  months  ?  What  new 
cause  of  embargo  within  that  period  ?  The  affair  of  the  Chesapeake 
is  settled. — No  new  principles  of  blockade  interpolated  into  the  laws 
of  nations.  I  suppose  every  man  of  candor  and  sober  reflection  will 
ask  why  we  did  not  go  to  war  twelve  months  ago?  Or  will  it  be  said 
we  ought  to  make  up,  by  our  promptness  now,  for  our  slowness  then  ? 
Or  will  it  be  said,  that  if  the  wheat  for  which  we  have  received  two 
dollars  a  bushel  had  been  rotting  in  our  barns,  we  should  have  been 
happier  and  richer.  What  would  the  planter  say,  if  you  were  to  ask 
him  which  he  would  prefer, — the  honorable,  chivalrous  course  advo- 
cated by  the  Speaker,  with  the  consequences  which  must  attend  it, 
the  sheriff  at  his  back,  and  the  excise  collector  pressing  him?  He 
would  laugh  in  your  face.  It  is  not  generally  wise  to  dive  into 
futurity ;  but  it  is  wise  to  profit  by  experience,  although  it  may  be 
unpleasant.  I  feel  much  concerned  to  have  the  bill  on  the  table  for 
one  hour." 

But  he  was  not  allowed  that  privilege.    The  bill  was  immediately 


WAR  WITH  ENGLAND.  299 

hurried  through  the  forms  of  legislation,  and  became  a  law  in  a  short' 
time  after  the  President's  message  that  recommended  it  had  been 
read. 

On  the  29th  of  May,  1812,  having  learned  that  a  proposition 
would  certainly  be  made  in  a  few  days  to  declare  war,  he  rose  and 
stated  that  he  had  a  motion  to  make.  He  then  commenced  a  speech, 
involving  generally  the  present  state  of  our  relations  with  France 
and  Great  Britain.  After  he  had  spoken  for  some  time,  a  question 
of  order  was  raised,  and  it  was  decided  by  the  Speaker  that  the  gen- 
tleman ought,  previous  to  debating  so  much  at  large,  to  submit  his 
motion  to  the  House. 

'-After  some  desultory  debate,  and  decisions  on  points  of  order,  Mr. 
Randolph  submitted  the  following  proposition  :  "  That  under  present 
circumstances,  it  is  inexpedient  to  resort  to  a  war  with  Great 
Britain^ 

The  question  being  taken,  that  the  House  do  now  proceed  to  the 
consideration  of  the  said  resolution,  it  was  by  a  large  majority  de- 
cided in  the  negative.  By  this  most  unparliamentary  proceeding,  as 
he  thought,  the  subject  was  taken  from  before  the  House,  and  Mr. 
Randolph  was  deprived  of  an  opportunity,  if  not  denied  the  right,  of 
addressing  them  on  the  momentous  questions  involved  in  his  resolu- 
tion. Next  day  he  addressed  the  following  letter  to  his  constituents : 

To  the  Freeholders  of  Charlotte,  Prince  Edward,  Buckingham,  and 

Cumberland. 

FELLOW-CITIZENS, — I  dedicate  to  you  the  following  fragment. 
That  it  appears  in  its  present  mutilated  shape,  is  to  be  ascribed  to 
the  successful  usurpation  which  has  reduced  the  freedom  of  speech 
in  one  branch  of  the  American  Congress  to  an  empty  name.  It  is 
now  established,  for  the  first  time,  and  in  the  person  of  your  repre- 
sentative, that  the  House  may  and  will  refuse  to  hear  a  member  in  his 
place,  or  even  to  receive  a  motion  from  him,  upon  the  most  moment- 
ous subject  that  can  be  presented  for  legislative  decision.  A  simi- 
lar motion  was  brought  forward  by  the  republican  minority  in  the 
year  1798,  before  these  modern  inventions  for  stifling  the  freedom  of 
debate  were  discovered.  It  was  discussed  as  a  matter  of  right,  until 
it  was  abandoned  by  the  mover,  in  consequence  of  additional  infor- 
mation (the  correspondence  of  our  envoy  at  Paris)  laid  before  Con- 


300  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOI-fH. 

gress  by  the  President.  In  "  the  reign  of  terror,"  the  father  of  the 
sedition  law  had  not  the  hardihood  to  proscribe,  liberty  of  speech, 
much  less  the  right  of  free  debate  on  the  floor  of  Congress.  This 
invasion  of  the  public  liberties  was  reserved  for  self-styled  republi- 
cans, who  hold  your  understandings  in  such  contempt,  as  to  flatter 
themselves  that  you  will  overlook  their  every  outrage  upon  the  great 
first  principles  of  free  government,  in  consideration  of  their  profes- 
sions of  tender  regard  for  the  privileges  of  the  people.  It  is  for  you 
to  decide  whether  they  have  undervalued  your  intelligence  and  spirit, 
or  whether  they  have  formed  a  just  estimate  of  your  character.  You 
do  not  require  to  be  told  that  the  violation  of  the  rights  of  him  whom 
you  have  deputed  to  represent  you  is  an  invasion  of  the  rights  of 
every  man  of  you,  of  every  individual  in  society.  If  this  abuse  be 
suffered  to  pass  unredressed — and  the  people  alone  are  competent  to 
apply  the  remedy — we  must  bid  adieu  to  a  free  form  of  government 
for  ever. 

Having  learned  from  various  sources  that  a  declaration  of  war 
would  be  attempted  on  Monday  next,  with  closed  doors,  I  deemed  it 
my  duty  to  endeavor,  by  an  exercise  of  my  constitutional  functions, 
to  arrest  this  heaviest  of  all  calamities,  and  avert  it  from  our  happy 
country.  I  accordingly  made  the  effort  of  which  I  now  give  you  the 
result,  and  of  the  success  of  which  you  will  have  already  been  informed 
before  these  pages  can  reach  you.  I  pretend  only  to  give  you  the 
substance  of  my  unfinished  argument.  The  glowing  words,  the  lan- 
guage of  the  heart,  have  passed  away  with  the  occasion  that  called 
them  forth.  They  are  no  longer  under  my  control.  My  design  is 
simply  to  submit  to  you  the  views  which  have  induced  me  to  consi- 
der a  war  with  England,  under  existing  circumstances,  as  comporting 
neither  with  the  interest  nor  the  honor  of  the  American  people ;  but 
as  an  idolatrous  sacrifice  of  both,  on  the  altar  of  French  rapacity, 
perfidy  and  ambition. 

France  has  for  years  past  offered  us  terms  of  undefined  commer- 
cial arrangement,  as  the  price  of  a  war  with  England,  which  hitherto 
we  have  not  wanted  firmness  and  virtue  to  reject.  That  price  is  now 
to  be  paid.  We  are  tired  of  holding  out ;  and,  following  the  exam- 
ple of  continental  Europe,  entangled  in  the  artifices,  or  awed  by  the 
power  of  the  destroyer  of  mankind,  we  are  prepared  to  become 
instrumental  to  his  projects  of  universal  dominion.  Before  these, 


WAR  WITH  ENGLAND.  301 

pages  meet  your  eye,  the  last  republic  of  t/ie  earth  will  have  enlisted 
under  the  banners  of  the  tyrant  and  become  a  party  to  his  cause. 
The  blood  of  the  American  freemen  must  flow  to  cement  his  power,  to 
aid  in  stifling  the  last  struggles  of  aiflicted  and  persecuted  man,  to 
deliver  up  into  his  hands  the  patriots  of  Spain  and  Portugal,  to  estab- 
lish his  empire  over  the  ocean  and  over  the  land  that  gave  our  fathers 
birth — tcKforge  our  own  chains  !  And  yet,  my  friends,  we  are  told, 
as  we  were  told  in  the  days  of  Mr.  Adams,  "  the  finger  of  heaven 
points  to  ivar"  Yes,  the  finger  of  heaven  does  point  to  war  !  It  points 
to  war,  as  it  points  to  the  mansions  of  eternal  misery  and  torture — 
as  a  flaming  beacon  warning  us  of  that  vortex  which  we  may  not 
approach  but  with  certain  destruction.  It  points  to  desolated  Europe, 
and  warns  us  of  the  chastisement  of  those  nations  who  have  offended 
against  the  justice,  and  almost  beyond  the  mercy,  of  heaven.  It 
announces  the  wrath  to  come  upon  those  who,  ungrateful  for  the 
bounty  of  Providence,  not  satisfied  with  the  peace,  liberty,  security 
and  plenty  at  home,  fly,  as  it  were,  into  the  face  of  the  Most  High, 
and  tempt  his  forbearance. 

To  you,  in  this  place,  I  can  speak  with  freedom ;  and  it  becomes 
me  to  do  so  ;  nor  shall  I  be  deterred  by  the  cavils  and  the  sneers  of 
those  who  hold  as  "  foolishness "  all  that  savors  not  of  worldly  wis- 
dom, from  expressing  fully  and  freely  those  sentiments  which  it  has 
pleased  God,  in  his  mercy,  to  engrave  on  my  heart. 

These  are  no  ordinary  times  ;  the  state  of  the  world  is  unexam- 
pled ;  the  war  of  the  present  day  is  not  like  that  of  our  revolution, 
or  any  which  preceded  it,  at  least  in  modern  times.  It  is  a  war  against 
the  liberties  and  the  happiness  of  mankind ;  it  is  a  war  in  which  the 
whole  human  race  are  the  victims,  to  gratify  the  pride  and  lust  of 
power  of  a  single  individual.  I  beseech  you,  put  it  to  your  own 
bosoms,  how  far  it  becomes  you  as  freemen,  as  Christians,  to  give 
your  aid  and  sanction  to  this  impious  and  bloody  war  against  your 
brethren  of  the  human  family.  To  such  among  you,  if  any  such 
there  be,  who  are  insensible  to  motives  not  more  dignified  and  manly 
than  they  are  intrinsically  wise,  I  would  make  a  different  appeal.  I 
adjure  you  by  the  regard  you  have  for  your  own  safety  and  property, 
for  the  liberty  and  inheritance  of  your  children — by  all  that  you  hold 
dear  and  sacred — to  interpose  your  constitutional  powers  to  save 


302  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

your  country  and  yourselves  from  the  calamity,  the  issue  of  which 
it  is  not  given  to  human  foresight  to  divine. 

Ask  yourselves  if  you  are  willing  to  become  the  virtual  allies  of 
Bonaparte  ?  Are  you  willing,  for  the  sake  of  annexing  Canada  to 
the  Northern  States,  to  submit  to  that  overgrowing  system  of  tax- 
ation  which  sends  the  European  laborer  supperless  to  bed,  to  main- 
tain, by  the  sweat  of  your  brow,  armies  at  whose  hands  you  are  to 
receive  a  future  master  ?  Suppose  Canada  ours ;  is  there  any  one 
among  you  who  would  ever  be,  in  any  respect,  the  better  for  it  ? — the 
richer,  the  freer,  the  happier,  the  more  secure  ?  And  is  it  for  a  boon 
like  this  that  you  would  join  in  the  warfare  against  the  liberties  of 
man  in  the  other  hemisphere,  and  put  your  own  in  jeopardy  ?  Or  is 
it  for  the  nominal  privilege  of  a  licensed  trade  with  France  that  you 
would  abandon  your  lucrative  commerce  with  Great  Britain,  Spain 
and  Portugal,  and  their  Asiatic,  African,  and  American  dependencies ; 
in  a  word,  with  every  region  of  those  vast  continents  ? — that  com- 
merce which  gives  vent  to  your  tobacco,  grain,  flour,  cotton  ;  in  short, 
to  all  your  native  products,  which  are  denied  a  market  in  France  ? 
There  are  not  wanting  men  so  weak  as  to  suppose  that  their  appro- 
bation of  warlike  measures  is  a  proof  of  personal  gallantry,  and  that 
opposition  to  them  indicates  a  want  of  that  spirit  which  becomes  a 
friend  of  his  country ;  as  if  it  required  more  courage  and  patriotism 
to  join  in  the  acclamation  of  the  day,  than  steadily  to  oppose  one's 
self  to  the  mad  infatuation  to  which  every  people  and  all  governments 
have,  at  some  time  or  other,  given  way.  Let  the  history  of  Phocion, 
of  Agis,  and  of  the  De  Witts,  answer  this  question. 

My  friends,  do  you  expect  to  find  those  who  are  now  loudest  in 
the  clamor  for  war,  foremost  in  the  ranks  of  battle  ?  Or,  is  the  honor 
of  this  nation  indissolubly  connected  with  the  political  reputation  of 
a  few  individuals,  who  tell  you  they  have  gone  too  far  to  recede,  and 
that  you  must  pay,  with  your  ruin,  the  price  of  their  consistency  ? 

My  friends,  I  have  discharged  my  duty  towards  you,  lamely  and 
inadequately,  I  know,  but  to  the  best  of  my  poor  ability.  The  des- 
tiny of  the  American  people  is  in  their  own  hands.  The  net  is  spread 
for  their  destruction.  You  are  enveloped  in  the  toils  of  French 
duplicity,  and  if — which  may  Heaven  in  its  mercy  forbid — you.  and 
your  posterity  are  to  become  hewers  of  wood  and  drawers  of  water 
to  the  modern  Pharoah,  it  shall  not  be  for  the  want  of  my  best  exer- 


CLAY— CALHOUN.  303 

tions  to  rescue  you  from  the  cruel  and  abject  bondage.     This  sin,  at 
least,  shall  not  rest  upon  my  soul. 

JOHN  RANDOLPH  OF  ROANOKE. 
May  30th,  1812. 


CHAPTER  XXXVII. 

CLAY — CALHOUN. 

ON  the  18th  of  June,  1812,  an  act  was  approved  by  the  President  de- 
claring that  a  state  of  war  existed  between  the  United  States  and 
Great  Britain.  It  forms  no  part  of  the  plan  of  this  biography  to 
enter  into  the  details  of  the  war.  From  them  the  student  of  history 
can  derive  but  little  information  as  to  the  causes  of  the  growth, 
development  and  decay  of  nations.  But  there  is  an  inquiry  that 
might  properly  be  made  here,  immediately  bearing  on  this  great 
subject,  and  deeply  affecting  the  public  conduct  of  John  Randolph 
at  the  same  time  :  might  not  this  ^var  have  been  avoided  ?  might 
not  the  nation  have  saved  the  blood  and  treasure  wasted  in  its  pros- 
ecution, and  escaped  the  evil  consequences,  both  moral  and  political, 
that  followed  in  its  train  ?  John  Randolph  declared  that  it  might 
have  been  done ;  his  whole  opposition  was  based  on  the  conviction 
that  there  was  no  need  for  such  an  extreme  measure.  "  We  can 
escape  this  conflict,  said  he,  with  honor — it  is  our  duty  to  wait. "  No 
new  cause  of  war  had  arisen — there  would  have  been  as  much  rea- 
son for  the  step  in  the  June  preceding  as  there  was  at  the  time  of 
the  declaration.  The  reader  is  already  aware  of  the  grounds  of 
complaint  against  Great  Britain  ;  he  must  be  satisfied  also  that  there 
was  at  least  some  color  of  reason  for  the  course  which  she  declared 
she  was  compelled  to  pursue  towards  neutrals,  in  order  to  save  her 
own  existence  in  the  general  wreck  of  European  nations. 

As  to  the  impressment  of  seamen,  she  only  claimed  the  right 
to  search  for  British  subjects  on  board  of  American  merchant  ves- 
sels ;  yet  it  was  one,  arising  from  the  common  origin  of  the  two 
nations,  most  difficult  to  be  enforced,  liable  to  be  abused,  and  was 
greatly  abused  by  proud  and  insolent  naval  officers.  But  because 


304  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

there  was  right  and  reason  on  both  sides,  this  was  not  between 
rational  people  a  subject  of  war,  but  of  adjustment  and  compromise, 
and  in  truth  it  was  adjusted  to  the  satisfaction  of  Mr.  Monroe 
and  Mr.  Pinckney  in  the  treaty  of  December,  1806  ;  but  the  Presi- 
dent, as  we  know,  put  that  treaty  in  his  pocket,  and  refused  to  sub- 
mit it  to  the  consideration  of  the  Senate. 

As  to  the  denial  of  our  right  to  the  carrying  trade,  and  the 
question  of  constructive  blockade,  which  had  been  so  much  discussed, 
and  were  charged  as  interpolations  by  Great  Britain  into  the  law 
of  nations,  they  were  now  swallowed  up  by  the  orders  in  council. 
The  reader  is  informed  of  the  exact  posture  of  that  question  on  the 
4th  of  November,  1811,  when  Congress  was  first  assembled.  It 
was  narrowed  down  to  this :  Britain  declared,  that,  notwithstanding 
the  revocation  of  the  French  decrees  so  far  as  they  affected  the  United 
States,  she  could  not  repeal  her  orders  until  the  United  States 
should  procure  a  further  modification  so  as  to  allow  goods  of  British 
origin  owned  by  American  citizens  to  be  carried  to  France  and 
other  parts  of  the  continent.  As  the  matter  stood  they  were  only 
restored  to  half  their  rights  as  a  neutral  power.  By  the  law  of  na- 
tions, enemy's  goods  not  contraband  of  war,  purchased  and  owned 
by  neutrals,  are  lawful  subjects  of  trade;  but  there  lay  the  rub;  in 
the  exercise  or  non-exercise  of  this  right  was  involved  the  commer- 
cial jealousy  and  rivalry  of  the  two  nations.  The  United  States  did 
not  want  a  restoration  of  their  rights,  because  if  British  goods  un- 
der cover  of  the  American  flag  could  be  carried  to  the  continent,  it 
would  at  once  open  a  vast  and  profitable  outlet  to  the  manufactures 
and  other  products  of  England,  now  locked  up  in  their  warehouses, 
and  would  cut  off  that  monopoly  enjoyed  by  the  citizens  of  the 
United  States  in  consequence  of  the  prohibition  laid  on  all  articles 
of  English  origin.  It  was  not  then  a  question  of  principle,  but  one 
of  pure  commercial  rivalry. 

England  urged  on  the  United  States  that  she  should  demand  a 
restoration  of  all  her  rights  as  a  neutral  nation  ;  the  United  States 
replied  that  they  had  been  restored  as  far  as  they  required,  and 
insisted  that  England  should  comply  with  her  pledges,  and  proceed 
pari  passu  with  France  in  the  repeal  of  her  orders  in  council.  The 
true  motives  for  the  persistence  of  both  in  their  demands,  were  very 
perceptible,  but  by  neither  were  avowed.  Here  then  was  the  whole 


CLAY— CALHOUN.  305 

question,  and  on  this  issue  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  resolv- 
ed to  go  to  war. 

But  in  the  position  assumed  by  the  British  ministry,  which  was 
certainly  plausible,  if  not  just,  they  were  not  sustained  by  the 
nation.  The  clamors  of  the  commercial  and  manufacturing  inter- 
ests were  heard  in  Parliament  and  by  the  Royal  cabinet.  There 
was  a  powerful  and  influential  party,  with  Canning  at  their  head 
that  demanded  a  repeal  of  the  orders  in  council ;  the  ministry  were 
dissolved,  and  a  commission  given  by  the  prince  regent  to  one  of 
the  opposition  party  to  form  a  cabinet  friendly  to  American  inter- 
ests. Owing  to  the  discordant  elements  of  the  opposition  itself,  and 
not  to  any  difficulty  on  this  question,  the  new  organization  did  not 
take  place  at  that  time,  but  these  circumstances  manifested  the  tem- 
per of  the  nation,  and  showed  plainly  that  the  obnoxious  measures 
of  government  must  soon  be  condemned  and  repealed.  These  facts 
were  known  to  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  before  the  declara- 
tion of  war,  and  they  must  have  convinced  any  reasonable  and 
candid  mind  that  a  favorable  change  in  the  posture  of  affairs  was  to 
be  expected  at  no  distant  period.  And  in  fact  on  the  23d  day  of 
June,  just  five  days  after  the  declaration  of  war,  it  was  ordered  and 
declared  by  the  prince  regent,  in  council,  "  that  the  order  in  coun- 
cil, bearing  date  the  7th  of  January,  1807,  and  the  order  in  council 
bearing  date  the  26th  of  April,  1809,  be  revoked,  so  far  as  may  re- 
gard American  vessels  and  their  cargoes,  being  American  property, 
from  the  first  day  of  August  next." 

The  embargo  that  was  laid  preparatory  to  war,  commenced  the 
4th  of  April,  and  was  to  last  ninety  days — until  the  4th  of  July. 
No  one  expected  war  to  be  declared  before  that  period.  Mr.  Madi- 
son, it  was  well  known,  wished  the  embargo  to  be  extended  to  four 
months  ;  that  is,  to  the  4th  of  August.  A  motion  was  actually  made 
in  the  House  to  this  effect,  but  was  rejected.  He  said,  that  if  at  the 
end  of  four  months  no  favorable  news  came  from  abroad,  he  would 
then  be  ready  to  recommend  a  declaration  of  war.  By  the  4th  of 
August,  Lews  came  of  the  repeal  of  the  orders  in  council !  Had 
his  inclinations  then  been  followed,  the  nation  might  have  been  saved 
from  all  the  disastrous  consequences  of  the  precipitate  action  of  Con- 
gress. 

Mr.  Madison,  indeed,  was  not  favorable  to  the  embargo — it  was 


306  LTFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

Voiced  upon  him.  "I  am  confident  in  the  declaration,''  said  Mr. 
Randolph,  in  conclave,  "  that  this  is  not  a  measure  of  the  executive, 
but  that  it  is  engendered  by  an  extensive  excitement  upon  the  exec- 
utive." The  relation  of  the  two  great  departments  of  government 
had  entirely  changed  from  what  it  was  in  the  days  of  Mr.  Jefferson  ; 
then  the  commanding  power  of  a  great  mind  and  a  determined  will 
gave  direction  to  all  the  measures  of  the  legislature,  but  now  the 
master-spirits  that  controlled  affairs  were  to  be  found  on  the  floor  of 
Congress.  The  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  and  the 
leading  member  of  the  Committee  of  Foreign  Affairs,  from  their 
position,  if  they  had  talents,  were  most  likely  to  exert  a  large  influ- 
ence over  the  proceedings  of  the  House.  The  persons  occupying 
those  stations  were  Henry  Clay  and  John  C.  Calhoun.  They  were 
both  possessed  of  great  minds,  endowed  with  extraordinary  powers  of 
eloquence,  were  young,  ardent,  ambitious,  and  for  the  first  time  mem- 
bers of  the  popular  branch  of  the  national  legislature.  In  the  excit- 
ed state  of  the  country,  a  better  field  could  not  have  been  found  for 
the  display  of  their  talents.  The  deep  enthusiasm  of  their  souls, 
the  chief  element  of  their  greatness,  enlivened  by  a  brilliant  imagi- 
nation in  the  one,  and  tempered  by  large  faculties  of  reason  in  the 
other,  gave  such  a  strength  and  boldness  to  their  thoughts,  that  they 
imparted  confidence  to  the  timid,  clearness  to  the  obscure,  and  infused 
a  portion  of  their  own  zeal  into  more  phlegmatic  natures, — none  could 
escape  the  contagion  of  their  influence. 

A  few  months  after  the  opening  of  Congress,  Mr.  Randolph, 
while  speaking  of  these  new  lights  of  the  administration,  said  to  a 
friend,  "  They  have  entered  this  House  with  their  eye  on  the  Presi- 
dency, and  mark  my  words,  sir,  we  shall  have  war  before  the  end  of 
the  session  !"  Aside  from  the  aspiration  of  a  noble  mind  to  tread 
some  brilliant  and  high  career,  we  do  not  believe  they  had  any  selfish 
end  in  view.  Cold  and  calculating  natures  only  influence  others  by 
motives  akin  to  their  own.  Neither  calculation  nor  logic,  but  the 
sympathizing  impulses  of  a  great  soul,  can  deeply  move  the  masses 
of  mankind.  A  magnanimous  spirit,  animated  with  the  inspiring 
breath  of  a  whole  people,  may  go  forth  with  the  confidence  of  a 
Moses,  feeling  that  the  voice  of  the  people  is  the  voice  of  God.  But 
not  always  are  the  acts  even  of  a  great  nation  the  result  of  divine 
inspiration.  Sometimes  they  are  influenced  from  the  opposite  quar» 


CLAY— CALHOUN.  307 

ter  of  the  spiritual  world,  and  partake  more  of  the  demoniac  than 
the  godlike. 

The  mere  abstract  question  of  international  law  involved  between 
Great  Britain  and  the  United  States,  if  left  to  a  court  of  admiralty 
and  a  jury  composed  of  citizens  of  the  world,  might  have  been  decid- 
ed against  them.  But  neither  courts  nor  attorneys  can  decide  the 
fate  of  empires. 

The  democracy  of  America,  which  constituted  the  great  mass  of 
the  people  of  America,  were  thoroughly  anti-British ;  a  common  ori- 
gin and  a  common  tongue  served  only  as  points  of  contrast.  There 
was  a  deep-rooted  antipathy  between  them  and  the  proud,  pampered 
aristocracy  of  England.  Their  sympathies  were  all  on  the  side  of 
France  and  her  struggles  for  liberty  ;  even  Bonaparte  came  in  for  a 
share  of  their  regard.  His  boldness,  his  humble  origin,  his  brilliant 
success,  shed  such  a  halo  of  glory  around  his  brow  as  to  obscure  the 
darker  features  of  his  tyrannical  nature.  Then  there  were  the  old 
memories  of  Bunker's  Hill,  Monmouth,  La  Fayette,  Rochambeau, 
and  Yorktowu — these  household  themes  were  familiar  to  every  do- 
mestic fireside.  Add  the  long  catalogue  of  modern  grievances — the 
plunder  of  our  commerce,  the  capture  of  our  seamen,  the  insults  to 
our  national  flag,  the  insolence,  and  proud,  contemptuous  bearing  of 
British  officers  even  in  our  own  ports — this  is  too  much  !  we  will  not 
endure  it !  We  will  fight  rather  than  suffer  their  aristocratic  inso- 
lence any  longer — "  Free  trade  and  sailors'  rights  !  God  and  Liberty  i'v 
We  will  fight  for  these,  come  what  will  of  it !  We  will  teach  these 
insulting  English  better  manners,  or  blow  them  to  the  devil ! 

Such  was  the  universal  sentiment  throughout  the  vast  regions  of 
the  south  and  west.  Their  newspapers  and  their  popular  orators 
(who  was  not  an  orator  in  those  excited  times  ?)  proclaimed  Free  trade 
and  sailors'  rights !  Without  a  sailor  or  a  ship  on  the  sea,  the  fiery 
multitude  echoed  back,  Free  trade  and  sailors'  rights !  This  compre- 
hensive phrase  served  the  same  turn  now,  that  millions  for  defence, 
not  a  cent  for  tribute,  had  served  on  a  former  occasion.  A  deep  sense 
of  indignation  and  wrong,  vaguely  shadowed  forth  in  that  expression 
i:free  trade  and  sailors'  rights,"  pervaded  the  whole  country.  It  was 
vain  to  argue  with  people  in  such  a  temper ;  he  who  had  the  folly  to 
attempt  it  would  imagine  that  he  could  arrest  the  bellowing  thunder 
storm  on  the  point  of  a  bodkin.  Henry  Clay  and  John  C.  Calhoun 
21 


308  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

were  the  representatives  of  these  excited  elements  on  the  floor  of 
Congress  ;  it  was  in  their  power  to  temper  these  impetuous  energies, 
and  to  have  served  as  conductors  to  the  surcharged  electric  fires  that 
threatened  momentary  explosion  ;  but  they  were  too  full  themselves 
of  the  same  fiery  impulses  to  repress  them  in  others  ;  they  boldly 
marched  forward ;  and  knowing  and  feeling  that  the  people  were 
pressing  close  behind  them,  plunged  the  nation  headlong  into  a  ruin- 
ous war — we  do  not  mean  ruinous  in  a  military  sense — no  one  ever 
doubted  that  our  people,  sooner  or  later,  would  be  triumphant  in 
every  conflict,  by  land  and  by  sea.  The  energies  and  the  courage  of  a 
free  people  are  irrepressible  and  unconquerable — we  mean  disastrous 
in  the  sense  predicted  by  John  Randolph ;  disastrous  to  the  Consti- 
tution and  to  the  principles  of  the  people. 

Two  of  the  avowed  objects  of  this  war  were,  the  conquest  of  Ca- 
nada, and  the  plunder  of  the  high  seas  ;  ends  that  fostered  a  spirit  of 
aggression  and  of  retaliation  unbecoming  the  character  of  our  coun- 
try or  of  its  peaceful  institutions.  We  say  nothing  of  the  disturbance 
of  that  balance  of  power  between  the  States  and  the  Federal  Govern- 
ment so  necessary  for  their  just  and  harmonious  action,  which  was 
the  necessary  consequence  of  the  enormous  patronage  and  excessive 
energy  of  the  executive  in  the  time  of  a  foreign  war.  Exhausted  of 
its  resources  by  a  long  series  of  restrictive  measures,  the  nation  com- 
menced hostilities  with  borrowed  money ;  a  large  national  debt  was 
accumulated;  a  depreciated,  ruinous,  demoralizing  paper  currency 
deluged  the  whole  land,  and  a  hot-bed  system  of  domestic  manufac- 
tures were  stimulated  into  existence,  at  the  expense  of  agriculture 
and  commerce,  which  were  the  natural  sources  of  wealth  and  pros- 
perity to  a  new,  wide-spread,  and  sparsely  populated  country. 

The  proclamation  of  peace  found  the  people  burdened  with  a  na- 
tional debt,  ruined  by  a  depreciated  currency,  corrupted,  as  far  as 
they  could  be  corrupted,  by  all  the  demoralizing  influences  which  for 
years  had  been  working  on  their  integrity  ;  and  incumbered  with  in- 
numerable domestic  manufactures,  which,  like  Jonah's  gourd,  had 
sprung  up  in  a  night,  and  could  not  bear  the  rude  shocks  of  foreign 
competition  produced  by  returning  commerce. 

Those  who  brought  on  and  sustained  the  war  were  necessarily 
expected  to  find  a  remedy  for  the  evils  that  followed  in  its  train. 
The  same  master-spirits  who  conducted  the  war,  controlled  the  course 


CLAY— CALHOUN.  309 

of  legislation  for  years  after  the  restoration  of  peace.  They  recom- 
mended a  National  Bank  as  the  agent  for  managing  and  liquidating 
the  national  debt,  and  as  the  means  of  restoring  and  regulating  the 
currency ;  they  advocated  the  imposition  of  heavy  duties  on  the  im- 
portation of  foreign  goods,  as  the  means  of  producing  a  revenue  to 
pay  the  national  debt,  and  also  as  a  protection  to  those  infant  manu- 
factures, which,  since  the  death  of  their  nurses  and  foster-mother, 
non-intercourse,  embargo,  and  war,  would  be  left  entirely  exposed  to 
the  crushing  weight  of  maturer  rivals ;  and  as  these  enormous  duties 
were  likely  soon  to  furnish  means  to  pay  off  the  national  debt  and  to 
take  away  the  pretext  for  imposing  them,  a  convenient  sinking  fund 
was  found  in  a  system  of  internal  improvements  by  the  Federal 
Government.  These  were  the  remedies  furnished  by  the  advocates 
of  the  war  to  cure  the  evils  it  had  produced.  And  how  do  we  find 
them  ?  just  such  as  the  federalists  would  have  recommended — gross 
violations  of  the  Constitution,  that  nothing  but  the  most  imperious 
necessity  could  tolerate,  are  established  into  precedents  and  made 
part  of  a  regular  system  of  legislation — vile  excrescences,  that  like  a 
cancer  had  eaten  into  the  heart  of  the  body  politic,  and  defaced  the 
fair  features  of  the  Constitution,  are  hailed  as  the  beautiful  outgrowth 
of  her  vital  functions. 

By  some  righteous  retribution  of  Providence  both  these  great  men 
— for  truly  great  they  were — have  been  punished  for  their  sins  in 
precipitating  a  war  that  might  have  been  retarded,  and  perhaps  honor- 
ably avoided,  and  for  violating  the  Constitution  to  find  a  remedy  for 
its  evils.  If  Randolph's  supposition  be  true,  they  both  failed  of  their 
end.  The  reason  is  very  plain — they  ceased  to  embody  the  senti- 
ment and  to  reflect  the  will  of  the  great  body  of  the  democracy,  when 
they  began  to  undermine  the  Constitution  to  find  a  remedy  for  evils 
they  had  inflicted  on  the  country,  and  became  the  advocates  of  special 
interests,  monopolies,  and  a  moneyed  aristocracy.  Mr.  Clay,  with  a 
zeal  and  perseverance  worthy  of  a  better  cause,  labored  all  his  days 
to  force  his  miscalled  American  System  as  a  permanent  institution 
on  the  country :  but  the  people  were  against  him,  and  not  one  of  his 
measures  can  now  be  found  on  the  statute  book. 

Mr.  Calhoun,  when  too  late,  saw  and  acknowledged  the  error  of 
his  ways,  and  in  a  desperate  effort  to  retrieve- his  own  section  of  the 


310  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

country  from  the  evil  consequences  of  his  own  measures,  well  nigh 
involved  the  whole  in  civil  war  and  ruin. 

But,  for  the  time  being,  they  rode  triumphantly  on  the  full  tide 
of  popularity,  while  Randolph,  who  foresaw  and  warned  them  of  the 
consequences  of  their  rash  measures,  was  driven  into  retirement. 
All  the  powers  of  two  administrations  and  the  political  presses  in 
their  employment,  the  government  at  Washington,  and  the  govern- 
ment at  home  in  his  native  State,  were  employed  to  crush  and  destroy 
him.  John  W.  Eppes,  the  most  distinguished  and  experienced 
leader  of  the  administration  party,  was  induced  to  make  his  residence 
in  the  county  of  Buckingham,  that  Randolph  might  have  the  most 
able  and  formidable  opposition  the  country  could  afford.  These  two 
men,  who  had  been  friends  and  companions  in  their  youth,  and  rival 
leaders  on  the  floor  of  Congress,  met  for  the  first  time,  in  1811,  as 
candidates  for  the  suffrages  of  the  same  people.  But  the  long  ser- 
vices of  their  old  servanf  were  triumphant  on  this  occasion.  Again 
they  met,  in  the  spring  of  1813;  times  had  changed;  the  country 
was  involved  in  war,  and  all  its  resources  were  pledged  to  a  suc- 
cessful issue ;  redoubled  efforts  must  now  be  made  to  drive  him  from 
the  councils  of  the  nation,  who  had  opposed  its  measures,  and  fore- 
boded nothing  but  evil  as  their  consequence.  Never  was  a  political 
canvass  conducted  with  more  animation.  In  Buckingham,  Mr.  Ran- 
dolph was  threatened  with  personal  violence  if  he  attempted  to  ad- 
dress the  people.  Some  of  the  older  and  more  prudent  persons 
advised  him  to  retire,  and  not  appear  in  public.  "  You  know  very 
little  of  me,'3  said  he,  "  or  you  would  not  give  such  advice."  He  was 
a  man  incapable  of  fear.  Soon  proclamation  was  made  that  Mr.  Ran- 
dolph would  address  the  people.  A  dense  throng  gathered  around : 
he  mounted  the  hustings ;  on  the  outskirts  there  hung  a  lowering  and 
sullen  crowd  that  evidently  meditated  insult  or  violence  on  the  first 
opportunity ;  he  commenced :  "  I  understand  that  I  am  to  be  insulted 
to-day  if  I  attempt  to  address  the  people — that  a  mob  is  prepared  to 
lay  their  rude  hands  upon  me  and  drag  me  from  these  hustings,  for 
daring  to  exercise  the  rights  of  a  freeman."  Then  fixing  his  keen 
eye  on  the  malcontents,  and  stretching  out  and  slowly  waving  his 
long  fore-finger  towards  them,  he  continued  :  "  My  Bible  teaches  me 
that  the  fear  of  G-od  is  the  beginning  of  wisdom,  but  that  the  fear  of 
man  is  the  consummation  of  folly."  He  then  turned  to  the  people, 


CLAY— CALHOUN.  311 

and  went  on  with  his  discourse.  No  one  dared  to  disturb  him — 
his  spell  was  upon  them — like  the  Ancient  Mariner,  "  he  held  them 
with  his  glittering  eye,"  and  made  them  listen  against  their  will  to 
the  story  of  their  country's  wrongs,  and  to  feel  that  deep  wounds  had 
been  inflicted  in  the  sides  of  her  constitution  by  those  that  now 
sought  his  political  destruction,  if  not  his  life. 

Mr.  Randolph  made  extraordinary  exertions  during  this  canvass ; 
he  felt  that  something  more  than  his  own  success  or  his  own  rep^- 
tation  were  staked  on  the  issue,  and  never  was  he  more  powerful, 
more  commanding,  more  overwhelming  in  his  eloquence. 

In  his  favorite  county  of  Prince  Edward,  where  the  people  loved 
him  like  a  brother,  he  surpassed  even  himself.  A  young  man,  who 
was  a  student  in  a  neighboring  college,  declares  that  he  stood  on  his 
feet  for  three  hours  unconscious  of  the  flight  of  time — that  he  never 
heard  such  burning  words  fall  from  the  lips  of  man,  and  was  borne 
along  on  the  tide  of  his  impassioned  eloquence  like  a  feather  on  the 
bosom  of  a  cataract.  When  he  had  ceased — when  his  voice  was  no 
longer  heard,  and  his  form  had  disappeared  in  the  throng,  no  one 
moved — the  people  stood  still  as  though  they  had  been  shocked  by  a 
stroke  of  lightning — their  fixed  eyes  and  pallid  cheeks  resembled 
marble  statues,  or  petrified  Roman  citizens  in  the  forum  of  Pompeii 
or  Herculaneum. 

But  it  was  all  in  vain  ;  the  overwhelming  pressure  from  without 
was  more  than  even  Charlotte  District  could  withstand ;  and  their 
favorite  son  was  compelled  to  retire  for  a  short  time,  while  the  storm 
of  war  was  passing  over  the  land,  and  to  seek  repose  in  the  shades  of 
Roanoke.  How  magnanimously  he  bore  this  defeat  shall  be  made 
known  in  the  following  chapters. 


END  OF  VOL.  L 


LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

« 

VOL.  II. 


-ssiS-a^ 


THE   LIFE 


OP 


JOHN    RANDOLPH 


OF.EOANOKE. 


BY 

HUGH  A.  GARLAND. 


VOL.  II. 


THIRTEENTH  EDITION. 


NEW  YORK: 
D.    APPLETON    AND    COMPANY, 

549    &    551    BROADWAY. 
1874. 


ENTERED,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1850,  by 

D.  APPLETON  &  COMPANY, 
m  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  for  the  Southern  District  of  New- York. 


CONTENTS  OF  VOL.   II. 


CHAPTER  I. 
Roanoake— Retirement         .....  .9 

CHAPTER  II. 
Ancestral  pride— St.  George— Madness  ...  36 

CHAPTER  III. 
Military  Campaign  .......       44 

CHAPTER  IV. 
New  England        .  .  .  •  >  •  49 

CHAPTER  V. 

Religion— 1815  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .62 

CHAPTER  VI. 
Political  Reflections— Congress— Bank  Charter  ...  70 

CHAPTER  VII. 

Religion— Home— Solitude  ......        85 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
"Dying,  Sir— Dying"  ......  89 

CHAPTER  IX. 
Conversion  ........       94 


6  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  X.  PAO§ 

Idiosyncracies       .  m< 

*  •  •  ILri 

CHAPTER  XI. 
Congress— Political  Parties  ....  no 

CHAPTER  XII. 

Missouri  Question  ., ,  Q 

•  • 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

Compromise  Bill  smuggled  through  the  House      .  .  .  joy 

CHAPTER  XIV. 
"  I  now  go  for  blood  "—Madness      ....  135 

CHAPTER  XV. 
Missouri  Question— Act  the  Second       ....  139 

CHAPTER  XVI. 
!t  Be  not  solitary ;  be  not  idle"— His  Will— Slaves  .  .  145 

CHAPTER  XVII. 
Log-book  and  Letters  «...  150 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 
The  Apportionment  Bill        ....  I61 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

Pinckney,  Marshall,  Tazewell— Departure  for  Europe  109 

CHAPTER  XX. 
The  Voyage ^  172 

CHAPTER  XXI. 
Incidents  in  England  ...  185 

CHAPTER  XXII. 

Eighteenth  Congress— Consolidation  is  the  order  of  the  day— ::  Speak  a 
cheering  word  to  the  Greeks  "...  193 


CONTENTS.  7 

PAG3 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 

tnternal  Improvements  .  .  .  .  .  ,201 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 
Supreme  Court— Dull  dinner— Huddlesford's  Oak       .  .  .  209 

CHAPTER  XXV. 

Tariff— Prophecy— Lewis  McLean  .  .  .  214 

CHAPTER  XXVI. 
Second  Vo}~age  to  Europe  ....  .  219 

CHAPTER  XXVII. 
Presidential  Election  .  .  227 

CHAPTER  XXVIII. 
"Such  constituents  as  man  never  had  before,  and  never  will  have  again'"'      233 

CHAPTER  XXIX. 
The  Adams  Administration  ......      241 

CHAPTER  XXX. 

The  Panama  Mission— Blifil  and  Black  George  .  .  .  249 

CHAPTER  XXXI. 
Duel  with  Henry  Clay          .......      254 

CHAPTER  XXXII. 

Negro  Slavery  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  261 

CHAPTER  XXXIII. 
Letters  from  Abroad  .......      269 

CHAPTER  XXXIV. 
Ejection  from  the  Senate  ......  275 

CHAPTER  XXXV. 
Election  to  the  House  of  Representatives  .  ,  ,      289 


8  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XXXVI.  PAoa 

Leader  of  the  Opposition—  A  wise  and  masterly  inactivity     .  298 

CHAPTER  XXXVII. 
Letters  from  Roanoke  ......  307 

CHAPTER  XXXVIII. 
Presidential  Election—  Retirement  from  Congress        ...  311 

CHAPTER  XXXIX. 
Elected  to  the  Convention  ...  321 

CHAPTER  XL. 

The  Virginia  Convention—  Every  change  is  not  reform  .  304 

CHAPTER  XLI. 
Mission  to  Russia  009 

•  .  OOA 


CHAPTER  XLII. 
••. 

CHAPTER  XLIII. 


Opium  Eater  •••...  343 


The  Consummation 


CHAPTER  XLIV. 
"  I  have  been  sick  all  my  life  "—Death  .  . 


CHAPTEE   I. 

ROANOKE — RETIREMES  T. 

WE  have  now  to  view  Mr.  Randolph  in  a  new  aspect.  After  an  ac- 
tive, uninterrupted,  and  eventful  career  of  fourteen  years  in  the  pub- 
lic service,  in  one  of  the  most  remarkable  epochs  of  human  history, 
we  have  now  to  follow  him  into  retirement.  The  triumph  of  his  en- 
emies at  the  recent  election  had  no  power  to  shake  the  firmness  of 
his  purpose,  or  to  disturb  the  serenity  of  his  mind.  "  It  relieves  me 
from  an  odious  thraldom,"  says  he,  "  and,  I  assure  you,  my  dear  sir, 
I  have  thought  and  yet  think,  much  more  of  the  charming  Mrs.  G. 
than  of  the  election.  The  low  and  base  arts  to  which  my  adversa- 
ries have  resorted,  have  not  raised  them  or  sunk  me  in  my  own  esti- 
mation." 

At  home  he  lived  in  the  utmost  seclusion  and  solitude.  Up  to 
1810  he  made  Bizarre  his  principal  place  of  residence.  Here  he 
enjoyed  the  best  of  female  society,  for  which  no  man  had  a  higher 
relish — found  employment  in  the  education  of  his  young  nephews, 
the  future  heirs  of  his  name  and  fortune,  and  on  whom  he  doted 
with  the  fondness  of  a  father ;  and  solace  for  his  leisure  hours  in  a 
large  miscellaneous  library,  and  the  society  and  conversation  of  old 
neighbors  and  well-tried  friends.  In  1810  he  removed  to  Roanoke, 
his  estate  in  Charlotte  county,  on  the  Roanoke  river,  some  thirty- 
five  or  forty  miles  south  of  Bizarre ;  "  a  savage  solitude"  says  he, 
"into  which  I  have  been  driven  to  seek  shelter}''  Shortly  before  the 
recent  election,  on  Sunday,  March  21,  1813,  the  house  at  Bizarre 
took  fire — the  family  were  at  church — very  little  saved.  "  I  lost,"  says 
he,  K  a  valuable  collection  of  books.  In  it  was  a  whole  body  of  infi- 
delity, the  Encvclopedia  of  Diderot  and  D'Alembert.  Voltaire's  works, 


10  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

seventy  volumes,  Rousseau,  thirteen  quartos,  Hume,  &e.,  &c."  By 
this  calamity,  if  calamity  it  may  be  called  (some  of  his  friends  con- 
gratulated him  on  the  event),  he  was  deprived  of  the  chief  source  of 
pleasure  and  amusement  in  his  comfortless  Jwme.  The  only  com- 
panion of  his  solitude  was  Theodore  Bland  Dudley,  a  young  relation 
he  had  taken  to  live  with  him  in  1800.  He  educated  this  young 
man  with  much  care  and  at  great  expense.  He  manifested  towards 
him  the  solicitude  and  affection  of  a  fond  father — his  letters  are 
models  of  parental  instruction.  Dudley  had  recently  graduated  in 
medicine  at  Philadelphia,  and  returned  to  console  the  solitary 
hours  of  his  best  and  most  constant  friend.  ':  Consider  yourself," 
said  Randolph  to  him,  "  as  not  less  entitled  to  command  here,  than 
if  you  were  the  child  of  my  loins,  as  you  are  the  son  of  my  affec- 
tions." Apart  from  the  society  of  this  young  man,  which  he  valued 
above  all  price,  his  only  real  enjoyment  was  in  the  correspondence  of 
some  two  or  three  of  his  most  intimate  friends,  to  whom  he  un- 
bosomed himself  with  a  fulness  and  a  freedom  that  showed  in  a 
remarkable  degree  the  strength  and  constancy  of  his  attachment, 
and  the  unbounded  confidence  he  had  in  the  fidelity  and  integrity  of 
those  men.  To  none  did  he  speak  or  write  more  unreservedly  than 
to  Dr.  John  Brockenbrough,  the  President  of  the  Bank  of  Virginia. 
No  wonder,  for  his  superior  is  not  to  be  found — a  man  of  rare  tal- 
ents, varied  learning,  large  experience  in  the  business  of  life,  refined 
manners,  delicate  sensibility,  a  perfect  gentleman  and  a  faithful 
friend.  "  Cherish  the  acquaintance  of  that  man,"  he  exhorts  Dudley ; 
"  he  is  not  as  other  men  are."  In  writing  to  this  gentleman  he  says : 
"  Your  two  letters,  the  last  of  which  I  received  this  evening  by  my 
servant,  have  given  me  a  degree  of  satisfaction  that  I  find  it  diffi- 
cult to  express.  Let  me  beg  a  continuance  of  these  marks  of  your 
remembrance  and  friendship.  At  all  times  they  would  be  highly  ac- 
ceptable ;  but  in  my  present  isolated  state — a  state  of  almost  total 
dereliction — they  are  beyond  price.  I  should  have  thanked  you  for 
your  letter  by  the  post,  through  the  same  channel,  but  I  was  induced 
from  its  contents  to  suppose  that  you  would  have  left  Richmond  be- 
fore my  answer  could  reach  it ;  and  I  wish  that  you  had,  because  I 
may  be  debarred  the  pleasure  of  seeing  you  and  Mrs.  B.  at  my  lonely 
and  (as  it  will  probably  appear  to  you  both)  savage  habitation.  It  is 
therefore  that  this  letter  is  written.  You  will  not  wonder,  when  you 


RETIREMENT.  11 

sec  how  I  live,  at  my  reluctance  to  leave  you,  and  I  was  going  to  say 
my  other  friends  in  Richmond.  It  is  indeed  a  life  of  seclusion  that 
I  live  here,  unehequered  by  a  single  ray  of  enjoyment.  I  try  to  for- 
get myself  in  books  ;  but  that  *  pliability  of  man's  spirit'  which 
yields  him  up  to  the  illusions  of  the  ideal  world,  is  gone  from  me  for 
ever.  The  mind  stiffened  by  age  and  habit  refuses  to  change  its  ca- 
reer. It  spurns  the  speculative  notions  which  hard  experience  has 
exploded ;  it  looks  with  contempt  or  pity,  in  sorrow  or  in  anger, 
upon  the  visionary  plans  of  the  youthful  and  sanguine.  My  dear 
sir, '  there  is  another  and  a  better  world,'  and  to  it  alone  can  we 
look  without  a  certainty  of  disappointment,  for  consolation,  for  mer- 
cy, for  justice."  On  another  occasion  he  says  :  c- 1  passed  but  an  in- 
different night,  occasioned,  in  a  great  measure,  by  the  regret  I  feel  at 
leaving  such  friends  as  yourself  and  Mrs.  Brockenbrough,  and  at  the 
prospect  of  passing  my  time  in  that  utter  solitude  of  my  comfortless 
habitation,  where  I  have  prepared  for  myself,  by  my  own  folly,  many 
causes  of  uneasiness.  If  I  had  followed  old  Polonius's  advice,  and 
been  '  to  mine  own  self  true,'  I  might  have  escaped  the  lot  which 
seems  to  be  in  reserve  for  me." 

To  another  friend,  Francis  S.  Key,  of  Washington  City,  he  writes 
more  cheerfully.  His  letters  to  that  gentleman  about  this  time  were 
very  frequent  and  copious ;  they  show  more  fully  the  workings  of 
his  mind.  We  shall  draw  largely  on  the  correspondence  for  the  in- 
struction of  the  reader. 

In  one  of  his  letters  he  gives  a  description  of  his  habitation,  the 
log  cabins,  and  the  boundless  primeval  forest  by  which  they  were 
surrounded.  In  reply,  Key  says,  "  I  could  not  help  smiling  at  the 
painting  you  have  given  me  of  Roanoke — laudat  diversa  sequentes. 
To  me  it  seemed  just  such  a  shelter  as  I  should  wish  to  creep  under, 

"  A  boundless  contiguity  of  shade, 
Where  rumor  of  oppression  and  deceit 
Might  never  reach  me  more." 

In  reference  to  the  recent  election  he  thus  writes  • 

ROANOKE,  May  10,  1813. 

DEAR  FRANK  : — For  so,  without  ceremony,  permit  me  to  call  you. 
Among  the  few  causes  that  I  find  for  regret  at  my  dismissal  from 
public  life,  there  is  none  in  comparison  with  the  reflection  that  it  has 
22 


12  L1IE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPPI. 

separated  rae — perhaps  for  ever — from  some  who  have  a  strong  hold 
on  my  esteem  and  on  my  affections.  It  would  indeed  have  been 
gratifying  to  me  to  see  once  more  yourself,  Mr.  Meade,  Ridgely,  and 
some  few  others ;  and  the  thought  that  this  may  never  be,  is  the  only 
one  that  infuses  any  thing  of  bitterness  into  what  may  be  termed 
my  disappointment,  if  a  man  can  be  said  to  be  disappointed  when 
things  happen  according  to  his  expectations ;  on  every  other  account, 
I  have  cause  of  self-congratulation  at  being  disenthralled  from  a 
servitude  at  once  irksome  and  degrading.  The  grapes  are  not  sour 
—you  know  the  manner  in  which  you  always  combated  my  wish  to 
retire.  Although  I  have  not,  like  you,  the  spirit  of  a  martyr,  yet  I 
could  not  but  allow  great  force  to  your  representations.  To  say  the 
truth,  a  mere  sense  of  duty  alone  might  have  been  insufficient  to 
restrain  me  from  indulging  the  very  strong  inclination  which  I  have 
felt  for  many  years  to  return  to  private  life.  It  is  now  gratified  in 
a  way  that  takes  from  me  every  shadow  of  blame.  No  man  can 
reproach  me  with  the  desertion  of  my  friends,  or  the  abandonment 
of  my  post  in  a  time  of  danger  and  of  trial.  "  I  have  fought  the 
good  fight,  I  have  kept  the  faith."  I  owe  the  public  nothing  ;  my 
friends,  indeed,  are  entitled  to  every  thing  at  my  hands  ;  but  I  have 
received  my  discharge,  not  indeed  honestam  dimissionem>  but  passa- 
ble enough,  as  times  go,  when  delicacy  is  not  over  fastidious.  I  am 
again  free,  as  it  respects  the  public  at  least,  and  have  but  one  more 
victory  to  achieve,  to  be  so  in  the  true  sense  of  the  word.  Like  yourself 
and  Mr.  Meade,  I  cannot  be  contented  with  endeavoring  to  do  good  for 
goodness'  sake,  or  rather  for  the  sake  of  the  Author  of  all  goodness. 
In  spite  of  me,  I  cannot  help  feeling  something  very  like  contempt 
for  my  poor  foolish  fellow-mortals,  and  would  often  consign  them  to- 
Bonaparte  in  this  world,  and  the  devil,  his  master,  in  the  next ;  but 
these  are  but  temporary  fits  of  misanthropy,  which  soon  give  way  to 
better  and  juster  feelings. 

When  I  came  away  I  left  at  Crawford's  a  number  of  books,  let- 
ters, papers,  &c..  in  (and  out  of)  an  open  trunk ;  also  a  gun,  flask, 
shot-belt,  &c.  Pray  take  them  in  charge  for  me.  for  although  one- 
half  of  them  are  of  no  consequence,  the  rest  are  ;  and  you  may  justly 
ask  why  I  have  been  so  careless  respecting  them  ? — because  I  am 
the  most  lazy  and  careless  man  on  earth  (LaBruyereVabsent  man  is 
nothing  to  me),  and  because  I  am  in  love.  Pray  give  the  letters 
special  protection. 

To  the  same, 

ROANOKE,  May  22,  1813. 

MY  DEAR  FRIEND  — Your  letter  being  addressed  to  Farmvillej 
did  not  reach  me  until  yesterday,  when  my  nephew  brought  it  up. 
Charlotte  Court  House  is  my  post-office.  By  my  last  you  will  per- 


RETIREMENT.  13 

ccive  that  I  have  anticipated  your  kind  office  in  regard  to  my  books 
and  papers  at  Crawford's :  pray  give  them  protection  "  until  the 
Chesapeake  shall  be  fit  for  service."  It  is,  I  think,  nearly  eight  years 
since  I  ventured  to  play  upon  those  words  in  a  report  of  the  Secre- 
tary of  the  Navy.  I  have  read  your  letter  again  and  again,  and 
cannot  express  to  you  how  much  pleasure  the  perusal  has  given  me. 

I  had  taken  so  strong  a  disgust  against  public  business,  con- 
ducted as  it  has  been  for  years  past,  that  I  doubt  my  fitness  for  the 
situation  from  which  I  have  been  dismissed.  The  House  of  R.  was 
as  odious  to  me  as  ever  school-room  was  to  a  truant  boy.  To  be 
under  the  dominion  of  such  wretches  as  (with  a  few  exceptions) 
composed  the  majority,  was  intolerably  irksome  to  my  feelings  ;  and 
although  my  present  situation  is  far  from  enviable.  I  feel  the  value 
of  the  exchange.  To-day,  for  the  first  time,  we  have  warm  weather ; 
and  as  I  enjoy  the  breeze  in  my  cool  cabin,  where  there  is  scarce  a 
fly  to  be  seen,  I  think  with  loathing  of  that  "  compound  of  villanous 
smells"  which  at  all  times  inhale  through  the  H.  of  R.,  but  which  in 
a  summer  session  are  absolutely  pestilential.  Many  of  those,  too, 
whose  society  lessened  the  labors  of  our  vocation  are  gone  ;  Bleecker, 
Elliott,  Quincy,  Baker,  and  (since)  Bayard ;  so  that  I  should  find 
myself  in  Congress  among  enemies  or  strangers.  Breckenridge, 
Stanford,  and  Ilidgely,  and  Lloyd  in  the  Senate,  are  left ;  and  I  am 
glad  that  they  are  not  in  a  minority  so  forlorn  as  the  last.  They 
have  my  best  wishes — all  the  aid  that  I  shall  ever  give  to  the  public 
cause.  The  great  master  of  political  philosophy  has  said  that 
"  mankind  has  no  title  to  demand  that  we  should  serve  them  in  spite 
of  themselves."  It  is  not  upon  this  plea,  however,  that  I  shall  stand 
aloof  from  the  bedside  of  my  delirious  country.  My  course  is  run. 
I  acquiesce  in  the  decision  that  has  been  passed  against  me,  and  seek 
neither  for  appeal  nor  new  trial. 

I  shall  not  go  northward  until  towards  the  autumn,  when  I  must 
visit  Philadelphia.  My  late  friend  Clay's  youngest  son  will  return 
with  me  ;  and  that  journey  over,  I  shall  probably  never  cross  James 
River  again. 

You  are  mistaken  in  supposing  that  "  we  Virginians  like  the  war 
better  the  nearer  it  approaches  us ;"  so  far  from  it,  there  is  a  great 
change  in  the  temper  of  this  State,  and  even  in  this  district,  para- 
doxical as  it  may  seem,  against  the  war.  More  than  half  of  those 
who  voted  against  me,  were  persuaded  that  I  was  the  cause  of  the 
war ;  that  the  Government  wished  for  peace  (e.  g.  the  Russian  Em- 
bassy), but  that  I  thwarted  them  in  every  thing,  and  that  without 
unanimity  amongst  ourselves,  peace  could  not  be  obtained.  If  you 
are  acquainted  with  Daschoff,  tell  him  that  the  Russian  mediation 
was  (strange  as  it  may  appear)  made  the  instrument  of  my  ejection. 
It  gave  a  temporary  popularity  to  the  ministry — the  people  believing 


14  LIFE  OF  JuHN  RANDOLPH 

that  peace  was  their  object.  Its  effect  on  the  elections  generally 
has  been  very  great.  Some  were  made  to  believe  that  the  British 
fleet  in  the  Chesapeake  was  to  aid  my  election. 

My  kinsman,  Dudley — now  M.  I). — is  with  me,  and  his  society 
serves  to  cheer  the  solitude  in  which  I  am  plunged.  He  desires  to 
be  remembered  to  you.  Present  my  best  love  to  Mrs.  Key  and  the 
little  folks.  When  you  see  the  family  at  Blenheim,  present  me  to 
them — also  to  Mr.  Stone — and  believe  me,  always,  dear  sir,  and  most 
affectionately, 

Yours 

JOHN  RANDOLPH  .  F  ROANOKE. 

To  the  Same. 

May  23d,  Ic  13. 

Your  letter  of  the  14th  was  received  to-day-— many  thanks  for  it. 
By  the  same  mail,  Mr.  Quincy  sent  me  a  copy  of  his  speech  of  the 
30th  of  last  month.  It  is  a  composition  of  much  ability  and  depth 
of  thought ;  but  it  indicates  a  spirit  and  a  temper  to  the  North  which 
is  more  a  subject  of  regret  than  of  surprise.  The  grievances  of  Lord 
North's  administration  were  but  as  a  feather  in  the  scale,  when  com- 
pared with  those  inflicted  by  Jefferson  and  Madison. 

I  fervently  hope  that  we  may  meet  again.  I  do  not  wish  you  so 
ill  as  to  see  you  banished  to  this  Sinope;  and  yet  to  see  you  here 
would  give  me  exceeding  great  pleasure.  Every  blessing  attend 
you. 

Francis  Scott  Key,  Esq. 


John  Randolph  to  Dr.  John  Brockenbrough. 

ROANOKE,  June  2d,  1813. 

I  did  not  receive  your  letter  of  the  26th  until  last  evening,  and 
then  I  was  obliged  for  it  to  my  good  old  neighbor,  Colonel  Morton, 
who  never  omits  an  occasion  of  doing  a  favor,  however  small.  The 
gentleman  by  whom  you  wrote  is  very  shy  of  me  ;  nor  can  I  blame 
him  for  it.  No  man  likes  to  feel  the  embarrassment  which  a  con- 
sciousness of  having  done  wrong  to  another  is  sure  to  inspire,  and 
which  the  sight  of  the  object  towards  whom  the  wrong  has  been  done 
never  fails  to  excite,  in  the  most  lively  and  painful  degree. 

My  neighbor.  Colonel  C k,  who  goes  down  to  Petersburg  and 

Richmond  to-morrow,  enables  me  (after  a  fashion)  to  answer  your 
question,  "  How  and  where  I  shall  pass  the  summer  months  ?"  To 
which  I  can  only  reply — as  it  pleases  God  !  If  I  go  to  any  watering- 
place,  it  will  be  to  our  hot  springs,  for  the  purpose  of  stewing  the 
rheumatism  out  of  my  carcase,  if  it  be  practicable. 


RETIREMENT.  15 

It  would  have  been  peculiarly  gratifying  to  me  to  have  been  with 

you  when  Leigh,  Garnett,  W.  Meade,  and,  I  must  add,  M ,  were 

in  Richmond.  If  we  exclude  every  "  party-man,  and  man  of  am- 
bition," from  our  church,  I  fear  we  shall  have  as  thin  a  congregation 
as  Dean  Swift  had,  when  he  addressed  his  clerk,  "  Dearly  beloved 
Roger  !"  What  I  like  M for,  is  neither  his  courtesy,  nor  his  in- 
telligence, but  a  certain  warm-heartedness,  which  is  now-a-days  the 
rarest  of  human  qualities.  His  manner  I  think  peculiarly  un- 
fortunate. There  is  an  ostentation  of  ornament  (which  school-boys  lay 
aside  when  they  reach  the  senior  class),  and  a  labored  infelicity  of 
expression,  that  is  hateful  to  one's  feelings.  "VYe  are  in  terror  for  the 
speaker.  But  this  fault  he  has  already  in  some  degree  corrected ; 
and  by  the  time  he  is  as  old  as  you  or  I,  it  will  have  worn  off.  I  was 
greatly  revolted  by  it  on  our  first  acquaintance,  and  even  now,  am 
occasionally  offended  ;  but  the  zeal  with  which  he  devotes  himself  to 
the  service  of  his  friends  and  of  his  country,  makes  amends  for  all. 
It  is  sometimes  a  bustling  activity,  of  little  import  to  its  object,  but 
which  is  to  be  valued  in  reference  to  its  motive. 

I  am  not  surprised  at  what  you  tell  me  of  our  friend.  We  live 
in  fearful  times,  and  it  is  a  perilous  adventure  that  he  is  about  to  un- 
dertake. In  a  few  years  more,  those  of  us  who  are  alive  will  have  to 
move  off  to  Kaintuck,  or  the  Massissippi,  where  corn  can  be  had  for 
sixpence  a  bushel,  and  pork  for  a  penny  a  pound.  I  do  not  wonder 
at  the  rage  for  emigration.  What  do  the  bulk  of  the  people  get 
here,  that  they  cannot  have  for  one-fifth  of  the  labor  in  the  western 
country  ?  Surely  that  must  be  the  Yahoo's  paradise,  where  he  can 
get  dead  drunk  for  the  hundredth  part  of  a  dollar. 

What  you  tell  me  of  Milnor  is  quite  unexpected.  He  was  one  of 
the  last  men  whom  I  should  have  expected  to  take  orders ;  not  so 
much  on  account  of  his  quitting  a  lucrative  profession,  as  from  his 
fondness  for  gay  life.  I  am  not  sure  that  it  is  the  safest  path.  The 
responsibility  is  awful — it  is  tremendous. 

Thanks  for  your  intelligence  respecting  my  poor  sister.  If  hu 
man  skill  could  save  her,  Dr.  Robinson  would  do  it ;  but  there  is 
nothing  left,  except  to  smooth  her  path  to  that  dwelling  whither  we 
must  all  soon  follow  her.  I  can  give  Mrs.  B.  no  comfort  on  the  sub- 
ject of  her  son.  For  my  part,  it  requires  an  effort  to  take  an  inte- 
rest in  any  thing ;  and  it  seems  to  me  strange  that  there  should  be 
found  inducements  strong  enough  to  carry  on  the  business  of  the 
world.  I  believe  you  have  given  the  true  solution  of  this  problem,  by 
way  of  corollary  from  another,  when  you  pronounce  that  free-will  and 
necessity  are  much  the  same.  I  used  formerly  to  puzzle  myself,  as 
abler  men  have  puzzled  others,  by  speculations  on  this  opprobrium 
of  philosophy.  If  you  have  not  untied  the  G-ordian  knot,  you  have 
cut  it,  which  is  the  approved  metlwdus  medendi  of  this  disease. 


IQ  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

Write  to  me  when  you  can  do  no  better.  Worse  you  cannot  do 
for  yourself,  nor  "better  for  me.  You  can't  imagine  what  an  epoch 
in  my  present  life  a  letter  from  you  constitutes.  If  I  did  not  know 
that  you  could  find  nothing  here  beyond  the  satisfaction  of  mere 
animal  necessity,  I  should  entreat  Mrs.  B.  and  yourself  to  visit  rnj 
solitary  habitation.  May  every  blessing  attend  you  both. 
Yours,  unchangeably, 

JOHN  RANDOLPH  OP  ROANOKE. 


John  Randolph  to  Francis  8.  Key. 

ROANOKE,  July  17th,  1813 

DEAR  FRANK, — I  rode  twenty  miles  this  morning,  in  the  hope  of 
receiving  letters  from  some  of  those  few  persons  who  honor  me  with 
their  regard.  Nor  have  I  been  disappointed.  Your  letter,  and  one 
.from  Dr.  B.,  had  arrived  a  few  moments  before  me.  I  received  the 
pamphlets  through  friend  Stanford,  who  has  too  much  on  i.is  hands 
to  think  of  me  every  post ;  and  I  am  not  at  all  obliged  to  the  gentle- 
man who  detained  them  on  their  passage,  and  who  annotated  one  of 
them,  I  suppose  for  my  edification.  It  is  certainly  not  all  emenda- 
tion, for  this  critical  labor. 

I  heartily  wish  that  I  were  qualified  in  any  shape  to  advise  you 
on  the  subject  of  a  new  calling  in  life.  Were  I  Premier,  I  should 
certainly  translate  you  to  the  see  of  Canterbury ;  and  if  I  were  not 
too  conscious  of  my  utter  incompetency,  I  should  like  to  take  a  pro- 
fessorship in  some  college  where  you  were  principal ;  for,  like  you, 
"  my  occupation  (tobacco-making)  is  also  gone."  Some  sort  of  em- 
ployment is  absolutely  necessary  to  keep  me  from  expiring  with 
ennui.  I  "  see  no  reviews,"  nor  any  thing  else  of  that  description. 
My  time  passes  in  uniform  monotony.  For  weeks  together  I  never 
see  a  new  face ;  and,  to  tell  you  the  truth,  I  am  so  much  of  Captain 
Gulliver's  way  of  thinking  respecting  my  fellow- Yahoos,  (a  few  ex- 
eepted,  whose  souls  must  have  transmigrated  from  the  generous 
Houyhnhnms,)  that  I  have  as  much  of  their  company  as  is  agreeable 
to  me,  and  I  suspect  that  they  are  pretty  much  of  my  opinion ;  that  I 
am  not  only  ennuye  myself,  but  the  cause  of  ennui  in  others.  In 
fact,  this  business  of  living  is,  like  Mr.  Barlow's  reclamations  on  the 
French  Government,  dull  work;  and  I  possess  so  little  of  pagan 
philosophy,  or  of  Christian  patience,  as  frequently  to  be  driven  to 
the  brink  of  despair.  "  The  uses  of  this  world  have  long  seemed  to 
me  stale,  flat,  and  unprofitable ;"  but  I  have  worried  along,  like  a 
worn-out  horse  in  a  mail  coach,  by  dint  of  habit  and  whipcord,  and 
shall  at  last  die  in  the  traces,  running  the  same  dull  stage,  day 
after  day. 


RETIREMENT.  17 

When  you  see  Ridgely,  commend  me  to  him  and  his  amiable 
wife.  I  am  really  glad  to  hear  that  he  is  quietly  at  home,  instead  of 
scampering  along  the  bay  shore,  or  inditing  dispatches.  Our  upper 
country  has  slid  down  upon  the  lower.  Nearly  half  our  people  are 
below  the  falls.  Both  my  brothers  are  gone  ;  but  I  must  refer  you 
to  a  late  letter  to  Stanford,  for  the  state  of  affairs  hereabouts. 
Henrj7  Tucker  is  in  Richmond ;  Beverly  at  Norfolk ;  whence,  if  he 
return,  he  will  win  his  life  with  the  odds  against  him. 

I  am  much  pleased  with  Mr.  Gaston's  speech  on  Webster's  mo- 
tion. Chief  Justice  Marshall  had  taught  me  to  think  highly  of  his 
abilities ;  and  my  expectations,  although  raised,  have  not  been  dis- 
appointed. 

*  I  have  seen  the  scotched  tail  of  Mr.  Secretary  M 's  report  to 

his  master,  which  drags  its  wounded  length  along  most  awkwardly. 
I  should  like  to  hear  what  Mons.  Serrurier  would  say.  Mr.  Rus- 
sell and  the  Duke  of  Bassano  are,  it  seems,  confronted  across  the 
Atlantic.  I  should  be  glad  to  have  his  Imperial  and  Royal  Majes- 
ty's Envoy  called  into  court,  and  examined  touching  Mr.  M :'s 

declaration.  *  *  * 

Nicholson  has  luckily  shifted  his  quarters,  from  an  exposed  to  a 
very  safe  position,  where  he  may  reflect  undisturbed  on  the  train  of 
measures  which  have  issued  in  the  present  unparalleled  state  of 
things.  With  me,  he  condemned  them  at  the  beginning,  but  gradu- 
ally coincided  with  the  views  of  the  administration.  He  may  live  to 
see  the  time  when  he  will  wish  that  he  had  steadily  opposed  himself  to 
them.  I  would  not  give  the  reflection  that,  under  every  circumstance 
of  discouragement,  I  never  faltered  or  wavered  in  my  opposition  to 
them,  to  be  president  for  life.  Nearly  eight  years  ago  the  real  views 
and  true  character  of  the  Executive  were  disclosed  to  me,  and  I  made 
up  my  mind  as  to  the  course  which  my  duty  called  upon  me  to  fol- 
low. I  predicted  the  result  which  has  ensued.  The  length  of  time 
and  vast  efforts  which  were  required  to  hunt  me  down,  convince  ine 
that  the  cordial  co-operation  of  a  few  friends  would  have  saved  the 
Republic.  Sallust,  I  think,  says,  speaking  of  the  exploits  of  Rome, 
'  Egregiam  virtutem  paucorum  civium  cuncta  patiavisse ;'  and  if  those 
who  ought  to  have  put  their  shoulders  to  the  work,  had  not  made  a 
vain  parade  of  disinterestedness  in  returning  to  private  life,  all  might 
have  been  saved.  But  the  delicacy  and  timidity  of  some,  and  the 
versatility  of  others,  insured  the  triumph  of  the  court  and  the  ruin 
of  the  country.  I  know  not  how  I  got  upon  this  subject.  It  is  a 
most  unprofitable  one. 

Farewell,  my  good  friend,  and  believe  me,  in  truth 
Yours, 

JOHN  RANDOLPH  OF  ROANOKE. 


18  UFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

Have  you  met  with  a  queer  book,*  by  a  Mr.  James  Fishbaek, 
of  Lexington,  Kentucky  ?  He  very  politely  sent  me  a  copy,  and  ac- 
companied it  with  a  letter,  in  which,  like  the  rest  of  his  brethren,  ho 
flatters  himself  that  his  book  will  be  generally  read,  and  (of  course) 
productive  of  great  benefit.  It  is  a  most  curious  work  for  a  lawyer 
(a  Kentucky  lawyer  I  mean),  for  such  it  seems  he  is,  and  brother-in- 
law  to  Mr.  Pope,  late  of  the  Senate.  I  have  dipped  into  it  here  and 
there,  and  whatever  may  be  the  skill  displayed  in  its  execution,  tho 
object  I  think  is  a  good  one.  The  man  has  thought  much — but  I 
doubt  if  clearly.  Like  many  other  writers  in  the  same  walk  of  com- 
position, he  appears  not  always  to  affix  a  precise  meaning  to  his 
terms. 

Sunday.     Post  in — not  a  line  or  newspaper  from  Washington. 


Francis  S.  Key  to  J.  'Randolph, 

GEORGETOWN,  August  30,  1813. 

MY  DEAR,  FRIEND —  *  *  As  you  appeared  to  be  tired  of  ti  e 
country,  I  thought  it  likely  you  would  have  begun  before  now  your 
journey  to  Cambridge,  and  hoped  to  have  seen  you  as  you  passed.  I 
have  less  regard  for  those  Eastern  people  now  than  I  used  to  have, 
and  should  care  less  about  seeing  them  or  their  country.  I  cannot 
help  suspecting  them  of  selfish  views,  and  that,  if  they  can  collect 
strength  enough,  they  will  separate.  Their  policy  has  certainly  been 
a  crooked  one.  The  Quarterly  Reviewers  say  well  that  the  expedi- 
ent of  driving  the  administration  into  the  war  for  the  purpose  of 
making  them  unpopular  was  "  dangerous  and  doubtful."  They  might 
have  added  that  it  was  dishonest.  Certainly,  the  sort  of  opposition 
they  are  making  now  is  one  from  which  nothing  good  can  be  expected. 

There  was  old ,  the  other  day,  while  I  was  at  Fredericks  - 

town,  travelling  out  of  his  road,  and  giving  up  his  passage  in  the 
stage,  and  then  travelling  post  to  overtake  it,  and  all  to  eat  a  dinner 

given  by  some  of  Mr. 's  tools,  apparently  to  him,  but  in  fact  to 

give  eclat  to  his  "  distinguished  young  friend,"  and  help  on  his 
intrigues.  I  believe  this  old  man  is  honest,  but  can  he  be  so  vain  as 
to  run  panting  after  praise  in  this  way  ?  or  is  he  told  and  does  he 
believe  that  people  are  to  be  driven  from  their  opinions  and  made  to 

fall  into  the  ranks  behind  him  and  Mr. and  his  ^Boston  party. 

whenever  he  chooses  to  show  himself? 

I  suppose  Stanford  told  you  that  I  was  half  inclined  to  turn  poli- 
tician. I  did  feel  something  like  it — but  the  fit  is  over.  I  shall,  I 
hope,  stay  quietly  here,  and  mind  my  business  as  long  as  it  lasts.  I 

*  The  title  of  the  work  is  "  The  Philosophy  of  the  Human  Mind  in  respect  to 
Religion." 


RETIREMENT  19 

have  troubled  myself  enough  with  thinking  what  I  should  da  —so  I 
shall  try  to  prepare  myself  for  whatever  may  appear  plainly  to  be  my 
duty.  That  I  must  make  some  change,  if  the  war  lasts  much  longer 
(as  *I  think  it  will),  is  very  probable ;  but  whether  it  shall  be  for  a 
station  civil,  military,  or  clerical,  I  will  not  yet  determine.  To  be 
serious,  I  believe  that  a  man  who  does  not  follow  his  own  inclina- 
tions, and  choose  his  own  ways,  but  is  willing  to  do  whatever  may  be 
appointed  for  him,  will  have  his  path  of  life  chosen  for  him  and 
shown  to  him,  and  I  trust  this  is  not  enthusiasm. 

Our  friend  Ridgely  has  really  turned  politician.  He  is  a  candi- 
date for  the  Maryland  Legislature,  and  it  is  thought  will  be  elected. 
I  hardly  know  whether  to  wish  he  may  succeed  or  not.  He  has  some 
good,  and,  indeed,  most  excellent  qualities  for  su^h  a  place,  but  he 
wants  others,  and  will  have  few,  if  any,  worthy  of  his  confidence,  tc 
join  him  in  a  stand  against  the  folly  and  wickedness  of  both  parties. 
His  situation  will  be  peculiarly  difficult  and  disagreeable,  requiring 
great  prudence  and  self-command.  I  know  some  of  the  men  he  will 
have  to  deal  with,  who  are  as  cunning  as  he  is  unsuspicious. 

Lloyd  was  here  the  other  day.  I  was  sorry  I  was  out  of  town*  as 
I  should  have  liked  to  have  seen  him.  He  told  Mrs.  Key  he  believed 
you  had  given  him  up,  and  complained  that  you  never  wrote  to  him. 
She  told  him  you  almost  always  inquired  of  him  in  your  letters  to 
me.  and  mentioned  what  you  said  in  your  last  about  your  observation 
in  Congress,  at  which  he  laughed.  I  make  great  allowances  for 
Lloyd's  wrongheadedness.  The  federalists  nattered  and  supported 
him — he  was  moderating  in  his  opinions,  but  did  not  abandon  his 
party — he  still  called  himself  a  democrat— this  affronted  them,  and 
at  the  next  session  they  all  voted  against  him.  This  conduct  was 
calculated  to  convince  him  that  their  former  support  was  an  artifice, 
that  they  wished  to  dupe  him,  and  expected  their  favors  had  bought 
him  off  from  his  party.  At  the  same  time  the  federal  newspapers 
opened  their  abuse  upon  him,  which  was  gross,  false,  and  abominable. 

Now,  when  all  this  is  considered,  I  think  he  cannot  yet  be  thought 
incorrigible.  He  has  had  no  chance  of  judging  coolly  and  dispassion- 
ately. I  am  convinced,  though  (N.'s)  influence  with  him  is  great,  it 
would  never  (but  for  these  things)  have  been  sufficient  to  keep  him 
among  the  supporters  of  such  a  party.  A  man  could  not  long  be  so 
blind  to  his  own  interest,  and  that  of  the  country,  but  by  his  passions 
and  prejudices  being  continually  excited. 


Randolph  to  Key. 

ROANOKE,  Sept,  12,  1813. 

BEAK  FRANK — I  had  almost  begun  to  fear  that  you  liad  forgotten 
me,  but  this  morning's  mail  brought  me  yours  of  the  30th  of  August. 


20  LIFE  CF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

Our  post-office  establishment  is  under  shameful  mismanagement. 
To-day  I  received  a  letter  from  Boston,  post-marked  Aug.  22d,  and 
last  week  I  got  one  from  the  same  place  marked  Aug.  23d.  I  still 
keep  up  an  intercourse,  you  see,  with  the  head-quarters  of  good  prin- 
ciples— for  although  I  do  not  dabble  in  politics,  "  I  have  more  regard 
for  these  Eastern  people  now  than  I  used  to  have."  Of  the  policy 
of  driving  the  administration  into  war,  I  have  the  same  opinion  that 
you  quote  from  the  Quarterly  Review.  It  was  a  crooked  scheme, 
and  has  met  its  merited  fate.  But,  my  dear  friend,  great  allowance 
is  to  be  made  for  men  under  the  regime  of  Clay,  Grundy  &  Co. ;  and 
besides  a  few  individuals  only  are  answerable  for  the  consequences  of 
this  tortuous  policy.  The  great  bulk  of  the  Eastern  States  are  guilt- 
less of  the  sin.  When  I  consider  how  much  more  these  people  have 
borne  from  the  pettifoggers  of  the  West,  than  they  would  submit  to 
from  Lord  North ;  and  reflect  that  there  is  no  common  tie  of  inter- 
est or  of  feeling  between  them  and  their  upstart  oppressors,  I  cannot 
pronounce  them  (in  this  instance  at  least)  to  be  selfish.  Indeed,  I 
should  not  like  them  less  if  they  were  so — I  am  becoming  selfish  my- 
self* (when  too  late),  and  bitterly  regret  that  I  did  not  practise  upon 
this  principle  many  years  ago.  On  this  scheme  I  have  abandoned 
politics  for  ever — and  for  the  same  reason  should  be  sorry  to  see  you, 
or  our  noble,  spirited  friend,  Sterritt  Ridgely,  engaged  in  their  pur- 
suit. I  have  more  faith  in  free  will  than  you  seem  to  express — for  I 
believe  we  have  it  all  in  our  power  to  choose  wisely  if  we  would.  As 
to.  Ridgely,  he  is  utterly  unfit  for  ,  public  life.  Do  you  ask  why  ? 
You  have  partly  answered  the  question.  He  is  too  honest,  too  un- 
suspicious, too  deficient  in  cunning.  I  would  as  soon  recommend 
such  a  man  to  a  hazard-table  and  a  gang  of  sharpers,  as  to  a  seat  in 
any  deliberative  assembly  in  America. 

Our  quondam  friend  Lloyd — for  "  quondam  friends  are  no  rarity 
with  me" — I  made  this  answer  at  the  ordinary  at  our  court,  to  a  gen- 
tleman who  had  returned  from  Rappahannock,  and  told  me  that  he 
had  seen  some  of  my  quondam  friends.  It  was  casually  uttered,  but 
I  soon  sa*y  how  deep  it  was  felt  by  a  person  at  table,  whom  I  had  not 
before  observed.  To  return  to  Lloyd.  He  cannot,  with  any  show 
of  justice,  complain  of  "my  giving  him  up."  The  saddle  is  on  the 
other  horse.  He  is  a  spoiled  child  of  fortune,  and  testy  old  bachelors 
make  a  poor  hand  of  humoring  spoiled  children.  Lloyd  required  to 
be  flattered,  and  I  would  not  perform  the  service.  I  would  hold  no 
man's  regard  by  a  base  tenure.  I  see  that  Ridgely  stands  commit- 
ted to  abide  the  issue  of  an  election.  I  am  sorry  for  it  for  his  own 
sake,  and  yet  more  on  account  of  Mrs.  R.  Electioneering  is  upon 
no  very  pleasant  footing  any  where  ;  but  with  you,  when  the  "  base 
proletarian  rou^  are  admitted  to  vote,  it  must  be  peculiarly  irksome 
and  repugnant  to  the  feelings  of  a  gentleman. 


RETIREMENT.  21 

I  am  highly  pleased  with  the  XlVth  number  of  the  Quarterly 
Keview,  particularly  the  article  on  the  subject  of  the  poor  laws  ;  and 
that  on  the  literature  of  France  during  the  past  century.  Alas  !  for 
Walter  Scott !  These  learned  reviewers  cannot  prevail  upon  me  to 
';  revive  the  opinion"  which  the  first  reading  (or  attempt  at  reading) 
Rokeby  produced.  It  is  beneath  criticism. 

My  will,  but  not  my  poverty,  consents  to  my  eastern  tour.  Our 
blessed  rulers  have  nearly  ruined  me,  and  should  the  war  be  protracted 
much  longer,  I  must  go  into  some  business,  if  there  be  any  for  which 
I  am  fit.  My  body  is  wholly  worn  out,  and  the  intellectual  part 
much  shattered.  Were  I  to  follow  the  dictates  of  prudence,  I  should 
convert  my  estate  into  money,  and  move  northwardly.  Whether  I 
shall  have  firmness  and  vigor  enough  to  execute  such  a  scheme,  re- 
mains to  be  seen.  My  bodily  infirmities  are  great  and  rapidly  in- 
creasing, so  that  it  will  be  impossible  for  me  to  sustain  existence  here 
when  deprived  of  field  exercises.  I  write  now  under  the  pressure  of 
severe  headache.  You  are  not  my  physician,  yet  I  cannot  omit  telling 
you  that  I  am  afflicted  with  a  strange  anomalous  disease.  It  is  of 
the  heart ;  the  most  violent  palpitations,  succeeded  by  a  total  suspen- 
sion of  its  functions  for  some  seconds :  and  then,  after  several  sud- 
den spasmodic  actions,  the  pulse  becomes  very  slow,  languid,  and 
weak.  When  the  fit  is  on,  it  may  be  seen  through  my  dress  across 
the  room.  It  was  this  demon  that  put  it  out  of  my  head  to  suggest 
to  you  the  practical  wisdom  of  damping  the  opposition  to  the  govern- 
ment at  this  time.  Of  the  print  in  question,  I  think  nearly  as  you 
do ;  but  it  has  done  a  deal  of.good  with  some  mischief,  and  perhaps  in 
the  attempt  to  do  more.  How  was  the  last  administration  over- 
thrown, do  you  suppose  ?  By  rejecting  proffered  service  from  any 
quarter  ?  Had  the  Aurora  no  agency,  think  you,  in  the  work  ?  "  Ho- 
mo sum :"  man  must  work  with  mortal  means.  Not  choosing  to  use 
such,  I  am  idle.  When  administration  call  to  their  aid  the  refuse 

of  New  England  in  the  persons  of  the  — 

and  opposition  reject  the  aid.  or  stand  aloof  from  such  high-minded, 

honorable  men  as  S ,  K ,  G- ,  Q ,  L -, 

0 ,  L ,  P ,  what  can  be  expected  but  defeat  ?  It 

is  as  if  in  the  Southern  States  the  assistance  of  the  whites  should  be 
rejected  against  an  adversary  that  embodied  the  negroes  on  his  side. 
Be  assured  that  nothing  can  be  done  with  effect,  without  union  among 
the  parts,  however  heterogeneous,  that  compose  the  opposition.  They 
have  time  enough  to  differ  among  themselves  after  they  shall  have  put 
down  the  common  foe  ;  and  if  they  must  quarrel,  I  would  advise  them 
to  adjourn  the  debate  to  that  distant  day. 

I  wish  I  could  say  something  of  my  future  movements.  I  look 
forward  without  hope.  Clouds  and  darkness  hang  upon  my  pros- 
pects ;  and  should  my  feeble  frame  hang  together  a  few  years  longer 


22  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

the  time  may  arrive  when  my  best  friends,  as  well  as  myself,  may 
pray  that  a  close  be  put  to  the  same. 

My  best  respects  and  regards  to  Mrs.  Key,  and  love  to  the  young 
folks.     I  fear  I  shall  live  to  see  you  a  grandfather.     Farewell. 

J.  R.  OP  ROANOKE. 


To  the  same. 

ROANOKE,  Sept.  26,  1813. 

DEAR  FRANK. — You  owe  the  trouble  of  this  letter  to  another 
which  I  threw  upon  your  shoulders  some  time  ago.  As  the  shooting 
season  approaches.  I  am  reminded  of  my  favorite  gun,  &c.,  in  George- 
town. 'Tis  true  I  have  a  couple  of  very  capital  pieces  here,  but 
neither  of  them  as  light  and  handy  as  that  I  left  at  Cranford's,  and  I 
fear  it  may  be  injured  or  destroyed  by  rust — verbum  sat. 

We  have  to-day  the  account  of  Perry's  success  on  Lake  Erie, 
which  will  add  another  year  to  the  life  of  the  war.  Have  you  seen 
Woodfall's  Junius  1  The  private  correspondence  has  rsised  the  cha- 
racter of  this  mysterious  being  very  much  in  my  estimation.  If  you 
will  pardon  the  apparent  vanity  of  the  declaration,  it  has  reminded 
me  frequently  of  myself.  I  hope  he  will  never  be  discovered.  I 
feel  persuaded  that  he  was  an  honest  man  and  a  sincere  patriot,  which 
heretofore  I  was  inclined  to  doubt.  We  have  been  flooded.  This 
river  has  not  been  so  high  since  August,  1 795.  A  vast  deal  of  corn 
is  destroyed.  I  fear  I  have  lost  500  barrels,  and  eighty  odd  stacks 
of  oats. 

In  tenderness  to  you,  I  have  said  nothing  of  Rokeby.  Alas  ! 
"  good  Earl  Walter  dead  and  gone !"  God  bless  you  ! 

J.  R. 

Best  love  to  Mrs.  Key,  and  Ridgley,  when  you  see  him. 


John  Randolph  to  Dr.  John  BrocJcenbroiigh 

ROANOKE,  Oct.  4,  1813 

MY  DEAR  FRIEND  : — By  this  time  I  trust  you  have  returned  to 
Richmond  for  the  winter.  It  has  been  a  grievous  separation  from 
you  that  I  have  endured  for  the  last  two  months.  In  this  period  1 
have  experienced  some  heavy  afflictions,  of  which  no  doubt  common 
fame  has  apprised  you,  and  others  that  she  knows  not  of.  Let  us 
not  talk,  and,  if  possible,  not  think  of  them.  I  hope  that  Mrs.  B. 
has  derived  every  possible  advantage  from  her  late  excursion.  As- 
sure her  from  me,  that  she  has  no  friend  who  is  more  sincerely  inter- 
ested in  her  temporal  and  eternal  happiness  than  myself.  Absorbed 
as  I  may  be  supposed  to  be  with  my  own  misfortunes.  I  live  only  for 


RETIREMENT.  23 

my  friends.  They  are  few,  but  they  are  precious  beyond  all  human 
estimation.  AVrite  to  me  I  beg  of  you ;  the  very  sight  of  your  hand- 
writing gives  a  new  impulse  to  my  jaded  spirits.  I  would  write,  but 
I  cannot.  I  sometimes  selfishly  wish  that  you  could  conceive  of  my 
feelings.  It  is  not  the  least  painful  of  my  thoughts  that  I  am  per- 
petually destined  to  be  away  from  the  sympathy  of  my  friends,  whilst 
T  am  deprived  of  every  thing  bu4  affection  towards  them. 
Yours  truly, 

JOHN  RAXLOLPH  OF  ROANOKE. 

Mr.  Randolph  filed  away  his  etters  with  great  care.  He  in- 
dorsed on  them  the  name  of  the  author,  the  date,  the  time  it  was 
received  and  answered  ;  and  if  the  letter  contained  any  subject  of 
special  interest,  it  was  in  like  manner  noted.  On  the  following  let- 
ter was  indorsed  "  Party  Spirit ;"  the  words  were  underscored,  and 
in  addition  was  the  figure  of  a  hand,  with  the  index  finger  pointing 
to  them. 

jR  S.  Key  to  John  Randolph. 

GEORGETOWN,  Oct.  5,  1818. 

MY  DEAR  SIR  : — I  was  thinking  of  your  gun  a  few  days  before  I 
received  your  letter,  and  determined  to  rub  off  some  of  your  rust, 
and  try  if  I  could  kill  Mrs.  Key  a  bird  or  two.  She  has  just  given 
me  another  son,  and  of  course  deserves  this  piece  of  courtesy.  As 
to  amusement  in  shooting,  I  have  lost  it  all,  though  once  as  ardent  a 
sportsman  as  yourself.  I  am  pleased  to  find  that  you  are  anticipat- 
ing such  pleasures,  as  I  therefore  hope  that  the  complaint  you  men- 
tioned in  your  former  letter  has  left  you.  Exercise  will  no  doubt 
tend  to  relieve  you. 

I  have  never  read  the  private  correspondence  of  Junius.  I  have 
a  late  edition,  and  will  see  if  it  contains  it.  I  was  always  against 
Junius,  having  sided  with  Dr.  Johnson  and  his  opponents.  There 
was,  I  know,  great  prejudice,  and  perhaps  nothing  else  in  this,  but 
since  the  prejudice  has  worn  away  I  have  had  no  time  to  read  so 
long  a  book.  The  article  you  speak  of  in  the  Quarterly  Review  (on 
the  Poor  Laws)  I  admire,  and  assent  to  more  cordially  than  any 
thing  on  the  subject  I  ever  saw.  It  excited  my  interest  greatly. 
What  sound  and  able  men  are  engaged  in  that  work  !  I  know  none 
who  are  offering  so  much  good  to  their  country  and  the  world,  and  1 
will  not  suffer  myself  to  believe  that  it  is  thrown  away.  As  to  their 
rivals,  the  Edinburgh  Reviews,  I  believe  we  should  differ  in  opinion. 
I  consider  them  as  masked  infidels  and  Jacobins ;  and  if  I  had  time, 


24  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

and  it  was  worth  while,  I  think  I  could  prove  it  upon  them.  .1  would 
refer  to  the  review  of  the  life  of  Dr.  Beatty,  and  of  Coelebs,  and  a  few 
others,  to  prove  that  either  knowingly,  or  ignorantly  (I  have  hardly 
charity  enough  to  believe  the  latter),  they  have  misrepresented  and 
attacked  Christianity.  Were  you  not  pleased  with  the  spirited 
defence  against  them  which  the  Quarterly  reviewers  have  made  for 
Montgomery  ?  As  to  Walter  Scott,  I  have  always  thought  he  was 
sinking  in  every  successive  work.  He  is  sometimes  himself  again  in 
'•  Marmion"  and  the  '•  Lady  of  the  Lake  ;"  but  when  I  read  these, 
and  thought  of  the  "  Lay  of  the  Last  Minstrel,"  it  always  seemed  to 
me  that  "  hushed  was  the  harp — the  minstrel  gone."  I  believe  I 
am  singular  in  this  preference,  and  it  may  be  that  I  was  so  "  spell- 
bound" by  "  the  witch  notes"  of  the  first,  that  I  could  never  listen  to 
the  others.  But  does  it  not  appear  that  to  produce  one  transcend- 
ently  fine  epic  poem  is  as  much  as  has  ever  fallen  to  the  life  of  one 
man  ?  There  seems  to  be  a  law  of  the  Muses  for  it.  I  was  always 
provoked  with  him  for  writing  more  than  his  first.  The  top  of  Par- 
nassus is  a  point,  and  there  he  was,  and  should  have  been  content. 
There  was  no  room  to  saunter  about  on  it ;  if  he  moved,  he  must 
descend ;  and  so  it  has  turned  out,  and  he  is  now  (as  the  Edinburgh 
reviewers  say  of  poor  Montgomery)  '•  wandering  about  on  the  lower 
slopes"  of  it. 

1  have  not  seen  nor  heard  of  Ridgley-  since  his  political  campaign 
commenced.  It  closed  yesterday,  and  we  have  not  yet  heard  how  he 
has  fared.  There  is  a  report  in  town  of  the  federalists  having  suc- 
ceeded in  Frederick,  which  I  expected  would  be  the  case  from 

P 's  having  had  the  folly  and  meanness  to  go  all  over  the  county 

making  speeches.  Ridgley's  election  is  more  doubtful,  as  the  ad- 
ministration are  very  strong  in  his  county.  If  he  is  elected,  you 
will  write  to  him,  but  don't  discourage  him  too  much.  If  he  can 
command  his  temper,  and  be  tolerably  prudent,  I  think  he  may  do 
some  good.  If  cunning  is  necessary,  he  is  indeed  in  a  desperate 
case.  I  cannot  think  that  the  duty  of  an  honest  man  when  he  con- 
sents to  become  a  politician,  is  so  difficult  and  hopeless  as  you  seem 
to  consider  it.  He  will  often,  it  is  true,  be  wrong,  but  this  may 
enable  him  to  correct  his  errors.  He  will  often  have  to  submit  to 
disappointments,  but  they  may  make  him  better  and  wiser.  If  he 
pursues  his  course  conscientiously,  guarding  against  his  own  am- 
bition, and  exercising  patience  and  forbearance  towards  others,  he 
will  generally  succeed  better  than  the  most  artful  intriguer  ;  and  the 
worst  that  can  happen  is,  that  in  bad  and  distempered  times  he  may 
be  released  from  his  obligations.  [Meant  to  be  a  picture  of  Ran- 
dolph himself. — Editor.']  Nor  even  then  is  there  an  end  of  his  use- 
fulness ;  for,  besides  many  things  that  he  may  yet  .do  for  the  common 
good,  the  public  disorder  may  pass  away,  and  when  the  people  are 


RETIREMENT.  25 

sobered  by  suffering,  they  will  remember  who  would  have  saved  them 
from  it ;  and  his  consequence  and  ability  to  serve  them  will  be  incal- 
culably increased,  and  their  confidence  in  him  unbounded.  "  Egre- 
gia  virtus  paucorum."  I  have  forgotten  your  quotation  from  Sallust 
— you  can  supply  it.  It  struck  me  forcibly,  and  I  believe  it  admira- 
bly suited  to  these  times ;  and  that  if  this  "  egregia  virtus"  can  be 
found  among  even  a  few  of  our  politicians,  who  can  be  pressed  and 
kept  in  the  public  service,  we  may  be  safe. 

The  opposition  making  to  the  administration  may  succeed  (though 
I  do  not  think  it  can) ;  but  if  it  did  I  should  hope  but  little  from  it ; 
and  that,  because  it  is  the  opposition  of  a  party.  If  it  is  the  honest- 
est  party,  it  would  be  beaten  again  immediately  ;  for  of  two  contend- 
ing factions,  the  worst  must  be,  generally,  successful.  This  is  just 
as  plain  to  me  as  that  of  two  gamesters ;  he  who  cheats  most  will 
commonly  win  the  game.  We  should  therefore,  I  think,  burn  the 
cards,  or  give  up  the  game  of  party,  and  then,  I  believe,  the  knaves  might 
be  made  the  losers.  "Keep  up  party  and  party  spirit"  should  be 
(if  they  have  any  sense)  the  first  and  great  commandment  of  the 

administration  to  its  followers.  Let  P &  Co.  keep  up  a  constant 

volley  of  the  most  irritating  provocations  against  every  one  who  does 
not  belong  to  their  party,  and  the  weakest  friend  of  the  administra- 
tion will  fall  into  the  ranks  against  them,  and  follow  wherever  they 
are  ordered. 

Suppose  some  ruinous  and  abominable  measure,  such  as  a  French 
alliance,  is  proposed  by  the  government ;  will  the  scolding  of  the 
federalists  in  Congress  gain  any  of  the  well-meaning  but  mistaken 
and  prejudiced  friends  of  the  administration,  and  induce  them  to 
oppose  it  ?  "Will  not  such  persons,  on  the  contrary,  be  driven  to  con- 
sider it  a  party  question,  and  the  clamor  and  opposition  of  these 
persons,  as  a  matter  of  course  ?  Will  men  listen  to  reasonings  against 
it,  judge  of  it  impartially,  and  see  its  enormity,  who  are  blinded  by 
party  spirit  ?  But  let  such  men  as  Cheves  or  Lowndes,  men  who  are 
not  party  men  or  who  will  leave  their  party  when  they  think  them 
wrong ;  let  them  try  if  conciliation,  and  a  plain  and  temperate 
exposure  of  the  measure  will  not  be  effectual ;  and  it  is  certainly  rea- 
sonable to  expect  it  would.  I  am.  besides,  inclined  to  think  that  the 
worst  men  of  a  party  will  be  uppermost  in  it ;  and  if  so,  there  would, 
perhaps,  be  no  great  gain  from  a  change.  If  every  man  would  set 
himself  to  work  to  abate,  as  far  as  possible,  this  party  spirit ;  if 
the  people  could  be  once  brought  to  require  from  every  candidate 
a  solemn  declaration,  that  he  would  act  constitutionally  according  to 
his  own  judgment,  upon  every  measure  proposed,  without  considering 
what  party  advocated  or  opposed  it  (and  I  cannot  think  that  such  a 
ground  would  be  unpopular),  its  effects  would  be,  at  least,  greatly 
diminished.  This  course  might  not,  it  is  possible,  succeed  in  ordi- 


26  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

nary  times,  and  when  this  spirit  is  so  universally  diffused  and 
inflamed ;  but  we  are  approaching  to  extraordinary  times,  when  se- 
rious national  affliction  will  appease  this  spirit,  and  give  the  people 
leisure  and  temper  to  reflect.  Something  too  might  then  be  done 
towards  promoting  a  reformation  of  habits  and  morals,  without  which 
nothing  of  any  lasting  advantage  can  be  expected.  Could  such  an 
administration  as  this  preserve  its  power,  if  party  spirit  was  even  con- 
siderably lessened  ?  And  is  this  too  much  to  expect  ?  If  so,  there 
is  nothing,  I  think,  to  be  done  but  to  submit  to  the  punishment  that 
Providence  will  bring  upon  us,  and  to  hope  that  that  will  cure  us. 
I  am,  you  will  think,  full  of  this  subject. 

Farewell.     Yours, 

F.  S.  KEY 

Randolph  to  Key. 

ROANOKE,  October  17,  1813. 

DEAR  FRANK — Never  was  letter  more  welcome  than  that  which  i" 
just  now  received  from  you,  and  which  I  must  thank  you  for  on  the 
day  set  apart  for  letter-writing  in  the  city  of  0.,  or  defer  it  for  ano- 
ther week.  Alas  !  so  far  from  taking  the  field  against  the  poor  par- 
tridges, I  can  hardly  hobble  about  my  own  cabin.  It  pleased  God 
on  Tuesday  last  to  deprive  me  of  the  use  of  my  limbs.  This  visita- 
tion was  attended  with  acute  pain,  reminding  me  most  forcibly  of  my 
situation  at  your  uncle's  nearly  six  years  ago. 

By  the  papers,  I  see  that  our  friend  Ridgely  has  not  succeeded  in 
his  election.  I  am  gratified,  however,  to  find  that  he  was  at  the  head 
of  the  ticket  on  which  his  name  stood.  Lloyd,  I  perceive,  has  car- 
ried his  point  in  Talbot.  I  have  a  great  mind  to  publish  your  letter. 
If  any  thing  could  do  good,  that,  I  am  certain,  would  open  the  eyes  of 
many,  as  many,  at  least,  as  would  read  it.  But  I  have  no  faith,  and 
cannot  be  saved.  I  look  to  the  sands  of  Brandenburgh  and  the 
mountains  of  Bohemia  with  a  faint  hope  of  deliverance.  You  can 
expect  nothing  but  groans  and  sighs  from  a  poor  devil,  racked  by 
.rheumatism  and  tortured  by  a  thousand  plagues.  I  can  barely  sum- 
mon heart  enough  to  congratulate  you  and  Mrs.  K.  (to  whom  give  my 
best  love)  on  the  late  happy  event  in  your  family.  I  shall  be  proud 
if  my  gun  can  furnish  a  piece  of  game  for  her.  When  I  get  better 
you  shall  hear  from  me  at  full.  When  you  see  Ridgely  present  me 
most  affectionately  to  him  and  his  truly  excellent  wife.  I  cannot  be 
glad  of  his  defeat,  since  it  seems  that  the  complexion  of  your  legis- 
lature depended  upon  success  there  or  in  some  county  on  the  eastern 
shore ;  but  I  am  convinced  that  it  is  best  for  him  and  his  ;  and  I  am 
inclined  to  think  no  worse  for  the  country.  How  can  a  foolish  spend- 
thrift young  man  be  prevented  from  ruining  himself?  How  can  you 
appoint  a  guardian  to  a  people  bent  on  self-destruction  ?  The  state 


RETIREMENT  27 

of  society  is  radically  vicious.     It  is  there,  if  at  all,  that  the  remedy 
should  be  applied. 

I  will  give  you  an  instance.  One  of  my  overseers  had  acted  in 
the  most  scandalous  and  indeed  dishonest  manner.  Of  course  he  had 
to  decamp.  Two  gentlemen,  in  the  most  friendly  manner,  cautioned  me 
against  a  contest  at  law  with  an  overseer.  No  matter  what  the  merits 
of  the  case,  the  employer  must  be  cast.  If  I  had  been  in  Turkey, 
and  this  fellow  a  Janizary,  they  could  not  have  thought  the  case 
more  desperate,  and  I  knoiv  that  they  were  right. 

We  agree  entirely  in  opinion  respecting  the  Review,  and  nearly 
so  on  the  subject  of  the  rival  journal.  I  wish  I  could  get  them 
more  regularly,  for  in  my  condition  any  thing  of  that  kind  Is 
a  treasure.  Under  any  other  circumstances  I  should  be  ashamed  of 
returning  you  this  meagre  epistle,  in  reply  to  your  rich  and  copious 
letter. 

Yours  entirely, 

JOHN  RANDOLPH  OF  ROANOKE. 


Key  to  Randolyh. 

GEORGETOWN,  November  27,  1813. 

MY  DEAR  FRIEND — *  *  *  I  have  heard  indirectly  that  your  are 
still  sick.  I  hope  this  attack  will  not  be  such  an  one  as  you  had  at 
my  uncle's.  Pain  and  sickness  are  sad  companions  any  where,  but 
particularly  in  the  country.  It  is  hard  to  feel  them  and  think  them 
the  trifles  that  (compared  to  other  things)  they  certainly  are.  He 
alone  who  sends  them  can  give  us  strength  and  faith  to  bear  them 
as  we  ought.  I  wish  you  every  relief,  but  above  all,  this.  Let  me 
hear  from  you  as  often  as  you  can.  Your  letters  may  be  short,  but 
I  shall  not  find  them  "meagre."  *  *  *  Maryland  is  in  great  agita- 
tion about  the  Alleghany  election.  The  returned  members  will 
take  their  seats,  and  when  they  have  elected  the  Governor  and  Coun- 
cil, then  their  right  to  their  seats  will  be  tried.  This  piece  of  jockeyship 
will  degrade  and  ruin  the  party  for  ever.  Perhaps  it  is  well  it  should 
be  so ;  the  more  each  party  disgraces  itself  the  better. 

I  agree  exactly  with  you,  that  "the  state  of  society  is  radically 
vicious,"  and  that  it  is  there  that  the  remedy  is  to  be  applied.  Put 
down  party  spirit ;  stop  the  corruption  of  party  elections ;  legislate 
not  for  the  next  election,  but  for  the  next  century ;  build  Lancaster 
schools  in  every  hundred,  and  repair  our  ruined  churches ;  let  every 
country  gentleman  of  worth  become  a  justice  of  the  peace,  and  show 
his  neighbors  what  a  blessing  a  benevolent,  religious  man  is ;  and  let 
the  retired  patriot,  who  can  do  nothing  else,  give  his  country  his 
prayers,  and  often  in  his  meditations  "  think  on  her  who  thinks  not 
23 


28  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

for  herself" — "  egregia  virtus  paucorum,"  &c.  I  often  think  of  youf 
apt  quotation.  I  believe,  nay,  I  am  sure,  that  such  a  course,  if  hon- 
estly attempted,  would  succeed  and  save  us.  God  bless  you. 

tr  n  *        i 

Your  friend, 

R  S.  KEY. 

Randolph  to  Key. 

RICHMOND,  Dec.  15,  1813. 

DEAR  FRANK  : — I  thank  you  very  sincerely  for  your  kind  letter 
which  has  been  forwarded  to  me  at  this  place  (where  I  have  been  up« 
wards  of  a  month),  and  also  for  your  remembrance  of  my  request 
about  the  pamphlets,  which  I  received  yesterday.  I  wish,  if  any  op- 
portunity offers  (I  mean  a  good  one),  you  would  send  me  "  War  in 
Disguise  ;"  it  is  bound  up  with  the  "  Dangers  of  the  Country,"  and 
some  other  pamphlets ;  and  I  pray  you  take  care  of  my  favorite  fowl- 
ing-piece. My  fqars  are  not  from  the  use  of  it,  but  from  rust. 

You  see  what  great  objects  fill  my  mind  when  the  day  "  is  big 
with  the  fate"  of  the  whole  race  of  man.  For  my  part,  my  fears  of 
the  power  and  arts  of  France,  almost  overpower  the  exercise  of  my 
judgment.  I  can  see  no  cause  why  the  world  should  not  be  punished 
now  as  in  the  days  of  Caesar  or  Nebuchadnezzar ;  nor  why  Bonaparte 
may  not  be  as  good  an  instrument  as  either  of  those  tyrants.  En- 
deavoring to  turn  away  my  mind  from  such  contemplations,  I  try  to 
submit  myself  to  him  whose  chastisement  is  love. 

'•'  Put  down  party  spirit !"  Put  a  little  fresh  salt  on  the  sparrow's 
tail,  and  you  will  infallibly  catch  him.  You  will  put  down  party 
spirit  when  you  put  down  whisky-drinking,  and  that  will  be  when  the 
Greek  calends  come.  I  agree  with  you  perfectly  on  the  subject  of 
the  poor,  unoffending  Canadians.  To  us  they  are  innocent ;  and  in 
the  eye  of  Heaven  we  must  appear  like  so  many  descendants  of  Cain, 
seeking  to  imbrue  our  hands  in  our  brothers'  blood  !  Suppose  Eng- 
land to  lose  Canada,  she  gets  in  exchange  for  it  our  whole  navigation. 
We  were  her  great  and  only  commercial  rival.  We  possessed  a  ton- 
nage, six  years  ago,  greater  than  that  of  Great  Britain  at  the  acces- 
sion of  the  present  king.  Greater  than  any  other  nation,  except  our 
parent  state,  ever  owned.  Our  ships  are  short-lived,  our  seamen 
must  have  employment ;  all  the  foreign  seamen,  and  many  of  the  na- 
tive, will  seek  the  Russian,  or  some  other  neutral  service.  We  may 
establish  manufactures  ;  but  what  of  that  ?  Those  of  England  want 
no  vent  here.  Moreover,  she  well  knows  that  although  peace  may  be 
restored,  it  will  be  a  peace  of  double  duties  and  restrictions,  a  "  war 
in  disguise  "  In  short,  I  can  see  no  motive  in  a  wise  English  admin- 
istration for  putting  an  end  to  the  war.  My  only  trust  is  in  their 
folly.  Lord  Castlereagh  is  not  much  better  than  his  countryman, 
with  the  last  syllable  of  his  name,  whom  you  met  in  the  street. 


RETIREMENT.  29 

Peace  or  war,  the  ruin  of  this  country  is  inevitable  ;  ue  cannot 
have  manufactures  on  a  great  scale.  Already  our  specie  is  drawn  off 
to  pay  for  domestic  manufactures  from  the  middle  and  eastern  States. 
All  the  loans,  &c.,  are  spent  in  New- York ;  and  whilst  she  and  Penn- 
sylvania and  New  England  are  thriving  in  the  most  wonderful  man- 
ner, with  us  the  straw  (near  market)  of  a  crop  of  wheat  is  worth 
more  than  the  grain ;  and  we  are  feeding  our  horses  and  oxen  with 
superfine  flour,  although  the  crop  of  Indian  corn  is  superabundant — 
the  flour  being  the  cheaper  of  the  two. 

I  heard  of  our  friend,  Sterrett  Ridgley,  by  a  gentleman  who  saw 
him  at  the  races.  I  cannot  regret  that  he  is  not  compelled  to  mingle 
in  the  throng  at  Annapolis.  Sallust,  in  that  quotation  of  mine  to 
which  you  so  frequently  refer,  speaking  of  the  exploits  of  the  Roman 
people  (surpassed  by  the  Greeks  in  eloquence  and  learning,  and  by 
the  Gauls  in  military  prowess),  declares  it  to  be  his  opinion,  after  long 
and  attentive  study  and  observations,  that  "  Egregiam  virtutem 
paucorum  civium  cuncta  patiavisse."  He  goes  on  to  add  (I  wish  I 
had  the  book  before  me),  "  Sed  post  quam  luxu  atque  desidio  civitas 
corrupta  est,  rursus  Respublica  magnitudine  sua,  vitia  sustentabat." 
In  like  manner,  we  have  seen  modern  France,  by  the  very  force  of 
magnitude  and  number,  support  the  unutterable  vices  of  her  rulers, 
and  bear  down  all  before  her.  As  we  cannot  be  saved  by  the 
extraordinary  virtue  of  a  few,  so  neither  can  we  rely  upon  the  height 
of  our  power  to  sustain  the  incapacity  and  corruption  of  our  rulers, 
and  :f  the  great  mass  of  our  people. 

As  to  Lancaster  schools,  I  am  for  the  thing,  the  substance, 
but  not  the  name.  It  is  stolen  by  a  fellow  whom  I  detest.  I  hope 
you  have  abolished  his  cruel  and  stupid  punishments  in  your  George- 
town Institution.  An  article  in  the  Quarterly  Review  (I  think  No. 
XL),  satisfied  me  that  Lancaster  was  an  impostor,  and  a  hard-hearted 
wretch.  There  is  a  late  review  on  "  National  Education  "  (in  No. 
XV.  I  believe),  which  pleased  me  very  much.  My  best  wishes  attend 
all  who  are  dear  to  you.  I  hear  that  your  poor  protegee,  Miss  A.  B., 
has  sealed  her  final  ruin. 

Adieu,  and  believe  me,  always,  most  cordially,  yours, 

JOHN  RANDOLPH  OF  ROANOKE. 
Tuesday,  Dec.  15,  1813.     Wednesday. 


P.  S.  Have  you  read  Lord  Byron's  Giaour?  I  have  been  delighted 
with  it.  He  is  a  poet,  as  was  emphatically  said  of  our  P.  Henry, 
"  He  is  an  orator  !"  I  have  also  been  much  pleased  with  Horace  in 
London,  and  the  Intercepted  Twopenny  Post. 


30  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 


Key  to  Randolph. 

GEORGETOWN,  January  20,  181-1, 

MY  DEAR  FRIEND, —  *  *  *  I  have  no  news  that  I  think  would 
interest  you.  Cheves  is  said  to  have  been  made  Speaker,  against  the 
wishes  of  the  administration  party,  who  were  very  active  for  8-rundy. 
I  cannot  help  thinking  his  election  a  favorable  circumstance. 

I  can  hear  nothing  of  the  book  you  mention  (English)  from  any 
one  but  Swift,  who  says  he  heard  it  spoken  of  in  New- York  as  an 
ingenious  performance.  I  would  read  it,  and  give  you  my  opinion 
of  it,  if  I  came  across  it,  provided  it  was  not  too  long.  I  don't  be- 
lieve there  are  any  new  objections  to  be  discovered  to  the  truth  of 
Christianity,  though  there  may  be  some  art  in  presenting  old  ones  in 
a  new  dress.  My  faith  has  been  greatly  confirmed  by  the  infidel 
writers  I  have  read  ;  and  I  think  such  would  be  the  effect  upon  any  one 
who  has  examined  the  evidences.  Our  Church  recommends  their  perusal 
to  students  of  divinity,  which  shows  she  is  not  afraid  of  them.  Men 
may  argue  ingeniously  against  our  faith — as  indeed  they  may  against 
any  thing — but  what  can  they  say  in  defence  of  their  own  ?  I  would 
carry  the  war  into  their  own  territories.  I  would  ask  them  what  they 
believed.  If  they  said  they  believed  any  thing,  I  think  that  thing 
might  be  shown  to  be  more  full  of  difficulties,  and  liable  to  infinitely 
greater  objections  than  the  system  they  opposed,  and  they  more 
credulous  and  unreasonable  for  believing  it.  If  they  said  they  be- 
lieved nothing,  you  could  not,  to  be  sure,  have  any  thing  further  to 
say  to  them.  In  that  case  they  would  be  insane,  or,  at  best,  illy 
qualified  to  teach  others  what  they  ought  to  believe  or  disbelieve. 

I  can  never  doubt  (for  we  have  the  word  of  God  for  it,  and  it  is  so 
plainly  a  consequence  of  his  goodness)  that  all  who  inquire,  with  that 
sincerity  and.  earnestness  which  so  awful  a  subject  requires,  will  find 
the  truth — "Seek,  and  ye  shall  find."  Did  you  ever  read  "Grotius 
de  Veritate  ?"  I  should  like  to  see  an  infidel  attempt  an  answer  to 
that  book.  *  *  *. 

Randolph  to  Key. 

RICHMOND,  February  17,  1814. 

DEAR  FRANK  : — You  plead  want  of  time,  and  I  may,  with  equal 
truth  declare,  that  I  have  nothing  worth  twelve  and  half  cents—- 
which, I  believe,  is  the  postage  from  here  to  the  city  of  0.  Indeed 
I  have  been  living  myself  in  "  a  world  without  souls,"  until  my  heart 
is  "  as  dry  as  a  chip,"  and  as  cold  as  a  dog's  nose."  Do  not  suppose, 
however,  that  the  Jew  look  has  made  any  impression  upon  me ;  as  I 
cannot  see  how  the  human  mind,  unassisted  by  the  light  of  Christi- 


RETIREMENT.  31 

anity,  can  stop  half-w.ay  at  deism,  instead  of  travelling  the  whole 
length  to  which  fair  deduction  would  lead  it,  to  frozen,  cheerless  athe- 
ism ;  so  it  appears  to  me  most  wonderful,  that  any  man,  believing  in 
the  Old  Testament,  can  reject  the  New ;  and  it  is  perhaps  not  the 
least  conclusive  of  the  proofs  of  the  authenticity  of  the  latter,  that 
the  Jews,  admitting  as  it  were  the  premises,  should  blindly  reject  the 
inevitable  conclusion. 

Have  you  read  the  work  of  Paley,  reviewed  in  a  late  Edinburgh  ? 
i;  The  Lord  deliver  me  from  Archdeacon  Paley  !"  I  am  persuaded 
that,  with  the  best  intentions,  this  man  has  done  infinite — rather 
great  mischief  to  the  cause  he  espouses.  You  are  rich  in  hav- 
ing Swift  and  Meade  with  you.  I  am  glad  that  the  Colonel 
(what  is  his  Christian  name?)  has  escaped  the  recoil  of  our  own 

measures.  Bid  him  and  "VY accept  my  best  wishes.  Poor 

W !  what  a  situation  his  imprudence  has  reduced  him  to !  I 

have  thought  a  hundred  times  of  the  meeting  and  parting,  when  he 
returns  to  his  prison-house,  between  him  and  his  family ;  and  I  bless 
God  that  I  have  been  the  probable  means  of  saving  Charles  and  Mrs. 
Ridgely  from  a  like  pang.  "Why  do  you  say  nothing  of  Charles 
Sterrett  Hidgely  ?  It  is  the  more  necessary,  since  he  has  given  up 
writing  to  me.  My  warmest  wishes  attend  him  and  all  at  Oakland  ! 
Remember  me,  also,  to  Blenheim  and  the  Woodyard. 

We  are  all  in  a  bustle  here  with  the  news  from  Europe.  For  my 
part,  I  hope  that  Blunderbuss  Castlereagh  may  succeed  in  prevent- 
ing a  peace  "  which  shall  confirm  to  the  French  Empire  an  extent  of 
territory  France  under  her  kings  never  knew."  If  they  permit  him 
to  retain  the  low  countries  and  Piedmont,  they  will  act  like  the 
sapient  commissioner  appointed  to  examine  the  vaults  of  the  Par- 
liament House,  on  the  alarm  of  the  gunpowder-plot,  who  reported, 
i:  that  he  had  discovered  seventy-five  barrels  of  gunpowder  concealed 
under  faggots ;  that  he  had  caused  fifty  to  be  removed,  and  hoped  th-e 
otJier  twenty  Jive  would  do  no  harm" 

I  see  the  Federal  Republican,  on  the  authority  of  the  Evening 
Post,  has  accused  me  of  being  "  an  obvious  imitator  of  Lord  Chatham." 
Let  them  bepraise  their  favorites  as  much  as  they  please,  and  at  my 
expense,  too,  provided  they  do  not  class  me  with  the  servile  herd  of 
imitators  whom  I  despise  and  shun.  No  man  is  more  sensible  than 
I  am  of  the  distance  between  myself  and  Lord  Chatham ;  but  I  would 
scorn  to  imitate  even  him.  My  powers,  such  as  they  are,  have  not 
been  improved  by  culture.  The  first  time  that  I  ever  dreamed  of 
speaking  in  public,  was  'on  the  eve  of  my  election  in  March,  1799, 
when  I  opposed  myself  (fearful  odds!)  to  Patrick  Henry.  My  man- 
ner is  spontaneous,  flowing,  like  my  matter,  from  the  impulse  of  the 
moment ;  and  when  I  do  not  feel  strongly,  I  cannot  speak  to  any 
purpose.  These  fits  are  independent  of  my  volition.  The  best 


32  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

speech  that  I  ever  made,  was  about  the  third  or  fourth,  on  the  subject 
of  the  Connecticut  Reserve,  1800.  During  the' last  four  or  five  years. 
I  have  perceived  a  sensible  decline  in  my  powers — which  I  estimate 
with  as  much  impartiality  as  you  would ;  in  a  word,  as  if  they  had 
belonged  to  another.  I  am  not  better  persuaded  of  the  loss  of  my 
grinders,  or  of  the  wrinkles  in  my  face — and  care  as  much  for  the  one 
as  the  other.  Any  other  man  but  yourself  (or  perhaps  Meade)  would 
take  this  long  paragraph  as  proof  that  I  am  insincere,  or  self-deceived. 
To  tell  you  the  truth,  I  am  sensible  of  the  gross  injustice  that  has 
been  done  me  in  the  paragraph  in  question.  I  had  as  lief  be  accused 
of  any  crime,  not  forbidden  by  the  decalogue,  as  of  imitation.  If 
these  critics  choose  to  say  that  I  have  neglected,  or  thrown  away,  or 
buried  my  talent,  I  will  acquiesce  in  the  censure ;  but  amongst  the 
herd  of  imitators  I  will  not  be  ranked,  because  I  feel  that  I  could 
not  descend  to  imitate  any  human  being.  But  I  have  long  ago 
learned — 

Malignum  spurnere  vulgus. 

Best  wishes  to  Mrs.  Key  and  the  little  ones.  If  Meade  be  with 
you,  I  salute  him. 

Yours,  truly, 

JOHN  RANDOLPH  OF  ROANOKE. 
Francis  Scott  Key,  Esq. 

I  have  been  delighted  with  the  Posthumus  Works  of  Burke — 
the  father  of  political  wisdom- — and  have  revelled  in  literary  sweets  : 
Horace  in  London ;  Rejected  Adresses ;  Twopenny-post  Bag ;  The 
Giaour,  and  the  critique  upon  it  in  the  Edinburgh  Review.  Many 
articles  in  that  journal,  and  in  the  Quarterly,  have  amused  and  in- 
structed me.  I  know  you  do  not  like  the  Scotch  fraternity  of  critics ; 
neither  do  I ;  but/Jzs  est  ab  Jioste  docere.  "What  a  picture  of  French 
society  does  the  review  of  Grimm  unfold  !  There  are  some  deep  re- 
flections in  that  article,  which  I  suppose  comes  from  the  pen  of  Du- 
gald  Stewart.  It  is  eminently  favorable  to  the  cause  of  morality. 

Our  great  folks  at  Or.  treat  us  little  folks  in  Virginia  very  much 
as  great  folks  are  wont  to  treat  little  ones,  viz.,  with  sovereign 
neglect. 

Randolph  to  Key. 

RICHMOND,  March  2,  1814. 

DEAR  SIR, — Your  letter  found  me  in  bed,  harassed  and  afflicted 
with  gouty  affection  of  the  alimentary  canal.  It  was,  I  believe,  the 
best  medicine  that  could  have  been  administered  to  me,  but,  aided  by 
an  anniversary  discourse,  which  Joe  Lewis  was  considerate  enough 
to  send  me,  and  which  came  also  in  the  nick  of  time,  the  effect  was 
wonderful.  I  am  half  disposed  to  be  angry  with  you  for  passing 


RETIREMENT.  33 

over  the  said  discourse  as  if  it  never  had  existed,  and  especially  for 
leaving  me  to  the  charity  of  Joe  Lewis,  but  for  whose  contribution  I 
might  have  been  deprived  of  the  pleasure  of  seeing  it  at  all ;  for  you 
need  not  flatter  yourself  that  the  newspapers  generally  will  republish 
it.  Now,  by  way  of  penance  for  this-  misplaced  modesty,  I  do  enjoin 
upon  you  to  thank  the  aforesaid  Joe  in  my  name  for  his  most  oblig- 
ing attention ;  one  that  has  given  me  a  pleasure  that  I  shall  not  of- 
fend you  in  attempting  to  express. 

You  are  right,  my  friend,  but  who  will  follow  you  ?  Who  will 
abandon  the  expedient  to  adopt  the  counsels  of  self-denial,  of  mortifi- 
cation, of  duty  ?  For  my  part,  much  as  I  abhor  the  factious  motive 
and  manner  of  the  opposition  prints,  and  many  of  its  leaders,  if  I 
could  find  as  many  men  of  my  way  of  thinking  as  drubbed  the 
French  at  Agincourt,  I  would  throw  off  the  yoke,  or  perish  in  the 
attempt. 

Louisiana  is  not  my  country.  I  respect  as  much  the  opinions  of 
the  people  of  London  as  of  the  Western  States.  After  these  avowals 
you  will  not  "  be  glad"  I  fear  "  to  see  my  nil  admirari"  My  father 
left,  for  some  reason  of  his  own,  this  old  family  adage,  and  adopted 
+~ari  qua.  gentiat  for  his  motto.  But  although  I  have  returned  to 
the  old  family  maxim,  I  cannot  shake  off  the  habit  which  I  acquired 
during  thirty  years'  practice  of  speaking  my  mind  sometimes.  Nev- 
ertheless, I  am  persuaded  that  if  we  could  all  read  your  discourse, 
it  would  produce  a  most  happy  and  beneficial  effect  on  all  ranks  of 
the  people.  But  the  people  will  not  hear,  cannot  read,  and  if  they 
could,  cannot  understand,  until  the  paroxysm  of  drunkenness  is  over. 
Wanting  your  faith  I  cannot  repress  my  forebodings.  They  weigh 
me  down  and  immerse  body  and  soul.  I  never  stood  more  in  need 
of  your  society.  In  this  world  without  souls  every  body  is  taken  up 
with  "  the  one  thing  needful" — what  that  is  you  must  not  consult  St. 
Paul  but  the  Jewish  doctors,  to  discover. 

I  was  struck  with  the*  review  of  Grimm,  and  with  the  hypothesis 
of  the  reviewer,  on  the  tendency  of  a  certain  state  of  society  to 
deaden  the  feelings,  ossify  the  heart,  and  sharpen  the  sense  of  ridi- 
cule. Yes,  in  spite  of  its  being  French  verse,  I  was  pleased  with  the 
tribute  of  Voltaire  to  the  power  of  that  God,  whom  he  never  knew. 
I  have  been  looking  over  the  four  first  numbers  of  the  Edinburgh 
Review,  and  was  struck  with  the  change  of  principle. 

In  answer  to  the  foregoing  letter  Mr.  Key  writes  : 

"  I  have  not  yet  seen  the  Giaour,  but  have  looked  over  the  Bride 
of  Abydos.  It  has  some  fine  passages  in  it,  but  it  is  too  full  of 
those  crooked-named  out-of-the-way  East  Indian  things.  I  have 
long  ago.  however,  resolved  that  there  shall  be  no  such  poet  as  Wai- 


34  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

ber  Scott  as  long  as  he  lives,  and  I  can  admire  nobody  that  pretends 
to  rival  him. 

<c  I  should  like  to  have  the  first  numbers  of  the  Edinburgh  Review. 
I  remember  very  well  the  great  and  shameful  change  of  principle  it 
has  undergone.  It  is  to  be  regretted  that  it  is  so  popular  a  work  in 
this  country.  How  came  the  re-publishers  by  their  recommendations  of 
it  ?  I  see  you  are  among  them — with  some  good  company,  and  some 
rather  bad.  Is  it  not  desirable  that  there  should  be  a  good  Ameri- 
can Literary  Review  ?  One  inculcating  the  sound  principles  of  the 
quarterly  reviewers,  and  exposing  our  book-makers,  would  perhaps 
improve  both  our  taste  and  habits.  Have  you  seen  an  article  in 
Bronson's  select  reviews  on  American  song-writing  ?  I  do  not  know 
who  the  author  is,  but  I  think  he  could  conduct  such  a  work  with 
much  spirit.  I  have  seldom,  I  think,  seen  a  better  piece  of  criti- 


In  reply,  Randolph  says  : 

u  I  do  think  a  review  on  the  plan  you  mention  would  be  highly 
beneficial,  and  if  I  was  fit  for  any  thing  I  should  like  to  engage  in  a 
work  of  the  sort.  But  fourteen  years  of  congressional  life  have 
rendered  me  good  for  nothing.  It  may  be  an  excuse  for  idleness, 
for  this  devil  attacks  me  in  every  shape.  But  it  seems  to  me,  to 
work  any  material  change  in  the  state  of  things,  we  must  begin  (as 
some  logicians  lay  their  premises)  a  great  way  off.  I  mean  with 
the  children ;  the  old  folks  have  taken  their  ply,  and  will  neither 
bend  nor  break. 

"  '  How  came  the  Edinburgh  Review  by  my  recommendation  ?' 
Because  the  re-publishers  applied  for  it  by  letter  ;  and  when  I  gave 
it  I  had  not  gotten  sight  of  the  cloven  foot ;  I  had  seen,  however,  some 
puerile  abuse  of  myself  in  that  journal ;  but  this  and  much  more 
would  have  been  amply  atoned  for  by  very  many  masterly  articles, 
if  they  had  not  betrayed  a  want  of  reverence  for  religion,  and  a 
hankering  after  France.  Nevertheless,  some  of  the  late  numbers  in 
a  great  measure  redeem  their  former  sins.  The  truth  is  that  men  of 
diffrent  principles,  political  as  well  as  religious,  write  for  that  journal, 
and  it  may  be  always  quoted  against  itself.  There  are  some  noble 
specimens  of  the  art  of  criticism  in  the  two  last  numbers  that  I 
have  seen. 

"  I  cannot  yield  the  precedence  of  Lord  Byron  to  Walter  Scott.  I 
admit  your  objection  to  the  '  crooked-named  out-of-the-way  Turkish 
things.'  But  this  must  be  pardoned  in  a  traveller,  who  has  explored 
the  woods  that  wave  o'er  Delphi's  steep,  and  swam  across  the  Helles- 
pont. No  poet  in  our  language  (the  exception  is  unnecessary), 
Shakspeare  and  Milton  apart,  has  the  same  power  over  my  feelings 
US  Byron.  He  is.  like  Scott,  careless,  and  indulges  himself  in  great 


RETIREMENT.  35 

license ;  but  he  does  not,  like  your  favorite,  write  by  the  piece.  ^  1 
am  persuaded  that  his  fragments  are  thrown  out  by  the  true  spirit 
of  inspiration,  and  that  he  never  goads  his  pen  to  work.  When  you 
have  read  the  Giaour,  the  first,  I  think,  of  his  poems,  I  am  persua- 
ded that  you  will  change  your  opinion  of  this  singular  author,  and 
yet  more  singular  man.  His  feelings  are  too  strong  to  endure  the 
privation  of  religious  sentiment.  His  time  is  not  yet  come,  but  he 
cannot  continue  to  exist  in  the  chill  and  gloom  of  skepticism.  , 

"  Meade  is  daily  expected  here.  There  is  a  general  wish  that  ho 
should  preach  the  first  sermon  in  the  Monumental  Church. 

K  What  an  occasion  for  a  man  who  would  not  sink  under  it !  He 
might  do  a  great  deal  of  good  were  he  to  yield  to  the  desire  of  the 
congregation,  and  establish  himself  amongst  them ;  but  where  is  the 
field  in  which  he  would  not  do  good  ? 

"  I  have  not  seen  the  article  you  mention  in  Bronson's  Select  Re- 
view. In  its  new  form  I  think  that  a  respectable  and  useful  publi- 
cation. To  be  sure,  it  is  made  of  scissors ;  but  it  is  so  far  beyond 
the  Port-Folio  as  to  be  comparatively  good.  The  last  is  the  most  con- 
temptible thing  that  ever  imposed  on  the  public  in  the  shape  of  a 
magazine — and  that  is  going  very  far.  When  your  letter  and 

W 's  P.  S.  arrived,  I  was  in  all  the  horrors  of  what  is  vulgarly 

called  Blue  Devils ;  nor  am  I  yet  wholly  recovered.  I  could  not. 
however,  resist  the  inclination  to  make  my  acknowledgments  for  your 
kindness." 

Randolph  to  Key. 

RICHMOND,  May  7th,  181* 

MY  DEAR  FRIEND— Mr.  Meade  tells  me  that  he  expects  to  see 
you  in  a  few  days.  I  cannot  let  him  depart  without  some  token  of 
my  remembrance.  He  goes  away  early  on  Monday  morning,  so  that, 
ta  guard  against  failure,  I  write  to-day.  He  has  made  an  engage- 
ment to  preach  in  Hanover,  thirty-five  miles  off,  on  Monday  evening. 
No  man  can  respect  or  admire  his  zeal  in  the  sacred  cause  to  which 
he  has  devoted  himself,  more  than  I  do — but  I  fear  he  will  wear 
himself  out,  and  that  the  sum  of  his  usefulness  will,  on  the  whole,  be 
diminished,  unless  he  will  consent  to  spare  himself.  His  health  and 
strength  are  evidently  impaired  since  I  saw  him  last.  I  fear  for  his 
breast.  I  must  refer  you  to  him  for  what  occurs  here,  except  the 
eagerness  of  all  classes  and  ranks  of  people  to  hear  him.  No  man 
can  be  more  generally  revered  than  he  is. 

As  to  the  review,  I  am  out  of  the  question  on  that  and  every 
other  subject  requiring  any  species  of  exertion.  I  said  truly  when 
I  told  you  that  congressional  life  had  destroyed  me—fruges  COP 
sumere — this  is  all  that  I  am  fit  for ;  and  such  is  my  infirmity  of 


36  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

body  that  I  make  a  -very  poor  hand  even  at  that — notwithstanding  1 
am  one  of  those  who  (as*  the  French  say)  sum  n£  2^our  la  digestion. 

Since  the  hot  weather  set  in,  I  have  been  in  a  state  of  collapse, 
and  am  as  feeble  as  an  infant — with  all  this  I  am  tortured  with 
rheumatism,  or  gout,  a  wretched  cripple,  and  nay  mind  is  yet  more 
weak  and  diseased  than  my  body.  I  hardly  know  myself,  so  irreso- 
lute and  timid  have  I  become.  In  short,  I  hope  that  there  is  not  an- 
other creature  in  the  world  as  unhappy  as  myself.  This  I  can  say  to 
you.  To  the  world  I  endeavor  to  put  on  a  different  countenance,  and 
hold  a  bolder  language  ;  but  it  is  sheer  hypocrisy,  assumed  to  guard 
against  the  pity  of  mankind. 

Mr.  Meade  will  preach  to-morrcw  in  the  new  church.  He  is 
anxious  on  account  of  a  silly  piece,  which  that  prince  of  coxcombs 
•  has  stuck  into  his  paper.  He  has  had  no  time  for  prepara- 
tion on  so  useful  a  subject,  and  is  uneasy  that  the  public  expectation 
has  been  led  to  it.  Indeed  who  could  treat  it  as  it  deserves  ?  cer- 
tainly no  man  whom  I  ever  heard.  Remember  me  kindly  to  Mrs. 
Key  and  all  friends,  amongst  whom  I  must  particularly  mention 
West  and  Sterrett  Ridgely. 

Most  sincerely  yours, 

JOHN  RANDOLPH  OF  ROANOKE. 

I  left  the  letter  open  that  I  might  say  a  word  about  my  friend's 
discourse.  He  explained  in  a  few  satisfactory  and  appropriate  words 
why  he  should  not  touch  upon  a  subject  which  many  of  his  hearers 
had  been  led  to  expect  he  would  treat  (the  burning  of  the  theatre  on 
whose  site  the  new  church  was  erected),  and  then  gave  us  a  most  ex- 
cellent sermon  on  the  pleasure  of  the  true  Christian's  life.  A  prayer 
which  he  introduced  into  this  discourse,  that  the  heart,  even  if  it  were 
but  one,  of  the  unconverted  might  be  touched,  was  most  affecting. 

He  preaches  this  afternoon  at  the  Capitol,  on  the  subject  of  the 
Bible  Societies. 

Sunday,  2  o'clock,  P.  M. 


CHAPTER    II. 

ANCESTRAL  PRIDE — ST.   GEORGE — MADNESS. 

JOHN  RANDOLPH  had  a  morbid  sensibility  on  the  subject  of  his  family 
and  his  property.  He  belonged  to  one  of  the  oldest,  most  numerous, 
and  wealthy  families  in  Virginia — he  cherished  his  family  pride,  and 


ANCESTRAL  PRIDE.  37 

valued  hereditary  fortune  far  beyond  its  pecuniary  worth.  A  money- 
loving,  or  a  money-making  spirit  constituted  no  part  of  his  character. 
His  feelings  and  opinions  on  these  subjects  were  purely  English  ;  the 
proud,  yet  munificent  and  accomplished  Baron  of  some  time-honored 
castle  with  its  thousand  acres,  and  its  villages  of  grateful  and  happy 
tenants,  handed  down  from  sire  to  son,  with  all  the  associations  of 
pride  and  affection  clustering  around  its  walls  and  its  forests,  consti- 
tuted his  beau  ideal  (not  without  reason)  of  the  perfect  gentleman. 
Such,  in  no  small  degree,  were  the  characters  that  composed  the  old 
Virginia  aristocracy.  Randolph  loved  their  memory — formed  him- 
self on  their  model — despised  the  law  that  sapped  the  foundation  of 
their  greatness — and  still  hoped  to  preserve,  in  his  own  name  and 
family,  some  specimen  that  might  be  worthy  of  a  comparison  with 
those  noble  men  of  the  olden  time. 

He  cherished  the  memory  of  his  father  with  an  increasing  fond- 
ness to  the  day  of  his  death.  He  always  kept  his  father's  miniature 
hung  up  before  him  in  his  chamber,  or  about  his  person,  when  long 
abroad  from  home.  Last  November,  when  on  his  way  to  Richmond, 
where  he  expected  to  be  detained  a  few  weeks  only,  he  wrote  back  to 
Dudley,  "  be  so  good  as  to  send  me  my  father's  picture  and  three 
lockets — they  are  in  my  writing-table  drawer."  He 'was  now  the  only 
son,  St.  George  and  Tudor  the  sons  of  Richard,  the  only  other  de- 
scendants of  that  father  whose  memory  he  dwelt  on  so  fondly.  His 
had  been  an  "  unprosperous  life,"  and  was  now,  as  he  thought,  rapidly 
drawing  to  a  close.  St.  George  was  deaf  and  dumb — "  the  most 
pitiable  of  the  step-sons  of  nature."  Tudor  was  all  that  was  left,  the 
pride  and  hope  of  the  family.  These  subjects  caused  him  unceasing 
anxiety.  The  intensity  of  his  feelings  cannot  be  understood,  nor 
justly  appreciated  by  the  novi  homines  of  modern  times.  They 
amounted  almost  to  a  monomania — they  furnish  a  solution  of  many 
of  the  apparent  inconsistencies  of  his  after  life,  and  was  the  imme- 
diate cause  of  a  rupture  between  himself  and  his  step-father,  whom, 
up  to  a  very  recent  period,  he  had  loved  and  venerated  with  the  affec- 
tion and  pride  of  a  son.  The  efforts  of  mutual  friends  to  heal  this 
unfortunate  breach  between  father  and  son,  was  the  principal  cause 
of  his  long  delay  in  Richmond  during  the  past  winter  and  spring. 
Writing  to  Dudley  in  January,  he  says,  "  I  have  been  detained  here 
by  a  very  unpleasant  piece  of  business" — and  again  in  February,  "  I 


38  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

have  been,  indeed,  very  much  disturbed  of  late,  by  an  occurrence  as 
unexpected  as  it  is  distressing ;  and,  perhaps,  I  tinge  other  objects 
with  the  hue  of  the  medium  through  which  I  observe  them." 

The  first  cause  of  this  misunderstanding  with  his  step-father  is 
very  characteristic  of  the  man,  and  illustrates  the  feeling  of  family 
pride  that  burned  so  intensely  in  his  breast.  The  subject  of  con- 
versation was  the  passing  of  the  Banister  estate  from  an  infant  of 
that  family,  to  a  brother  of  the  half  blood  of  the  Shippen  family. 
Mr.  Randolph  said  that  occurrence  gave  rise  to  the  alteration 
of  the  law  of  descents,  and  placed  it  on  its  present  footing :  he  also 
expressed  in  strong  terms  his  disapprobation  of  the  justice  or 
policy  of  such  a  law.  Judge  Tucker  replied :  "  Why,  Jack,  you 
ought  not  to  be  against  that  law,  for  you  know  if  you  were  to  die 
without  issue,  you  would  wish  your  half  brothers  to  have  your  estate." 
"  I'll  be  damned,  sir,  if  I  do  know  it,"  said  Randolph,  in  great  excite- 
ment ;  and  from  that  day  ceased  with  his  good  and  venerable  step- 
father all  friendly  intercourse.  This  occasion  gave  rise  to  many 
cruel  and  unjust  suspicions.  Once  brought  to  suspect  a  selfish  mo- 
tive in  him  he  had  so  much  venerated,  he  began  to  look  back  with  a 
jealous  eye  on  all  his  past  transactions,  and  "  trifles  light  as  air" 
became  "  confirmations  strong  as  holy  writ." 

In  1810-1 1  he  called  in  an  attorney  and  proposed  instituting  suit. 
He  stated  that  Judge  Tucker  had  never,  in  fact,  settled  his  accounts 
as  his  guardian — that  he  had  taken  the  accounts  stated  upon  trust — 
that  Judge  Tucker  had  contrived,  fraudulently  he  thought,  to  appro- 
priate to  himself  certain  slaves,  which  had  been  given  to  his  mother 
by  her  father,  Colonel  Bland,  upon  her  marriage  with  his  father, 
John  Randolph  the  elder,  which  his  father  had  held  thenceforth  till 
the  day  of  his  death,  and  which  were  mentioned  as  a  part  of  his 
estate.  He  stated  all  the  circumstances  of  the  case ;  and  admitted 
mat  the  question  of  his  father's  right  to  the  slaves  depended  on  the 
Construction  and  effect  of  the  statute  of  Virginia  of  1758,  making 
Carole  gifts  of  slaves  void.  He  stated  the  facts  and  the  law  on  which 
ne  rested  his  claim  to  the  slaves  with  as  much  precision  as  coun- 
sel could  have  stated  them  in  a  bill  in  Chancery ;  he  was  perfectly 
acquainted  with  the  statute  on  the  subject,  and  the  decisions  of  the 
Court  of  Appeals  upon  it.  His  counsel  dissuaded  him  from  his  pur- 
pose cf  bringing  suit ;  but  he  often  afterwards  recurred  to  the  subject, 


ANCESTRAL  PRIDE.  39 

and  never  seems  to  have  been  wholly  reconciled.  The  old  man,  how- 
ever, was  unconscious  of  having  given  him  any  cause  of  offence.  He 
sent  a  mutual  friend  to  see  Mr.  Randolph  soon  after  his  arrival  in 
Richmond:  "Dome  the  favor,"  says  he,  "to  go  and  see  Mr.  Ran- 
dolph, and  ask  him  if  he  ever  received  a  letter  from  me  on  the  sub- 
ject of  the  misunderstanding  between  himself  and  his  brother  Bev- 
erly, and  whether  he  ever  answered  it?  Then  ask  him  what  has 
alienated  him  from  one,  whom  for  more  than  thirty  years  he  has 
known  as  a  father  ?" 

Randolph  replied  to  the  messenger,  alter  a  frown,  that  he  hal 
received  the  letter  alluded  to,  and  had  not  answered  it ;  and  after  a 
long  pause  said  he  had  imposed  it  as  a  law  on  himself  on  this  subject, 
not  to  converse  about  it. 

The  cause  of  this  alienation  of  mind  we  have  seen.  His  morbid 
sensibility  on  these  subjects  was  now  in  a  new  and  unexpected  form 
to  be  sorely  tried ;  his  family  pride  to  be  deeply  mortified,  and  his 
fond  hopes  of  its  future  continuance  and  of  its  future  distinction  to 
be  blasted  forever. 

He  thus  writes  to  Mr.  Key  : 

ROANOKE,  June  3, 1814. 

DEAR  FRANK — My  departure  from  Richmond  was  as  sudden  as 
the  occasion  was  mournful  and  distressing.  My  eldest  nephew, 
St.  George,  in  consequence  of  an  unsuccessful  attachment  to  Miss 

,  the  daughter  of  a  worthy  neighbor  of  his  mother,  had  become 

unsettled  in  his  intellects,  and  on  my  arrival  at  Farmville  I  found  him 
a  frantic  maniac.  I  have  brought  him  up  here,  and  Dr.  Dudley,  a 
friend  and  treasure  to  me  above  all  price,  assists  me  in  the  manage- 
ment of  him  We  have  no  hopes  of  his  restoration. 

I  would  congratulate  you  on  the  late  most  important  occurrences 
in  Europe ;  but  I  cannot  write.  Let  me  hear  from  you,  I  pray. 
Commend  me  to  Mrs.  Key,  and  West,  and  Ridgely,  and  all  who  care 
to  inquire  after  me. 

Yours  ever, 

JOHN  RANDOLPH  OF  ROANOKE,' 

Randolph  to  Key. 

ROANOKE,  July  14,  1814. 

DEAR  FRANK — I  have  but  half  a  sheet  of  paper  left,  and  it  is  too 
late  to  send  to  the  Court  House  (thirteen  miles)  for  more.  But  with 
this  half  sheet  and  half  a  drop  of  ink  diluted  to  a  penful,  I  hope  to 
make  out  something  like  a  letter. 


£0  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

It  is  not  the  young  man  you  saw  in  Georgetown,  just  before  the 
declaration  of  war,  whose  unhappy  condition  I  described ;  he  is  yet 
at  Cambridge :  the  patient  is  his  elder  brother,  just  entering  his 
twenty-third  year,  and  has  been  deaf  and  dumb  from  his  cradle. 

This  is  the  principal  cause  of  his  present  situation :  He  has  made 
several  attempts  to  marry,  and  brooding  over  the  cause  of  his  failure 
has  reduced  him  to  his  present  state.  He  has  become  manageable 
with  little  trouble.  His  memory  for  words,  persons,  and  events  is 
unimpaired,  but  he  cannot  combine.  He  has  dwelt  a  great  deal  on 
the  terrors  of  future  punishment  also,  and  often  mentioned  the  devil, 
but  that  was  subsequent  to  his  total  derangement.  His  mind  runs  on 
it  only  as  on  other  subjects  of  primary  interest. 

I  saw  some  account  of  your  campaigns  in  the  newspapers.  Wads- 
worth's  letter  is  a  curiosity — an  honest  account  from  a  military  com- 
mander. Your  labors,  my  good  friend,  are  drawing  to  a  close.  Rely 
upon  it,  we  have  peace  forthwith.  The  points  in  ';  contestation,"  our 
rulers  say,  are  removed  by  the  peace  in  Europe,  and  will  not  be 
"  touched"  (another  favorite  phrase)  in  the  treaty  of  peace.  They 
might  as  well  say  they  were  removed  by  our  declaration  of  war,  if 
they  were  neutral  rights,  for  that  they  contended  for.  Poor  devils, 
what  a  figure  they  do  cut !  Yet  they  will  look  as  consequential  as 
ever,  and  even  carry  the  people  with  them. 

Have  you  read  the  Corsair  ?  or  have  you  lost  all  relish  for  such  pro- 
ductions ?  I  think  his  lordship  is  falling  into  the  errors  ascribed  by 
him  to  Walter  Scott.  There  is,  however,  some  exquisite  poetry.  I  have 
been  trying  to  forget  my  wretched  situation  in  the  perusal  of  Burke. 
I  have  read  his  matchless  diatribe  on  the  attack  of  D.  of  B.  and 
L.  of  L. — his  letters  on  the  regicide  peace,  and  indeed  the  whole 
of  the  fifth  volume,  New-York  edition.  How  much  it  is  to  be  re- 
gretted that  he  did  not  live  to  publish  his  abridgment  of  English 
History  I  have  also  run  over  the  Reflections,  and  the  Appeal  from 
the  New  to  the  Old  Whigs.  0  that  he  could  have  seen  this  day  ! 
You  say  nothing  of  Bonaparte.  How  I  long  for  half  an  hour's  chat  with 
you  on  the  subject  of  these  late  surprising  and  providential  events. 

Present  me  affectionately  to  Mrs.  Key  and  your  little  one,  and 
remember  me  kindly  to  West  and  Ridgely,  when  you  see  them.  If  Lord 
Byron's  Ode  to  Bonaparte  is  in  Georgetown,  pray  send  me  a  copy 
by  post.  Dudley  returns  your  greeting.  He  is  to  me  a  treasure 
above  all  price.  Exclusive  of  his  excellent  temper,  alacrity,  and  in- 
telligence, he  is  a  most  skilful  physician.  I  should  sink  without  his 
support.  I  thank  God  that  he  has  raised  up  to  me  such  an  help. 
Adieu,  my  dear  sir.  I  am  in  truth,  yours, 

JOHN  RANDOLPH  OF  ROANOKE.  . 

I  came  down  here  yesterday  with  my  poor  nephew,  who  seems 
incurably  alienated  from  his  mother.  I  shall  return  in  a  few  days. 


ANCESTRAL  PRIDE.  41 


Randolph  to  Broclcenbrough. 

ROANOKE,  July  15,  1814. 

I  had  begun  to  fear  that  my  long  visitation  of  last  -winter  and 
spring,  had  put  you  so  much  out  of  the  habit  of  writing  to  me,  that 
you  would  never  resume  it.  But  your  letter  of  the  6th  (just  re- 
ceived) encourages  me  to  hope  that  I  shall  hear  from  you  as  formerly. 
It  was  a  sensible  relief  to  me.  But  I  will  say  nothing  about  my 
situation. 

Poor  St.  George  continues  quite  irrational.  He  is  however  very 
little  mischievous,  and  governed  pretty  easily.  His  memory  of  per- 
sons, things,  words,  and  events,  is  not  at  all  impaired  ;  but  he  has  no 
power  of  combination,  and  is  entirely  incoherent.  His  going  to  the 
Springs  is  out  of  the  question,  and  mine,  I  fear,  equally  so,  although 
my  rheumatism  requires  the  warm  bath.  By  this  time  you  are  on 
your  way  thither.  Except  that  it  is  too  cold,  the  weather  could  not 
have  been  finer. 

What  a  climate  we  live  under  ! 

As  to  peace,  I  have  not  a  doubt  that  we  shall  have  it  forthwith. 
Our  folks  are  prepared  to  say  that  the  pacification  of  Europe  has 

swept  away  the  matters  in  contestation,  as  M ,  the  Secretary  of 

State,  has  it.  All  that  we  see  in  the  Government  prints  is  to  recon- 
cile us  the  better  to  the  terms  which  they  must  receive  from  the 
enemy.  From  the  time  of  his  flight  from  Egypt,  my  opinion  of  the 
character  of  Bonaparte  has  never  changed,  except  for  the  worse.  1 
have  considered  him  from  that  date  a  coward,  and  ascribed  his  suc- 
cess to  the  deity  he  worships,  Fortune.  His  insolence  and  rashness 
have  met  their  just  reward.  Had  he  found  an  efficient  government 
in  France,  on  his  abandonment  of  his  brave  companions  in  arms  in 
Egypt,  and  returned  to  Paris,  he  would  have  been  cashiered  for  ruin- 
ing the  best  appointed  armament  that  ever  left  an  European  port. 
But  all  was  confusion  and  anarchy  at  Paris,  and  instead  of  a  coup  de 
fusil,  he  was  rewarded  with  a*  sceptre.  He  succeeded  in  throwing 
the  blame  of  Abou'kir  on  poor  Brueys.  He  could  safely  talk  of 
"his  orders  to  the  Admiral,"  after* L' Orient  had  blown  up.  His 
Russian  and  German  campaign  is  another  such  commentary  on  his 
character ;  it  is  all  of  a  piece. 

If  the  allies  adhere  to  their  treaty  of  Chaumont,  the  peace  of  Eu- 
rope will  be  preserved  ;  but  in  France,  I  think,  the  seeds  of  disorder 
must  abound.  Instead  of  the  triple  aristocracy  of  the  Noblesse,  the 
Church,  and  the  Parliaments,  I  see  nothing  but  janissaries,  and  a 
divan  of  ruffians — Algiers  on  a  great  scale.  Moral  causes  I  see 
none ;  and  I  am  well  persuaded  that  these  are  not  created  in  a  day. 
Matters  of  inveterate  opinion,  when  once  rooted  up,  are  dead,  never 
other  opinions  must  succeed  them.  But  I  am  prosing-— 


42  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

uttering  a  string  of  common-place  that  every  one  can  w  rite,  and  nc 
one  can  deny.  But  you  brought  it  on  yourself.  You  expected 
that  I  would  say  something,  and  I  resolved  to  try.  I  can  bear  wit- 
ness to  the  fact  of  Mrs.  Brockenbrough's  prediction  respecting  Bona- 
parte's retirement..  I  wish  I  were  permitted  to  name  five  ladies  who 
should  constitute  the  Cabinet  of  this  country ;  our  affairs  would  be 
conducted  in  another  guess  manner.  This  reminds  me  of  Mrs.  Gr.,  of 
whom  I  have  at  last  heard.  Mr.  G-.  wrote  me  late  in  February,  from 
London.  They  were  going  to  Bath,  and  "  if  circumstances  on  the 
continent  would  permit,  meant  to  take  a  tour  through  France." 
How  well-timed  their  trip  to  Europe  has  been. 

I  am  here  completely  hors  du  monde.     My  neighbor, ,  with 

whom  I  have  made  a  violent  effort  to  establish  an  intercourse,  has 
been  here  twice,  by  invitation — W.  Leigh,  as  often,  on  his  way  to 
court ;  and  on  Saturday,  I  was  agreeably  surprised,  by  stumbling  on 
Frank  G-ilmer,  who  was  wandering  to  and  fro  in  the  woods,  seeking 
my  cabin.  He  left  on  Tuesday  for  his  brother's  in  Henry.  Except 
my  standing  dish,  you  have  my  whole  society  for  nine  iveeks.  On  the 
terms  by  which  I  hold  it,  life  is  a  curse,  from  which  I  would  will- 
ingly escape,  if  I  knew  where  to  fly.  I  have  lost  my  relish  for  read- 
ing ;  indeed,  I  could  not  devour  even  the  Corsair  with  the  zest  that 
Lord  Byron's  pen  generally  inspires.  It  is  very  inferior  to  the 
Giaour,  or  the  Bride.  The  character  of  Conrad  is  unnatural.  Blessed 
with  his  mistress,  he  had  no  motive  for  desperation. 

My  plantation  affairs,  always  irksome,  are  now  revolting.  I  have 
lost  three-fourths  of  the  finest  and  largest  crop  I  ever  had. 

My  best  respects  and  regard  to  Mrs.  B. 

I  am,  as  ever,  yours, 

JOHN  RANDOLPH  OP  ROANOKE, 

Dr.  Dudley  is  (as  you  may  suppose)  a  treasure  to  me  above  all 
price.  Without  him,  what  should  I  do  ?  He  desires  his  respects  to 
you  both. 

As  to  an  English  Constitution  for  France,  they  will  have  one 
when  they  all  speak  the  English  language,  and  not  before.  Have 
you  read  Morris's  oration  on  the  29th  of  June  ?  His  description  of 
Bonaparte,  "taking  money  for  his  crown,"  is  very  fine.  It  is  a  pic- 
ture. I  see  him.  There  are  some  cuts  in  the  same  page  that  our 
fulminating  statesmen  will  not  like. 

Sunday  the  17th. — I  am  compelled  to  be  at  Prince  Edward 
Court  to-morrow,  and  the  weather  is  so  intolerably  hot,  that  I  shall 
go  a  part  of  the  way  this  afternoon,  and  put  my  letter  in  the  Farm- 
ville  post-office,  whence  it  will  go  direct  to  Richmond,  instead  of 
waiting  five  days  on  the  road.  Our  crops,  lately  drowned,  are  now 
burning  up.  I  begin  to  feel  the  effects  of  the  fresh  in  my  health  as 
well  as  my  purse.  Dudley  and  myself  both  have  experienced  the  ill 


ANCESTRAL  PRIDE.  43 

consequences  of  our  daily  visits  to  the  low  grounds.  The  negroes, 
however,  continue  healthy.  Out  of  more  than  two  hundred,  not  a 
patient  since  I  came  home. 

Who  is  it  that  says  "  il-y-a  tant  de  plaisir  a  bavarder  avec  un 
ami !"  Perhaps  you  will  reply  that  the  pleasure  is  not  so  great  etre 
bavardi. 

Randolph  to   Key, 

ROANOKE,  July  31,  1814. 

Affliction  has  assailed  me  in  a  new  shape.  My  younger  nephew 
whom  you  saw  in  G.  Town  two  years  ago  has  fallen,  I  fear,  into  a  con- 
firmed pulmonary  consumption.  He  was  the  pride,  the  sole  hope  of 
our  family.  How  shall  I  announce  to  his  wretched  mother  that  the 
last  stay  of  her  widowed  life  is  falling  ?  Give  me  some  comfort,  my 
good  friend,  I  beseech  you.  He  is  now  travelling  by  slow  journeys 
home.  What  a  scene  awaits  him  there  !  His  birth-place  in  ashes, 
his  mother  worn  to  a  skeleton  with  disease  and  grief,  his  brother  cut 
off  from  all  that  distinguishes  man  to  his  advantage  from  the  brute 
beast.  I  do  assure  you  that  my  own  reason  has  staggered  under  this 
cruel  blow.  I  know,  or  rather  have  a  confused  conception  of  what 
I  ought  to  do,  and  sometimes  strive,  not  altogether  ineffectually  I 
hope,  to  do  it ;  but  again  all  is  chaos  and  misery.  My  faculties  are 
benumbed ;  I  feel  suffocated  ;  let  me  hear  from  you,  I  pray. 

Yours,  in  truth, 

J.  E. 

St.  George,  my  elder  nephew,  is  calm  and  governable,  but  entirely 
irrational.  Commend  me  to  Mrs.  Key,  and  to  Kidgely  and  West. 
Since  writing  the  above  my  whole  crop  (tobacco  and  corn)  is  destroyed 
by  a  fresh,  the  greatest  that  has  been  known  within  twenty  years.  I 
fear  a  famine  next  summer ;  for  this  country,  if  we  had  the  means  of 
buying,  is  out  of  the  way  of  a  supply,  except  by  distant  land-carriage, 
and  the  harvests  of  Rappahannock,  &c.,  cannot  be  brought  up  to 
Richmond  by  water.  The  poor  slaves  I  fear  will  suffer  dreadfully. 


Randolph  to  Brockenbrough. 

ROANOKE,  Aug.  1,  1814. 

You  find  in  me,  I  fear,  not  merely  an  unprofitable  but  a  trouble- 
some correspondent ;  all  my  conversation  is  on  paper.  I  have  no  one 
to  converse  with,  for  I  have  hardly  seen  Dudley  since  my  return  from 
Farmville,  and  I  try  to  forget  myself,  or  to  obtain  some  relief  from  my 
own  thoughts,  by  pouring  them  out  on  one  who  has  heretofore  lent  to 
me  perhaps  too  partial  an  ear.  I  have  lived  to  feel  that  there  are  "  many 
24 


44  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

tilings  worse  than  poverty  or  death,"  those  bugbears  that  terrify  tho 
great  children  of  the  world,  and  sometimes  drive  them  to  eternal  ruin. 
It  requires,  however,  firmer  nerves  than  mine  to  contemplate,  without 
shrinking,  even  in  prospect,  the  calamities  which  await  this  unhappy 
district  of  country — famine  and  all  its  concomitant  horrors  of  dis- 
ease and  misery.  To  add  to  the  picture,  a  late  requisition  of  militia 
for  Norfolk  carries  dismay  and  grief  into  the  bosoms  of  many  fami- 
lies in  this  country ;  and  to  have  a  just  conception  of  the  scene,  it  is 
necessary  to  be  on  the  spot.  This  is  our  court  day,  when  the  con- 
scripts are  to  report  themselves,  and  I  purposely  abstain  from  the 
sight  of  wretchednes  that  I  cannot  relieve.  I  have  indeed  enough  of 
it  at  home.  The  river  did  not  abate  in  its  rise  until  last  night  at 
sunset.  It  has,  after  twenty -four  hours,  just  retired  within  its  banks. 
The  ruin  is  tremendous.  The  granary  of  this  part  of  the  State  is 
rifled  of  its  stores.  Where  then  are  the  former  furnishers  of  the 
great  support  of  life  to  look  for  a  supply  ?  With  a  family  of  more 
than  two  hundred  mouths  looking  up  to  me  for  food,  I  feel  an  awful 
charge  on  my  hands.  It  is  easy  to  rid  myself  of  the  burthen  if  I  could 
shut  my  heart  to  the  cry  of  humanity  and  the  voice  of  duty.  But  in 
these  poor  slaves  I  have  found  my  best  and  most  faithful  friends ; 
and  I  feel  that  it  would  be  more  difficult  to  abandon  them  to  the  cruel 
fate  to  which  our  laws  would  consign  them,  than  to  suffer  with  them. 

Among  other  of  his  tracts,  I  have  been  reading  to-day  Burke  on 
the  Policy  of  the  Allies.  If  the  book  is  within  your  reach,  pray  give 
it  a  perusal.  It  has  a  strong  bearing  on  the  present  circumstances 
of  France.  A  thousand  conceptions  have  arisen  in  my  mind  on  that 
subject  and  on  the  actual  condition  of  our  country,  which  I  regret 
it  has  not  been  in  my  power  to  commit  to  paper ;  but  these  bubbles  of 
the  imagination  have  vanished :  I  could  not  embody  them  in  the 
happy  moment  of  projection.  You  see  that  I  speak  the  language  of 
an  adept,  although  hardly  out  of  my  noviciate. 


CHAPTER  III. 


MILITAEY    CAMPAIGN 


Some  time  in  the  month  of  July,  1814,  Cochrane  made  his  appear- 
ance in  the  Chesapeake.  This  appearance  of  a  formidable  enemy 
within  their  own  borders,  spread  consternation  among  the  unprotected 
people  along  the  shores.  Many  depredations  and  outrages  were 


MILITARY  CAMPAIGN  45 

committed  at  Hampton,  Havre  de  Grace,  and  other  exposed  placed 
Finally  an  army  was  landed  and  marched  across  the  country  towards 
Washington  City.  They  were  met  by  a  body  of  raw  militia  and  a  few 
marines,  at  Bladensburg,  where  was  fought,  or  rather  was  run,  the 
celebrated  races  of  Bladensburg.  Washington  fell  into  the  hands  of 
the  enemy,  and  the  archives  and  public  buildings  were  destroyed.  On 
the  news  of  this  disaster,  Randolph  hastened  to  the  scene  of  action, 
prepared,  if  occasion  required,  to  lend  his  aid  in  defending  the  shores 
of  Virginia. 

The  following  letter,  addressed  to  Dr.  Dudley,  will  show  how  the 
military  spirit  had  come  over  him  : 

CAMP  FAIRFIELI-,  September  2,  1814. 

MY  DEAR  THEODORE — You  may  be  surprised  at  not  hearing 
from  me.  But,  first,  I  lost  my  horses ;  secondly,  I  got  a  violent 
bilious  complaint,  not  cholera,  but  cousin-german  to  it ;  thirdly,  I 
heard  the  news  of  Washington,  and,  without  delay,  proceeded  hither. 
I  am  now  under  orders  to  proceed  to  the  brick  house,  forty-two  miles 
on  York  road,  just  below  the  confluence  of  Pamunkey  and  Mattapony. 
Should  you  come  down,  report  yourself  to  the  surgeon-general,  Dr. 
Jones,  of  Nottoway.  But  first  come  to  camp,  and  see  Watkins 
Leigh,  the  governor's  aid. 

But  his  military  career  was  very  brief.  Finding  that  the  enemy 
meditated  an  attack  on  Baltimore,  and  that  all  danger  of  an  imme- 
diate invasion  of  the  shores  of  Virginia  had  passed  by,  he  hastened 
back  to  Richmond.  On  the  8th  of  September,  he  writes  to  Mr.  Key 
from  that  city : 

'•  I  have  been  here  ten  days,  including  four  spent  in  reconnoiter- 
ing  the  lower  country  between  York  and  James  River,  from  the  con- 
fluence of  Mattapony  and  Pamunkey  to  the  mouth  of  Chickahomany. 
You  will  readily  conceive  my  anxiety  on  the  subject  of  my  friends 
at  Blenheim,  the  Woodyard,  and  Alexandria.  Thank  God  !  George- 
town is  safe,  I  was  in  terror  for  you  and  yours.  Pray,  let  me  hear 
from  you.  Tell  me  something  of  Sterrett  Ridgely,  and  remember 
me  to  him  and  all  who  care  to  remember  me.  I  have  witnessed  a  sad 
spectacle  in  my  late  ride  ;  but  I  do  not  wish  to  depress  your  spirits. 
Dudley  is  at  home  with  St.  George.  Poor  Tudor  is  ill,  very  ill,  at 
Mr.  Morris's,  near  New- York. 

Mr.  Randolph  remained  in  Richmond  about  a  month.  Hearing 
still  more  unfavorable  tidings  of  his  nephew,  he  set  out  about  the 
9th  of  October  on  a  journey  to  Morrisania,  the  family  residence  of 


46  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

6-overneur  Morris,  Esq.,  near  the  city  of  New-York.  On  tlie  13th,  he 
writes  from  Baltimore  to  Dudley : 

u  I  have  been  detained  here  since  Monday,  by  the  consequences  of 
an  accident  that  befel  me  at  Port  Conway  (opposite  Port  Royal),  on 
Monday  morning.  At  three  o'clock,  I  was  roused  to  set  out  in  the 
stage.  Mistaking,  in  the  dark,  a  very  steep  staircase  for  a  passage, 
at  the  end  of  which  I  expected  to  find  the  descent, — walking  boldly 
on,  I  fell  from  the  top  to  the  bottom,  and  was  taken  up  senseless. 
My  left  shoulder  and  elbow  were  severely  hurt ;  also  the  right  ankle. 
My  hat  saved  my  head,  which  was  bruised,  but  not  cut.  Neverthe- 
less, I  persevered,  got  to  Georgetown,  and  the  next  day  came  to  this 
place,  where  I  have  been  compelled  to  remain  in  great  pain." 

October  23d,  1814,  he  writes  from  Morrisania: 

"  After  various  accidents,  one  of  which  had  nearly  put  an  end  to 
my  unprosperous  life,  and  confined  me  nearly  a  week  on  the  road.  I 
reached  this  place  yesterday.  Tudor  is  better  ;  I  have  hopes  of  him, 
if  we  can  get  him  to  Virginia  in  his  present  plight." 

November  17th,  he  again  writes  to  Dr.  Dudley  : 

"  On  returning  from  Morrisania,  on  Sunday,  the  24th  of  October, 
the  driver  overturned  me  in  Cortlandt-street,  by  driving  over  a  pile 
of  stones,  &c.,  before  a  new  house,  unfinished,  which  nuisance  extended 
more  than  half  way  across  a  narrow  street.  I  am  very  seriously  in- 
jured. The  patella  is,  in  itself,  unhurt ;  but  the  ligaments  are  very 
much  wrenched,  so  that  a  tight  bandage  alone  enables  me  to  hobble  from 
one  room  to  another  witk  the  help  of  a  stick.  I  hope  to  be  able  to 
bear  the  motion  of  a  carriage  by  the  last  of  this  week.  I  shall  then 
go  to  Philadelphia,  and  hope  to  see  you  by  the  first  of  next  month  ; 
assuredly  (G-od  willing)  before  Christmas.  I  am  a  poor  miserable 
cripple,  and  you  are  my  only  support." 

He  arrived  in  Philadelphia  about  the  first  of  December,  and  re- 
mained in  that  city  the  greater  part  of  the  winter,  the  weather  being 
too  inclement  for  him  to  travel.  His  time  was  most  agreeably  spent 
in  the  society  of  some  of  his  old  and  most  valued  friends.  Mrs.  Clay, 
the  widow  of  his  late  much  lamented  friend,  Joseph  Clay;  Dr.  Chap- 
man, Mr.  Parish,  and  others.  The  son  of  Mr.  Clay,  who  bore  his 
name,  John  Randolph  Clay,  he  took  to  Virginia  with  him,  defrayed 
the  expenses  of  his  education  for  a  number  of  years,  and  watched 
over  him  with  the  care  and  anxiety  of  a  father. 

On  his  arrival  in  Richmond,  he  thus  writes  to  Mr.  Key  : 

RICHMOND,  March  9.  1815. 

DEAR  FRANK  : — I  have  lately  got  out  of  the  habit  of  writing  tc 
my  friends,  even  to  you — you  to  whom  I  am  so  much  indebted. 


MILITARY  CAMPAIGN.  47 

Such  is  the  consequence  of  that  state  of  mind  under  which  I  have 
unhappily  labored  for  a  long,  long  time  past — the  victim  of  ennui, 
indolence,  and  despair.  I  am  not  even  as  thankful  as  I  ought  to  be 
for  the  great  blessing  lately  vouchsafed  us,  at  the  moment  when  the 
wits  of  our  rulers  had  become  inextricably  puzzled,  and  all  their  ex- 
pedients to  raise  men  or  money  had  failed.  Well,  here  is  a  peace  at 
last ;  and  a  peace,  if  I  may  judge  of  the  stagnation  here,  very  like 
a  war  :  but  this  topic  has  become  stale  and  threadbare. 

I  found  my  poor  boy  here  worse  than  I  left  him  four  months 
before,  and  daily  declining.  I  must  try  to  send  him  to  the  Mediter- 
ranean coast  of  Europe,  although  with  little  hope.  Sometimes  I 
think  he  had  better  give  up  his  innocent  life  in  the  arms  of  his  poor 
mother,  instead  of  perishing  (as  I  fear  will  be  his  lot  should  he  cross 
the  Atlantic)  among  strangers  in  a  foreign  land  !  Yet,  again,  what 
boots  it  where  we  die. 

What  are  you  going  to  do — have  you  given  up  the  editorial 
scheme  1  Do  you  really  think  that  the  mere  restoration  of  peace 
has  anticipated  all  your  schemes  to  be  of  service  to  this  poor  country  ? 
Are  the  present  men  and  measures  riveted  upon  the  nation,  at  least 
for  our  lifetime  ?  I  think  so,  and  therefore  I  wish  to  keep  out  of 
the  vortex  "  betwixt  vexed  Scylla  and  the  hoarse  Calabrian  shore  ;" 
not  to  tread  that  "  huge  Serbonian  bog,  where  armies  whole  (of 
politicians)  have  sunk." 

Do  not  think  this  a  nolo  episcopari,  because  of  a  certain  letter 
that  you  may  have  seen.  Times  have  changed  since  that  letter  was 
written,  and  nos  mutamus  in  illis.  If  I  can  compass  it,  I  will  go 
with  mv  poor  sick  boy,  and  sit  by  him  and  comfort  him  as  well  as 
I  can. 

On  his  return  home,  Mr.  Randolph  was  urged  by  his  old  friends 
to  become  a  candidate  for  Congress  in  the  approaching  elections ; 
they  assailed  him  on  all  hands,  entreated  him,  followed  him  with 
solicitations  that  brooked  no  denial.  Many  who  had  deserted  him 
on  a  former  occasion  wished  for  an  opportunity  to  retrieve  them- 
selves, and  to  show  their  high  appreciation  of  a  man  whom,  in  the 
hour  of  excitement  and  party  blindness,  they  had  been  induced  to 
abandon.  The  communication  of  the  determination  of  his  friends  to 
support  him  at  the  ensuing  election  brought  out  a  swarm  of  detract- 
ors, whom  he  was  urged  to  answer.  He  steadily  refused.  "  It  is  too 
late,"  says  he,  "  in  the  day  to  vindicate  my  public  character  before  a 
people  whom  I  represented  fourteen  years,  and  whom,  if  they  do  not 
now  know  me,  never  will.  I  therefore  abstain  from  all  places  of  public 
resort,  as  well  from  inclination  as  principle."  He  entered  the  field 


48  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

with  his  old  competitor,  Mr.  Epps,  and  was  triumphantly  elected. 
Writing  to  Mr.  Key  on  the  25th  of  April,  he  says  : '  «  You  will  have 
heard  of  my  re-election  ;  an  event  which  has  given  me  no  pleasure, 
except  so  far  as  it  has  been  gratifying  to  my  friends.  It  is  a  station 
as  unfit  for  me  as  I  am  for  it.  For  a  long  time  my  mind  has  refused 
to  travel  in  that  track.  I  cannot  force  myself  to  think  on  the  sub' 
ject  of  my  public  affairs.  I  am  engrossed  by  reflections  of  a  very 
different,  and  far  more  important  nature.  I  am  'a  stricken  deer,' 
and  feel  disposed  to  '  leave  the  hind.'  The  hand  of  calamity  has 
pressed  sorely  upon  me;  I  do  not  repine  at  it.  On  the  contrary,  I 
return  thanks  for  the  (apparent)  evil  as  well  as  good,  which  He  who 
knows  what  is  best  for  me  has  appointed  for  my  portion  in  this  life. 
May  it  have  the  effect  of  drawing  me  close  unto  Him,  without  whoso 
gracious  mercy  I  feel  that  I  am  a  lost,  undone  creature." 

Mr.  Key  expressed  himself  sincerely  gratified  at  the  triumph  of 
his  friend  :  "  Such  an  one,"  says  he,  "  has  not  to  my  knowledge  ever 
fallen  to  the  lot  of  any  man.  It  does  equal  honor  to  the  electors 
and  the  elected."  Mr.  Key  delicately  suggested  to  him  that  there  is 
a  virtue,  the  most  difficult,  but  the  most  noble,  which  he  was  now 
called  upon  to  practise ;  it  was  to  show  the  meekness  and  moderation 
of  true  magnanimity  after  so  signal  a  victory.  "  Excuse  me,"  says 
he,  '-'for  thinking  of  reminding  you  of  this.  It  springs  from  a 
heart,  among  whose  warmest  wishes  it  is,  that  you  should  exhibit 
every  grace  and  dignity  of  which  this  poor  frail  nature  of  ours  is 
capable." 

Randolph,  in  reply,  says :  "  You  will  have  perceived  I  hope,  my  good 

friend,  from  my  letter  by  Dr. ,  that  I  have  felt  no  disposition  to 

indulge  in  an  unbecoming  triumph  on  the  event  of  the  late  election 
in  this  district.  I  do  assure  you  with  the  utmost  sincerity,  that,  so 
far  as  I  am  personally  concerned,  I  cannot  but  regret  the  partiality 
of  my  friends,  who  insisted  on  holding  me  up  on  this  occasion.  I 
am  engrossed  by  sentiments  of  a  far  different  character,  and  I  look 
forward  to  the  future  in  this  world,  to  say  nothing  of  the  next,  with 
anticipations  that  forbid  any  idle  expression  of  exultation.  On  the 
contrary,  my  sensations  are  such  as  become  a  dependent  creature, 
whose  only  hope  for  salvation  rests  upon  the  free  grace  of  Him  to 
whom  we  must  look  for  peace  in  this  world,  as  well  as  in  the  world 
to  come.  I  cannot  give  expression  to  the  feelings  which  fill  my 


NEW  ENGLAND.  49 

inind.  and  by  which  it  is  overcome  ;  I  struggle  even  with  the  diffi- 
culty of  repressing  them  on  occasions,  and  before  persons,  where  the 
only  effect  would  be  to  cover  me  with  ridicule." 


CHAPTEE    IY. 

NEW   ENGLAND. 

THE  subjects  of  difficulty  between  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain 
affected  the  interests  of  the  New  England  States  more  than  any  other 
section  of  the  Union.  It  was  their  seamen  that  were  captured,  their 
carrying  trade  that  was  interdicted  by  maritime  adjudications,  their 
shipping  and  commerce  that  were  crippled  and  destroyed  by  the  or- 
ders in  council.  The  Southern  States,  being  wholly  given  to  plant- 
ing and  other  agricultural  pursuits,  were  only  affected  by  the  tempo- 
rary suspension  of  a  market  for  the  sale  of  their  products.  Both, 
however,  united  in  their  petitions  and  remonstrances  to  Congress, 
and  in  demands  for  a  redress  of  their  grievances.  But  when  the 
measures  adopted  for  this  purpose  began  to  operate,  it  was  found  by 
the  New  England  States  that  the  remedy  was  more  burthensome 
and  destructive  than  the  evils  complained  of.  An  American  seaman 
was  occasionally  captured,  but  as  a  compensation  hundreds  of  British 
sailors  fled  to  our  more  lucrative  and  agreeable  service.  Much  too 
frequently,  it  is  true,  an  American  vessel  and  her  cargo  were  con- 
demned by  a  British  court  of  admiralty,  yet  many  escaped  and  pur- 
sued a  successful  and  profitable  voyage  ;  but  the  embargo  drove  ev- 
ery seaman  from  the  service,  and  by  one  fell  blow  put  an  end  to  all 
commerce.  Before  this  fatal  expedient  there  was  hazard  in  every 
enterprise,  but  there  was  hope  to  cheer  on  the  adventurers ;  now 
even  hope  was  extinguished,  and  the  means  of  winning  a  precarious 
subsistence  from  the  perilous  deep  were  wrested  from  them.  These 
were  the  feelings  and  opinions  in  New  England.  Massachusetts  in- 
terposed her  authority ;  pronounced  the  law  unconstitutional  and  op- 
pressive, and  declared,  that  unless  some  speedy  remedy  were  applied, 
necessity,  the  law  of  self-preservation  that  rises  above  all  other  law, 
would  impel  her  to  some  ulterior  and  more  decisive  course.  To  the 


50  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

honor  of  Mr.  Jefferson  be  it  said,  he  yielded  to  the  necessity  of  the 
case,  and  consented  to  a  repeal  of  the  embargo  laws.  Up  to  this 
period  there  was  nothing  but  what  was  highly  creditable  to  both  par- 
ties. But  Mr.  Jefferson  had  gone  into  retirement,  and  other  coun- 
cils ruled  the  destiny  of  the  nation.  Measure  after  measure  was 
adopted,  embarrassing  and  ruinous  to  the  interests  of  New  England, 
until  finally  the  whole  nation  was  plunged  in  war.  All  its  armies 
and  military  resources  were  transported  to  the  frontiers  of  Canada, 
and  pledged  to  a  war  of  aggression  and  conquest,  while  the  Atlantic 
borders  were  left  exposed  to  the  ravages  of  the  enemy.  Napoleon 
had  been  conquered  by  the  frosts  of  Russia,  and  was  an  exile  on  the 
shores  of  Elba.  England  had  redoubled  her  energies  and  made  the 
war  a  vindictive  punishment  of  the  people  for  the  sins  of  their  gov- 
ernment— rapine,  brutality,  and  murder  followed  in  the  train  of  her 
armies,  and  their  approach  was  more  to  be  dreaded  by  the  helpless 
and  the  innocent,  than  the  invasion  of  the  traitorous  Arnold.  In 
this  state  of  affairs  Massachusetts  again  interposed ;  but  times  had 
changed ;  the  country  was  involved  in  war,  and  whether  right  or 
wrong,  she  required  all  good  citizens  to  help  to  bring  it  to  a  success- 
ful end.  New  England  at  this  crisis  was  charged — at  least  Massa- 
chusetts, Rhode  Island,  and  Connecticut  were  charged — with  the  de- 
sign of  seeking  a  separate  peace  with  Great  Britain,  and  placing 
themselves  in  a  position  of  neutrality  during  the  further  progress  of 
the  war,  if  indeed  they  did  not  cherish  the  ulterior  purpose  of  a 
complete  and  final  separation  from  the  other  States  of  the  Union. 

Whether  this  accusation  be  true  or  not,  forms  no  part  of  our  in- 
quiry. We  would  fain  hope — indeed  we  have  good  reason  to  believe 
that  it  was  untrue — and  that  it  formed  a  part  of  those  party  tactics 
which  are  too  often  resorted  to  to  bring  odium  on  political  opponents, 
by  misrepresenting  their  designs  and  their  motives.  The  accusation, 
however,  was  made  at  the  time  by  the  minority  of  the  Massachusetts 
Legislature  that  opposed  the  election  of  delegates  to  the  Hartford 
Convention. 

At  this  dark  and  melancholy  period,  when  a  vindictive  foreign 
war  was  ravaging  our  coasts,  and  disrupture  and  civil  war  were 
threatened  within,  Mr.  Randolph  was  called  upon  to  interpose  his 
good  offices  in  behalf  of  his  country.  He  was  told  that  his  voice 
would  be  hoard  in  New  England,  and  that  his  admonitions  would 


NEW  ENGLAND.  51 

receive  their  just  consideration.  He  did  not  hesitate  to  give  them — 
in  the  midst  of  pain,  disease,  domestic  affliction,  and  mental  suffering, 
he  addressed  to  the  people  of  New  England,  through  one  of  her  dis- 
tinguished Senators,  the  following  letter.  Let  it  be  read  with  atten- 
tion ;  it  does  honor  to  the  head  and  to  the  heart  of  the  man  that 
penned  it.  The  reader  cannot  fail  to  be  animated  by  the  patriotism 
that  glowed  in  his  bosom,  and  to  be  cheered  by  the  high  appreciation 
he  placed  on  the  value  of  the  Union,  not  as  an  end  to  be  maintained 
at  all  hazards,  but  as  a  means  to  secure  the  peace  and  the  happiness 
of  the  whole  country.  Let  it  not  be  said,  after  a  perusal  of  this  let- 
ter, that  Mr.  Randolph  entertained  unfounded  and  unreasonable  pre- 
judices against  the  people  of  New  England.  He  cherished  no  such 
feelings.  When  New  England  became  the  advocate  of  a  system  of 
protection  that  proved  to  be  as  ruinous  to  the  interests  of  his  people 
as  the  embargo  had  been  to  them,  he  did  not  complain  and  declare 
in  his  peculiar  and  emphatic  way.  that  nothing  manufactured  north 
of  Mason  and  Dixon's  line  should  ever  enter  into  his  house  ;  but  he 
never  ceased  to  cherish  towards  the  people  of  New  England  the  pro- 
foundest  sentiments  of  respect  and  regard. 

PHILADELPHIA,  Dec.  15,  1814. 

DEAR  SIR,— You  will  doubtless  be  surprised,  but  (I  trust)  not 
offended  at  the  receipt  of  this  letter.  Of  the  motives  which  dictate 
it  I  shall  forbear  to  speak :  let  them  be  gathered  from  its  context. 
But  should  you  ascribe  my  selection  of  you  as  the  object  of  its  ad- 
dress to  any  other  cause  than  respect  for  your  character  and  confi- 
dence in  your  love  of  country,  you  will  have  done  much  injustice  to 
me  ;  but  more  to  yourself. 

At  Washington,  I  learned  the  result  of  the  dispatches  brought 
by  the  John  Adams  (a  name  of  evil  omen),  and  there  rumors  were 
afloat,  which  have  since  gathered  strength,  of  a  disposition  in  Massa- 
chusetts, and  indeed  throughout  New  England,  to  follow  the  example 
of  Nautucket,  and  declare  for  a  neutrality  in  the  present  contest 
with  Great  Britain.  I  will  not  believe  it.  What !  Boston,  the  cra- 
dle of  American  independence,  to  whose  aid  Virginia  stept  forth  un- 
solicited, when  the  whole  vengeance  of  the  British  ministry  was 
wreaked  on  that  devoted  town.  Boston !  now  to  desert  us,  in  our 
utmost  need,  to  give  up  her  old  ally  to  ravage,  at  the  price  of  her 
own  impunity  from  the  common  enemy  ? — I  cannot,  will  not  believe 
it.  The  men,  if  any  such  there  be  among  you,  who  venture  to  insin- 
uate such  an  intent  by  the  darkest  inuendo,  do  they  claim  to  be  the 
disciples  of  Washington  ?  They  are  of  the  school  of  Arnold.  I 


52  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

am  not  insensible  to  the  vexations  and  oppressions,  with  which  you 
have  been  harassed,  with  little  intermission,  since  the  memorable 
embargo  of  1807.  These  I  am  disposed,  as  you  well  know,  neither 
to  excuse,  nor  to  extenuate.  Perhaps  I  may  be  reminded  of  an  au- 
thority, to  which  I  always  delight  to  refer,  "  Segnius  irritant  animos, 
SfC."  but  let  me  tell  such  gentlemen,  that  our  sufferings  under  politi- 
cal quacks  of  our  own  calling  in,  are  not  matter  of  hearsay.  It  is 
true  they  are  considered  by  the  unhappy,  misguided  patient,  as  evi- 
dence of  the  potency  and  consequently  (according  to  his  system  of 
logic)  of  the  efficacy  of  the  medicine,  as  well  as  the  inveteracy  of  the 
disease.  It  is  not  less  true  that  this  last  has  become,  from  prepos- 
terous treatment,  in  the  highest  degree  alarming.  The  patient  him- 
self begins  to  suspect  something  of  the  sort,  and  the  doctors  trem- 
bling, each  for  his  own  character,  are  quarrelling  and  calling  hard 
names  among  themselves.  But  they  have  reduced  us  to  such  a  con- 
dition, that  nothing  short  of  the  knife  will  now  do.  "We  must 
figJit,  Mr.  Speaker  !"  said  Patrick  Henry  in  1775,  when  his  sagacious 
mind  saw  there  was  nothing  else  left  for  us  but  manly  resistance  or 
slavish  submission ;  and  his  tongue  dared  to  utter  what  his  heart 
suggested.  How  much  greater  the  necessity  now,  when  our  country 
is  regarded  not  as  a  property  to  be  recovered,  and  therefore  spared, 
so  far  as  is  compatible  with  the  end  in  view ;  but  as  an  object  of 
vengeance,  of  desolation. 

You  know  my  sentiments  of  the  men  at  the  head  of  our  affairs, 
and  of  the  general  course  of  administration  during  the  last  eight 
years.  You  know  also  that  the  relation,  in  which  I  stand  towards 
them,  is  one  of  my  own  deliberate  choice ;  sanctioned  not  more  by 
my  judgment  than  by  my  feelings.  You,  who  have  seen  men  (in  the 
ranks,  when  I  commanded  in  chief  in  the  House  of  Representatives, 
and  others,  at  that  time  too  green  to  be  on  the  political  muster  roll 
— whose  names  had  never  been  pronounced  out  of  their  own  parish) 
raised  to  the  highest  offices ;  you  who  are  thoroughly  acquainted  with 
the  whole  progress  of  my  separation  from  the  party  with  which  I 
was  once  connected  in  conduct,  do  not  require  to  be  told,  that  "  there 
was  a  time  in  which  I  stood  in  such  favor  in  the  closet,  that  there 
must  have  been  something  extravagantly  unreasonable  in  my  wishes, 
if  they  might  not  ALL  have  been  gratified."  But  I  must  acknow- 
ledge that  you  have  seen  instances  of  apostasy  among  your  quondam 
political  associates,  as  well  as  my  own,  that  might  almost  justify  a 
suspicion,  that  I  too,  tired  of  holding  out,  may  wish  to  make  my 
peace  with  the  administration,  by  adding  one  more  item  "  to  the  long 
catalogue  of  venality  from  Esau  to  the  present  day."  Should  such 
a  shade  of  suspicion  pass  across  your  mind,  I  can  readily  excuse  it, 
in  consideration  of  the  common  frailty  of  our  nature,  from  which  I 
claim  no  peculiar  exemption,  and  the  transcendent  wickedness  of  the 


NEW  ENGLAND.  53 

times  we  live  in  ;  but  you  will  have  given  rne  credit  for  a  taleni 
which  I  do  not  possess.  I  am  master  of  no  such  ambidexterity ; 
and  were  I  to  attempt  this  game,  which  it  is  only  for  adepts  (not 
novices)  to  play  !  I  am  thoroughly  conscious,  that  like  other  bung- 
ling rogues,  I  should  at  once  expose  my  knavery  and  miss  my  object 
— not  that  our  political  church  refuses  to  open  her  arms  to  the  vilest 
of  heretics  and  sinners  who  can  seal  their  abjuration  of  their  old 
faith  by  the  prosecution  of  the  brethren  with  whom  they  held  and 
professed  it :  but  I  know  that  my  nerves  are  of  too  weak  a  fibre  to 
hear  the  question  ordinary  and  extraordinary  from  our  political  in 
quisitors.  I  can  sustain  with  composure  and  even  with  indifference 
the  rancorous  hatred  of  the  numerous  enemies,  whom  it  has  been  my 
lot  to  make  in  the  course  of  my  unprosperous  life — but  I  have  not 
yet  steeled  myself  to  endure  the  contemptuous  pity  of  those  noble 
and  high-minded  men,  whom  I  glory  to  call  my  friends,  and  I  am  on 
too  bad  terms  with  the  world,  to  encounter  my  own  self-disrespect. 

You  may  however  very  naturally  ask,  why  I  have  chosen  you  for 
the  object  of  this  address?  Why  I  have  not  rather  selected  some 
one  of  those  political  friends,  whom  I  have  yet  found  '•  faithful  among 
the  faithless,"  as  the  vehicle  of  my  opinions  ?  It  is  because  the  ave- 
nue to  the  public  ear  is  shut  against  me  in  Virginia,  and  I  have  been 
flattered  to  believe  that  the  sound  of  my  voice  may  reach  New  Eng- 
land. Nay,  that  it  would  be  heard  there,  not  without  attention  and 
respect.  With  us  the  press  is  under  a  virtual  imprimatur,  and  it 
would  be  more  easy,  at  this  time,  to  force  into  circulation  the  treasu 
ry  notes,  than  opinions  militating  against  the  administration,  through 
the  press  in  Virginia.  We  were  indeed  beginning  to  open  our  eyes 
in  spite  of  the  opiate  with  which  we  were  drugged  by  the  newspa- 
pers, and  th  3  busy  hum  of  the  insects  that  bask  in  the  sunshine  of 
court  patronage,  when  certain  events  occurred,  the  most  favorable 
that  could  have  happened  for  our  rulers ;  whose  "  luck,"  verifying 
the  proverb,  is  in  the  inverse  ratio  of  their  wisdom ;  or,  perhaps  I 
ought  to  say,  who  have  the  cunning  to  take  advantage  of  glaring  acts 
of  indiscretion,  in  their  adversaries  at  home  and  abroad,  as  these 
may  affect  the  public  mind ;  and  such  have  never  failed  to  come  to 
their  relief,  when  otherwise  their  case  would  have  been  hopeless.  I 
give  you  the  most  serious  assurance,  that  nothing  less  than  the 
shameful  conduct  of  the  enemy  and  the  complexion  of  certain  occur- 
rences to  the  eastward  could  have  sustained  Mr.  Madison  after  the 
disgraceful  affair  at  Washington.  The  public  indignation  would 
have  overwhelmed,  in  one  common  ruin,  himself  and  his  hireling 
newspapers.  The  artillery  of  the  press,  so  long  the  instrument  of 
our  subjugation,  would,  as  at  Paris,  have  been  turned  against  the  de- 
stroyer of  his  country :  when  we  are  told  that  old  England  says  he 
"  shall,"  and  New  England  that  he  "  must,"  retire  from  office,  as  the 


54  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

price  of  peace  with  the  one,  and  of  union  with  the  other,  we  have 
too  much  English  blood  in  our  veins  to  submit  to  this  dictation,  or  to 
any  thing  in  the  form  of  a  threat.  Neither  of  these  people  know 
any  thing  of  us.  The  ignorance  of  her  foreign  agents,  not  only  of 
the  country  to  which  they  are  sent,  but  even  of  their  own,  has  ex- 
posed England  to  general  derision.  She  will  learn,  when  it  is  too 
late,  that  we  are  a  high-minded  people,  attached  to  our  liberty  and 
our  country,  because  it  is  free,  in  a  degree  inferior  to  no  people  un- 
der the  sun.  She  will  discover  that  "  our  trade  would  have  been 
worth  more  than  our  spoil,"  and  that  she  has  made  deadly  enemies 
of  a  whole  people,  who,  in  spite  of  her  and  of  the  world,  of  the  sneers 
of  her  sophists,  or  of  the  force  of  her  arms,  are  destined  to  become, 
within  the  present  session,  a  mighty  nation.  It  belongs  to  New 
England  to  say,  whether  she  will  constitute  a  portion,  an  important 
and  highly  respectable  portion  of  this  nation,  or  whether  she  will 
dwindle  into  that  state  of  insignificant,  nominal  independence,  which 
is  the  precarious  curse  of  the  minor  kingdoms  of  Europe.  A  sepa- 
ration made  in  the  fulness  of  time,  the  effect  of  amicable  arrange- 
ments, may  prove  mutually  beneficial  to  both  parties :  such  would 
have  been  the  effect  of  American  independence,  if  the  British  min- 
istry could  have  listened  to  any  suggestion  but  that  of  their  own  im- 
potent rage  :  but  a  settled  hostility  embittered  by  the  keenest  recol- 
lections, must  be  the  result  of  a  disunion  between  you  and  us,  under 
the  present  circumstances.  I  have  sometimes  wished  that  Mr.  Madi- 
son (who  endeavored  to  thwart  the  wise  and  benevolent  policy  of 
General  Washington  "  to  regard  the  English  like  other  nations,  as 
enemies  in  war,  in  peace  friends,")  had  succeeded  in  embroiling  us 
with  the  Court  of  St.  James,  twenty  years  sooner.  "We  should  in 
that  case,  have  had  the  father  of  his  country  to  conduct  the  war  and 
to  make  the  peace  ;  and  that  peace  would  have  endured  beyond  the  life- 
time of  the  authors  of  their  country's  calamity  and  disgrace.  But  I 
must  leave  past  recollections.  The  present  and  the  immediate  future 
claim  our  attention. 

It  may  be  said,  that  in  time  of  peace,  the  people  of  every  portion 
of  our  confederacy  find  themselves  too  happy  to  think  of  division ; 
that  the  sufferings  of  a  war,  like  this,  are  requisite,  to  rouse  them  to 
the  necessary  exertion :  war  is  incident  to  all  governments ;  and 
wars  I  very  much  fear  will  be  wickedly  declared,  and  weakly  waged, 
even  by  the  New  England  confederacy,  as  they  have  been  by  every 
government  (not  even  excepting  the  Roman  republic),  of  which  we 
have  any  knowledge  ;  and  it  does  appear  to  me  no  slight  presump- 
tion that  the  evil  has  not  yet  reached  the  point  of  amputation,  when 
peace  alone  will  render  us  the  happiest  (as  we  are  the  freest)  people 
under  the  sun  ;  at  least  too  happy  to  think  of  dissolving  the  Union, 
which,  as  it  carried  us  through  the  war  of  our  revolution,  will,  I 


NEW  ENGLAND.  55 

trust,  bear  us  triurapliant  through  that  in  which  we  have  been 
plunged,  by  the  incapacity  and  corruption  of  men,  neither  willing  to 
maintain  the  relations  of  peace,  nor  able  to  conduct  the  operations  of 
war.  Should  I,  unhappily,  be  mistaken  in  this  expectation,  let  us  see 
what  are  to  be  the  consequences  of  the  separation,  not  to  us,  but  to 
yourselves.  An  exclusion  of  your  tonnage  and  manufactures  from 
our  ports  and  harbors.  It  will  be  our  policy  to  encourage  our  own, 
or  even  those  of  Europe  in  preference  to  yours ;  a  policy  more  ob- 
vious than  that  which  induced  us  of  the  South,  to  consent  to  dis- 
criminating duties  in  favor  of  American  tonnage,  in  the  infancy  of 
this  government.  It  is  unnecessary  to  say,  to  you,  that  I  embrace 
the  duties  on  imports,  as  well  as  the  tonnage  duty,  when  I  allude  to 
the  encouragement  of  American  shipping.  It  will  always  be  our 
policy  to  prevent  your  obtaining  a  naval  superiority,  and  Conse- 
quently to  cut  you  off  entirely  from  our  carrying  trade.  The  same 
plain  interest  will  cause  us  to  prefer  any  manufactures  to  your  own. 
The  intercourse  with  the  rest  of  the  world,  that  exchanges  our  sur- 
plus for  theirs,  will  be  the  nursery  of  our  seamen.  In  the  middle 
States  you  will  find  rivals,  not  very  heartily  indisposed  to  shut  out 
the  competition  of  your  shipping.  In  the  same  section  of  country 
and  in  the  boundless  West,  you  will  find  jealous  competitors  of  your 
mechanics — you  will  be  left  to  settle,  as  you  can,  with  England,  the 
question  of  boundary  on  the  side  of  New  Brunswick,  and  unless  you 
can  bring  New- York  to  a  state  of  utter  blindness,  as  to  her  own  in- 
terests, that  great,  thriving,  and  most  populous  member  of  the  south- 
ern confederacy  will  present  a  hostile  frontier  to  the  only  States  of 
the  union  of  Hartford,  that  can  be  estimated  as  of  any  efficiency. 
Should  that  respectable  city  be  chosen  as  the  seat  of  the  Eastern 
Congress,  that  body  will  sit  within  two  days'  march  of  the  most  pop- 
ulous county  of  New-York  (Duchess),  of  itself  almost  equal  to  some 
of  the  New  England  States.  I  speak  not  in  derision,  but  in  sober- 
ness and  sadness  of  heart.  Kather  let  me  say,  that  like  a  thorough- 
bred diplomatist,  I  try  to  suppress  every  thing  like  feeling,  and  treat 
this  question  as  a  dry  matter  of  calculation ;  well  knowing,  at  the 
same  time,  that  in  this,  as  in  every  question  of  vital  interest,  "  our 
passions  instruct  our  reason."  The  same  high  authority  has  told  us 
that  jacobinism  is  of  no  country,  that  it  is  a  sect  found  in  all.  Now, 
as  our  jacobins  in  Virginia  would  be  very  glad  to  hear  of  the  bom- 
bardment of  Boston,  so,  I  very  much  fear,  your  jacobins  would  not 
be  very  sorry  to  hear  of  a  servile  insurrection  in  Virginia.  But  such 
I  trust  is  the  general  feeling  in  neither  country,  otherwise  I  should 
at  once  agree  that  union,  like  the  marriages  of  Mezentius,  was  the 
worst  that  could  befall  us.  For,  with  every  other  man  of  common 
sense,  I  have  always  regarded  union  as  the  means  of  liberty  and 
safety ;  in  other  words  of  happiness,  and  not  as  an  end,  to  which 


56  LI*"E  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

these  are  to  be  sacrificed.  Neither,  at  the  same  time,  are  means  so 
precious,  so  efficient  (in  proper  hands)  of  these  desirable  objects,  to 
be  thrown,  rashly  aside,  because,  in  the  hands  of  bad  men,  they  have 
been  made  the  instrument  almost  of  our  undoing. 

You  in  New  England  (it  is  unnecessary  I  hope^  to  specify  when  I 
do  not  address  myself  personally  to  yourself)  are  very  wide  of  the 
mark,  if  you  suppose  we  to  the  south  do  not  suffer  at  least  as  much 
as  yourselves,  from  the  incapacity  of  our  rulers  to  conduct  the  de- 
fence of  the  country.  Do  you  ask  why  we  do  not  change  those  ru- 
lers ?  I  reply,  because  we  are  a  people,  like  your  own  Connecticut, 
of  steady  habits.  Our  confidence  once  given  is  not  hastily  with- 
drawn. Let  those  who  will,  abuse  the  fickleness  of  the  people  ;  I 
shall  say  such  is  not  the  character  of  the  people  of  Virginia.  They 
may  be  deceived,  but  they  are  honest.  Taking  advantage  of  their 
honest  prejudices,  the  growth  of  our  revolution,  fostered  not  more 
by  Mr.  Jefferson  than  by  the  injuries  and  (what  is  harder  to  be 
borne)  the  insults  of  the  British  ministry  since  the  peace  of  1783,  a 
combination  of  artful  men,  has,  with  the  aid  of  the  press,  and  the 
possession  of  the  machinery  of  government  (a  powerful  engine  in  any 
hands)  led  them  to  the  brink  of  ruin.  I  can  never  bring  myself  to 
believe,  that  the  whole  mass  of  the  landed  proprietors  in  any  coun- 
try, but  especially  such  a  country  as  Virginia,  can  seriously  plot  its 
ruin.  Our  government  is  in  the  hands  of  the  landed  proprietors 
only.  The  very  men  of  whom  you  complain,  have  left  nothing  un- 
done that  they  dared  to  do,  in  order  to  destroy  it.  Foreign  influence 
is  unknown  among  us.  What  we  feel  of  it  is  through  the  medium  of 
the  General  Government,  which  acted  on,  itself,  by  foreign  renega- 
does,  serves  as  a  conductor,  between  them  and  us,  of  .this  pernicious 
influence.  I  know  of  no  foreigner  who  has  been,  or  is,  in  any  re- 
spectable office  in  the  gift  of  the  people,  or  in  the  government  of 
Virginia.  No  member  of  either  House  of  Congress,  no  leading 
member  of  our  Assembly,  no  judge  of  our  Supreme  Courts  :  of  the 
newspapers  printed  in  the  State,  as  far  as  my  knowledge  extends, 
without  discrimination  of  party,  they  are  conducted  by  native  Vir- 
ginians. Like  yourselves,  we  are  an  unmixed  people.  I  know  the 
prejudice  that  exists  against  us,  nor  do  I  wonder  at  it,  considering 
the  gross  ignorance  on  the  subject  that  prevails  north  of  Maryland, 
and  even  in  many  parts  of  that  neighboring  State. 

What  member  of  the  confederacy  has  sacrificed  more  on  the  altar 
of  public  good  than  Virginia  ?  Whence  did  the  General  Govern- 
ment derive  its  lands  beyond  the  Ohio,  then  and  now  almost  the  only 
source  of  revenue?  From  our  grant, — a  grant  so  curiously  worded, 
and  by  our  present  Palinurus  too,  as  to  except  ourselves,  by  its  lim- 
itations, from  the  common  benefit. 

By  its  conditions  it  was  forbidden  ground  to  us,  and  thereby  the 


NEW  ENGLAND.  57 

foundati  .n  was  laid  of  incurable  animosity  and  division  between  the 
States  on  each  side  of  that  great  natural  boundary,  the  river  Ohio. 
Not  only  their  masters,  but  the  very  slaves  themselves,  for  whose 
benefit  this  regulation  was  made,  were  sacrificed  by  it.  Dispersion  is 
to  them  a  bettering  of  their  present  condition,  and  of  their  chance 
for  emancipation.  It  is  only  when  this  can  be  done  without  danger 
and  without  ruinous  individual  loss  that  it  will  be  done  at  all.  But 
what  is  common  sense  to  a  political  Quixote  ? 

That  country  was  ours  by  a  double  title,  by  charter  and  by  °on- 
quest.  George  Rogers  Clark,  the  American  Hannibal,  at  the  head 
of  the  State  troops,  by  the  reduction  of  Post  Vincennes,  obtained 
the  lakes  for  our  northern  boundary  at  the  peace  of  Paris.  Tho 
march  of  that  great  man  and  his  brave  companions  in  arms  across 
the  di owned  lands  of  the  Wabash,  does  not  shrink  from  a  compari- 
son with  the  passage  of  the  Thrasimene  marsh.  Without  meaning 
any  thing  like  an  invidious  distinction,  I  have  not  heard  of  any  ces- 
sion from  Massachusetts  of  her  vast  wilds  ;  and  Connecticut  has  had 
the  address,  out  of  our  grant  to  the  firm,  to  obtain,  on  her  own  pri- 
vate account,  some  millions  of  acres  :  whilst  we,  yes  we,  I  blush  to 
say  it,  have  descended  to  beg  for  a  pittance,  out  of  the  property  once 
our  own,  for  the  brave  men  by  whose  valor  it  had  been  won,  and 
whom  heedless  profusion  had  disabled  us  to  recompense.  We  met 
the  just  fate  of  the  prodigal.  We  were  spurned  from  the  door, 
where  once  we  were  master,  with  derision  and  scorn  ;  and  yet  we 
hear  of  undue  Virginian  influence.  This  fund  yielded  the  Gov- 
ernment, when  I  had  connection  with  it,  from  half  a  million  to  eight 
hundred  thousand  dollars,  annually.  It  would  have  preserved  us 
from  the  imposition  of  State  taxes,  founded  schools,  built  bridges 
and  made  roads  and  canals  throughout  Virginia.  It  was  squandered 
away  in  a  single  donative  at  the  instance  of  Mr.  Madison.  For  the 
sake  of  concord  with  our  neighbors,  by  the  same  generous  but.  mis- 
guided policy,  we  ceded  to  Pennsylvania  Fort  Pitt,  a  most  important 
commercial  and  military  position,  and  a  vast  domain  around  it,  as 
much  Virginia  as  the  city  of  Richmond  and  the  county  of  Henrico. 
To  Kentucky,  the  eldest  daughter  of  the  Union,  the  Virginia  of  the 
west,  we  have  yielded  on  a  question  of  boundary,  from  a  similar  con- 
sideration. Actuated  by  the  same  magnanimous  spirit  at  the  in- 
stance of  other  States  (with  the  exception  of  New-York,  North  Ca- 
rolina, and  Rhode  Island),  we  accepted,  in  1783,  the  present  Consti- 
tution. It  was  repugnant  to  our  judgment,  and  fraught,  as  we  feared, 
with  danger  to  our  liberties.  The  awful  voice  of  our  ablest  and 
soundest  statesmen,  of  Patrick  Henry,  and  of  George  Mason,  never 
before  or  since  disregarded,  warned  us  of  the  consequences.  Neither 
was  their  counsel  entirely  unheeded,  for  it  led  to  important  subse- 
quent amendments  of  that  instrument.  I  have  always  believed  this 


58  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

disinterested  spirit,  so.  often  manifested  by  us,  to  be  one  of  the  chief 
causes  of  the  influence  which  we  have  exercised  over  the  other  States. 
Eight  States  having  made  that  Constitution  their  own,  we  submitted 
to  the  yoke  for  the  sake  of  union.  Our  attachment  to  the  Union  ia 
not  an  empty  profession.  It  is  demonstrated  by  our  practice  at  home. 
No  sooner  was  the  Convention  of  1788  dissolved,  than  the  feuds  of 
federalism  and  anti-federalism  disappeared.  I  speak  of  their  effects 
on  our  councils.  For  the  sake  of  union,  we  submitted  to  the  low- 
est state  of  degradation ;  the  administration  of  John  Adams.  The 
name  of  this  man  calls  up  contempt  and  derision,  wheresoever  it  is 
pronounced.  To  the  fantastic  vanity  of  this  political  Malvolio  may 
be  distinctly  traced  our  present  unhappy  condition.  I  will  not  be  so 
ungenerous  as  to  remind  you  that  this  personage  (of  whom  and  his 
addresses,  and  his  answers,  I  defy  you  to  think  without  a  bitter 
smile)  was  not  a  Virginian,  but  I  must  in  justice  to  ourselves,  insist 
in  making  him  a  set-off  against  Mr.  Madison.  They  are  of  such  equal 
weight,  that  the  trembling  balance  reminds  us  of  that  passage  of 
Pope,  where  Jove  "  weighs  the  beau's  wits  agains  the  lady's  hair. 

u  The  doubtful  beam  long  nods  from  side  to  side, 
At  length  the  wits  mount  up,  the  hairs  subside." 

Intoxicated  not  more  by  the  fulsome  adulation  with  which  he  was 
plied,  than  by  the  fumes  of  his  own  vanity,  this  poor  old  gentle- 
man saw  a  visionary  coronet  suspended  over  his  brow,  and  an  air- 
drawn  sceptre  ';  the  handle  towards  his  hand,"  which  attempting  to 
clutch,  he  lost  his  balance,  and  disappeared  never  to  rise  again.  He 
it  was,  who  ;;  enacting"  Nat.  Lee's  Alexander,  raved  about  the  peo- 
ple of  Virginia  as  "  a  faction  to  be  humbled  in  dust  and  ashes," 
when  the  sackcloth  already  was  prepared  for  his  own  back. 

But  I  am  spinning  out  this  letter  to  too%  great  a  length.  What  is 
your  object — PEACE?  Can  this  be  attained  on  any  terms,  whilst 
England  sees  a  prospect  of  disuniting  that  confederacy,  which  has 
already  given  so  deep  a  blow  to  her  maritime  pride,  and  threatens  at 
no  very  distant  day  to  dispute  with  her  the  empire  of  the  ocean  ? 
The  wound  which  our  gallant  tars  have  inflicted  on  her  tenderest 
point,  has  maddened  her  to  rage.  Cursed  as  we  are  with  a  weak  and 
wicked  administration,  she  can  no  longer  despise  us.  Already  she 
begins  to  hate  us  ;  and  she  seeks  to  glut  a  revenge  as  impotent  as  it 
is  rancorous,  by  inroads  that  would  have  disgraced  the  buccaneers, 
and  bulletins  that  would  only  not  disgrace  the  sovereign  of  Elba. 
She  already  is  compelled  to  confess  in  her  heart,  what  her  lips  deny, 
that  if  English  bull-dogs  and  game-cocks  degenerate  on  our  soil,  Eng- 
lish MEN  do  not : — and  should  (which  God  forbid)  our  brethren  of  the 
East  desert  us  in  this  contest  for  all  that  is  precious  to  man,  we  will 
maintain  it,  so  long  as  our  proud  and  insulting  foe  shall  refuse  to  ac- 
cede to  equitable  terms  of  peace.  The  Government  will  then  pass 


NEW  ENGLAND.  59 

into  proper  hands — the  talents  of  the  country  will  be  called  forth,  and 
the  schemes  of  moon-struck  philosophers  and  their  disciples  pass  away 
and  "  leave  not  a  rack  behind." 

"5£ou  know  how  steady  and  persevering  I  endeavored,  for  eight 
years,  to  counteract  the  artful  and  insidious  plans  of  our  rulers  to 
embroil  us  with  the  country  of  our  ancestors,  and  the  odium  which  I 
have  thereby  drawn  upon  myself.  Believing  it  to  be  my  duty  t<? 
soften,  as  much  as  possible,  the  asperities  which  subsisted  between  th« 
two  countries,  and  which  were  leading  to  a  ruinous  war,  I  put  to  ha- 
zard, nay,  exposed  to  almost  certain  destruction,  an  influence  such  as 
no  man,  perhaps,  in  this  country,  at  the  sarn.c  age,  had  ever  before  at- 
tained. (The  popularity  that  dreads  exposure  is  too  delicate  for  pub- 
lic service.  It  is  a  bastard  species :  the  true  sort  will  stand  the  hard- 
est frosts.  Is  it  my  fault  (as  Mr.  Burke  complained  of  the  crowned 
heads  of  Europe)  that  England  will  no  longer  suffer  me  to  find  pal- 
liatives for  her  conduct  ?  No  man  admired  more  than  I  did  her 
magnanimous  stand  against  the  tyrant,  before  whom  all  the  rest  ot 
Christendom  at  one  time  bowed  :  No  man,  not  even  her  own  Wilber- 
force  and  Perceval,  put  up  more  sincere  prayers  for  her  deliverance. 
In  the  remotest  isle  of  Australasia,  my  sympathy  would  have  been 
enlisted,  in  such  a  contest,  for  the  descendants  of  Alfred  and  Bacon, 
and  Shakspeare,  and  Milton,  and  Locke,  on  whom  I  love  to  look 
back  as  my  illustrious  countrymen — in  any  contest  I  should  have 
taken  side  with  liberty ;  but  on  this  depended  (as  I  believed  and  do 
still  believe)  all  that  made  my  own  country  dear  in  my  sight.  It  is 
past — and  unmindful  of  the  mercy  of  that  protecting  Providence 
which  has  carried  her  through  the  valley  of  the  shadow  of  death, 
England  "  feels  power  and  forgets  right."  I  am  not  one  of  the  whin- 
ing set  of  people  who  cry  out  against  mine  adversary  for  the  force  of 
his  blow.  England  has,  unquestionably,  as  good  a  right  to  conquer 
us,  as  we  have  to  conquer  Canada ;  the  same  right  that  we  have  to 
conquer  England,  and  with  about  as  good  prospect  of  success.  But 
let  not  her  orators  declaim  against  the  enormity  of  French  prin- 
ciples, when  she  permits  herself  to  arm  and  discipline  our  slaves,  and 
to  lead  them  into  the  field  against  their  masters,  in  the  hope  of  excit- 
ing by  the  example  a  general  insurrection,  and  thus  render  Virginia 
another  St.  Domingo.  And  does  she  talk  of  jacobinism  !  What  is 
this  but  jacobinism  '?  and  of  the  vilest  stamp  ?  Is  this  the  country 
that  has  abolished  the  slave  trade  ?  that  has  made  that  infamous,  in- 
human traffic  a  felony  ?  that  feeds  with  the  bread  of  life  all  who  hun- 
ger after  it,  and  even  those  who.  but  for  her,  would  never  have  known 
their  perishing  condition  ?  Drunk  with  the  cup  of  the  abominations 
of  Moloch,  they  have  been  roused  from  the  sleep  of  death,  like  some 
benighted  traveller  perishing  in  the  snows,  and  warmed  into  life  fry 
the  beams  of  the  only  true  religion.  Is  this  the  country  of  Wilber 


6Q  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

force  and  Howard  ?  It  is ; — but,  like  my  own,  my  native  land,  it 
has  fallen  into  the  hands  of  evil  men,  who  pour  out  its  treasure  and 
its  blood  at  the  shrine  of  their  own  guilty  ambition.  And  this,  im- 
pious sacrifice  they  celebrate  amidst  the  applauses  of  the  deluded 
people,  and  even  of  the  victims  themselves. 

There  is  a  proneness  in  mankind  to  throw  the  blame  of  their 
suffering's  on  any  one  but  themselves.  In  this  manner,  Virginia  is 
regarded  by  some  of  her  sister  States  ;  not  adverting  to  the  fact,  that 
all  (Connecticut  and  Delaware  excepted)  are  responsible  for  the 
measures  that  have  involved  us  in  our  present  difficulties.  Did  we 
partition  your  State  into  those  unequal  and  monstrous  districts  which 
have  given  birth  to  a  new  word  in  your  language,  of  uncouth  sound, 
calling  up  the  most  odious  associations.  Did  we  elect  the  jacobins 
whom  you  sent  to  both  Houses  of  Congress — the  Bidwells,  and  Gan- 
netts,  and  Skinners, — to  spur  on  the  more  moderate  men  from  Vir- 
ginia to  excesses  which  they  reluctantly  gave  into  at  the  time,  acd 
have  since  been  ashamed  of  ?  Who  hurried  the  bill  suspending  the 
privilege  of  the  writ  of  HABEAS  CORPUS  through  a  trembling  servile 
Senate,  in  consequence,  as  he  did  not  blush  to  state,  of  a  verbal  com- 
munication from  the  President?  A  Senator  from  Massachusetts, 
and  professor  in  her  venerable  university.  In  short,  have  not  your 
first  statesmen  (such  I  believe  was  the  reputation  of  the  gentleman  in 
question  at  the  time),  your  richest  merchants,  and  the  majority  of 
your  delegation  in  Congress  vied  in  support  of  the  men  and  the  mea- 
sures that  have  led  to  our  present  suffering  and  humiliated  condition  ? 

If  you  wished  to  separate  yourselves  from  us,  you  had  ample  pro- 
vocation in  time  of  peace,  in  an  embargo  the  most  unconstitutional 
and  oppressive  ;  an  engine  of  tyranny,  fraud,  and  favoritism.  Then 
was  the  time  to  resist  (we  did  not  desert  England  in  a  time  of  war), 
but  you  were  then  under  the  dominion  of  a  faction  among  yourselves, 
yet  a  formidable  minority,  exhibiting  no  signs  of  diminution ;  and  it 
is  not  the  least  of  my  apprehensions,  from  certain  proceedings  to  the 
eastward,  that  they  may  be  made  the  means  of  consigning  you  again, 
and  for  ever,  to  the  same  low,  insolent  domination.  The  reaction  of 
your  jacobins  upon  us  (for  although  we  have  some  in  Virginia,  they 
are  few  and  insignificant)  through  the  men  at  Washington,  ("  who 
must  conciliate  good  republicans,")  is  dreadful.  Pause,  I  beseech 
you,  pause  !  You  tread  on  the  brink  of  destruction.  Of  all  the  At- 
lantic States  you  have  the  least  cause  to  complain.  Your  manufac- 
tures, and  the  trade  which  the  enemy  has  allowed  you,  have  drained 
us  of  our  last  dollar.  How  then  can  we  carry  on  the  war  ?  With 
men  and  steel — stout  hearts,  and  willing  hands — and  these  from  the 
days  of  Darius  and  Xerxes,  in  defence  of  the  household  gods  of  free- 
dom, have  proved  a  match  for  gold.  Can  they  not  now  encounter 
paper  ?  We  shall  suffer  much  from  this  contest,  it  will  cut  deep ; 


NEW  ENGLAND.  61 

but  dismissing  its  authors  from  our  confidence  and  councils  for  ever, 
(I  speak  of  a  few  leaders  and  their  immediate  tools,  not  of  the  delud* 
ed,  as  well  in  as  out  of  authority.)  we  shall  pass,  if  it  be  the  good 
pleasure  of  Him  whose  curses  are  tempered  with  mercies,  through  an 
agony  and  a  bloody  sweat,  to  peace  and  salvation ;  to  that  peace 
which  is  only  to  be  found  in  a  reconciliation  with  Him.  "  Atheists 
and  madmen  have  been  our  lawgivers,"  and  when  I  think  on  our  past 
conduct  I  shudder  at  the  chastisement  that  may  await  us.  How  has 
not  Europe  suffered  for  her  sins  !  "Will  England  not  consider,  that, 
like  the  man  who  but  yesterday  bestrode  the  narrow  world,  she  is 
but  an  instrument  in  his  hands,  who  breaketh  the  weapons  of  his 
chastisement,  when  the  measure  of  his  people's  punishment  is  full  ? 

"When  I  exhort  to  further  patience — to  resort  to  constitutional 
means  of  redress  only,  I  know  that  there  is  such  a  thing  as  tyianny 
as  well  as  oppression  ;  and  that  there  is  no  government,  however  re- 
stricted in  its  power,  that  may  not,  by  abuse,  under  pretext  of  exer- 
cise of  its  constitutional  authority,  drive  its  unhappy  subjects  to  des- 
peration. Our  situation  is  indeed  awful.  The  members  of  the  Union 
in  juxtaposition — held  together  by  no  common  authority  to  which 
men  can  look  up  with  confidence  and  respect.  Smitten  by  the  charms 
of  Upper  Canada,  our  President  has  abandoned  the  several  States  to 
shift  for  themselves  as  they  can. — Congress  isfelo  de  se.  In  practice 
there  is  found  little  difference  between  a  government  of  requisitions 
on  the  States,  which  these  disregard,  or  a  government  of  requisitions 
on  the  people,  which  the  governors  are  afraid  to  make  until  the  pub- 
lic faith  is  irretrievably  ruined.  Congress  seemed  barred  by  their 
own  favorite  act  of  limitations,  from  raising  supplies ;  prescription 
runs  against  them.  But  let  us  not  despair  of  the  commonwealth. 
Some  master-spirit  may  be  kindled  by  the  collision  of  the  times,  who 
will  breathe  his  own  soul  into  the  councils  and  armies  of  the  repub- 
lic ;  and  here  indeed  is  our  chiefest  danger.  The  man  who  is  credu- 
lous enough  to  believe  that  a  constitution,  with  the  skeleton  'of  an  es- 
tablishment -of  10,000  men,  not  2,000  strong,  (such  was  our  'army 
three  years  ago,)  is  the  same  as  with  an  army  of  60,000  men,  may  be 
a  very  amiable  neighbor,  but  is  utterly  unfit  for  a  statesman.  Al- 
ready our  government  is  in  fact  changed.  TVe  are  become  a  mili- 
tary people,  of  whom  more  than  of  any  other  it  might  have  been  said 
fortunatos  sua  si  bona  norint.  If  under  such  circumstances  you  ask 
me  what  you  are  to  do,  should  a  conscription  of  the  model  of  Bona- 
parte be  attempted?  I  will  refer  you  to  its  reputed  projector,  Co- 
lonel Monroe.  Ask  him  what  he  would  have  done,  whilst  governor 
of  Virginia,  and  preparing  to  resist  Federal  usurpation,  had  such  an 
attempt  been  made  by  Mr.  Adams  and  his  ministers  ;  especially  in 
1800.  He  can  give  the  answer.  , 

But  when  you  complain  of  the  representation   of  three-fifths  of 


62  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

our  slaves,  I  reply  that  it  is  one  of  the  articles  of  that  compact, 
which  you  submitted  to  us  for  acceptance,  and  to  which  we  reluc- 
tantly acceded.  Our  Constitution  is  an  affair  of  compromise  between 
the  States,  and  this  is  the  master-key  which  unlocks  all  its  difficul- 
ties. If  any  of  the  parties  to  the  compact  are  dissatisfied  with  their 
share  of  influence,  it  is  an  affair  of  amicable  discussion,  in  the  mode 
pointed  out  by  the  constitution  itself,  but  no  cause  for  dissolving  the 
confederacy.  And  when  I  read  and  hear  the  vile  stuff  against  my 
country  printed  and  uttered  en  this  subject,  by  fire-brands,  who 
ought  to  be  quenched  for  ever,  I  would  remind,  not  these  editors 
of  journals  and  declaimers  at  clubs,  but  their  deluded  followers, 
that  every  word  of  these  libels  on  the  planters  of  Virginia,  is  as  ap- 
plicable to  the  father  of  his  country  as  to  any  one  among  us  ;  that  in 
the  same  sense  we  are  "  slaveholders,"  and  "  negro  drivers/'  and 
"  dealers  in  human  flesh,"  (I  must  be  pardoned  for  culling  a  few 
of  their  rhetorical  flowers,)  so  was  he,  and  whilst  they  upbraid  Vir- 
ginia with  her  Jeffersons  and  her  Madisons,  they  will  not  always  re- 
member to  forget  that  to  Virginia  they  were  indebted  for  a  Wash- 
ington. 

I  am,  with  the  highest  respect  and  regard,  dear  sir,  your  obe- 
Jient  servant, 

JOHN  RANDOLPH  OF  ROANOKE. 


CHAPTER    V. 

EELIGION. 

THE  reader  is  already  aware,  from  many  expressions  let  fall  from  the 
pen  of  Mr.  Randolph,  that  he  is  deeply  engaged  in  the  great  subject 
of  religion ;  his  necessary  duties  give  way,  and  are  postponed  to  this 
all-engrossing  question. 

In  childhood  and  early  youth,  he  was  trained  by  a  devoted  and 
pious  mother,  in  the  doctrines  and  the  practices  of  the  Christian 
church.  The  impressions  of  those  early  lessons,  though  a  long  time 
disregarded,  were  never  entirely  effaced  from  his  memory ;  and  the 
hallowed  associations  that  clustered  around  the  name  of  his  adored 
and  sainted  mother,  the  fond  remembrances  of  childhood  and  inno- 
cence, never  failed  to  awaken  the  deepest  emotions  in  his  affectionate 
and  sympathetic  heart.  Yet  he  lived  for  many  years  in  open  derision 


RELIGION.  63 

and  mockery  of  that  religion  whose  holy  and  divine  precepts  he  could 
not  efface  from  his  mind.  Coming  into  life  at  an  epoch  when  French 
philosophy  had  not  only  overturned  the  monarchies  of  Europe,  but 
had  undermined  and  destroyed  the  foundation  of  all  morals  and  reli- 
gion, his  ardent  soul,  like  thousands  of  the  best  spirits  of  the  age, 
caught  the  contagion  of  its  influence,  threw  off  all  religious  restraint, 
as  the  highest  proof  of  freedom,  and  became,  if  not  a  mocker,  at 
least  a  cold  despiser  of  the  religion  of  htimility  and  self-sacrifice. 
But  the  despotism  under  which  France  had  been  made  to  groan,  in 
consequence  of  her  atheistic  madness  ;  the  desolation  that  had  swept 
over  Europe ;  the  deep  calamities  brought  on  his  own  country  by  war 
and  restrictions ;  the  many  misfortunes  and  afflictions  that  in  thick 
succession  had  befallen  himself  and  his  ill-fated  family ;  his  entire 
separation  from  all  political  associations  and  party  excitements,  and 
the  profound  solitude,  for  the  most  part,  in  which  he  lived,  all  con- 
spired to  bring  back  his  mind  to  its  early  associations.  As  "  the 
stricken  deer,"  to  which  he  likened  himself,  faint,  and  panting  in  the 
hot  chase,  seeks  the  fresh  fountains  and  cooling  shades  of  its  native 
valley,  so  he,  faint  and  heart-stricken  at  the  desolations  of  an  irre- 
ligious age,  and  athirst  for  the  pure  waters  of  life,  sought  consolation 
in  that  religion  which  his  mother,  on  bended  knee,  with  his  little 
hands  in  hers  uplifted  to  heaven,  had  taught  him  in  his  infancy. 

He  read  the  Old  and  New  Testament,  with  the  aid  of  good  com- 
mentators, with  care  and  diligence.  The  best  authors  were  at  his 
command — "  old  standard  authors"  constituted  his  daily  food,  though 
sometimes,  in  humility,  he  would  complain  that  they  were  "  too  solid 
for  his  weak  stomach."  It  is  a  great  mistake  to  take  Mr.  Randolph 
at  his  word,  and  suppose  him  to  be  an  ignorant  man.  "  I  am  an  ig- 
norant man,  I  am  an  ignorant  man,"  is  the  mortifying  yet  too  deeply 
conscious  sentiment  of  every  man  of  an  all-grasping  genius  like  his ; 
but  no  man  was  more  thoroughly  imbued  than  he  with  the  rich  lore 
of  old  English  learning,  or  more  deeply  penetrated  with  the  manly 
and  martyr-like  spirit  of  that  religion  which  triumphed  over  the  fag- 
got and  the  dungeon.  Being  a  man  of  the  highest  order  of  poetic 
genius  himself,  he  sought  only  the  society  of  kindred  spirits.  Milton 
and  Cowper,  and  the  old  English  divines,  now  obsolete  and  forgotten,, 
were  his  daily  and  nightly  companions.  Me  was  also  most  fortunate 
in  his  living  associates.  No  man  had  better  or  more  faithful  friends. 


64  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

His  country  or  age  can  furnish  no  nobler  specimens  of  a  high  Chris 
tian  virtue  than  the  three  friends  with  whom  Mr.  Randolph  alone 
conversed  on  "free-will,  fate  and  philosophy,"  and  to  whose  opinions 
he  bowed  with  the  profoundest  respect  and  reverence.  The  first  to 
whom  we  allude  is  the  present  Bishop  Meade,  of  Virginia,  a  gentle- 
man, a  scholar,  and  a  Christian.  The  reader  is  already  aware  of  the 
high  regard '  Mr.  Randolph  had  for  that  pious  and  venerable  man. 
The  second  person  was  the  late  Dr.  Moses  Hogue,  president  of 
Harnpden  Sydney  College.  Mr.  Randolph,  for  many  years,  lived 
in  the  immediate  neighborhood  of  the  college ;  and  the  society  of 
its  venerable  head,  the  chief  ornament  of  the  institution,  was 
always  sought  by  him  with  avidity.  "  I  consider  Dr.  Hogue,"  says 
he,  "  as  the  ablest  and  most  interesting  speaker  that  I  ever  heard, 
in  the  pulpit  or  out  of  it ;  and  the  most  perfect  pattern  of  a  Christian 
teacher  that  I  ever  saw.  His  life  affords  an  example  of  the  great 
truths  of  the  doctrine  that  he  dispenses  to  his  flock ;  and  if  he  has  a 
fault  (which,  being  mortal,  I  suppose  he  cannot  be  free  from)  I  have 
never  heard  it  pointed  out."  Nothing  can  be  added  to  this  picture. 
Francis  Scott  Key,  Esq.,  late  of  "Washington  City,  is  the  other  per- 
son to  whom  we  have  made  allusion.  The  reader  has  already  per- 
ceived the  great  intimacy  existing  between  these  two  friends.  They 
were  kindred  spirits.  "Frank  Key,"  though  an  eminent  and  suc- 
cessful advocate,  was  a  poet  of  a  high  order  of  genius.  "  The  Star- 
spangled  Banner,"  written  while  he  was  detained  on  board  the  Brit- 
ish fleet,  an  anxious  spectator  of  the  bombardment  of  Fort  M'Henry 
and  the  assault  on  Baltimore,  thrills  the  heart  of  every  American 
who  hears  its  patriotic  strains,  and  has  become  one  of  our  most  popu- 
lar national  songs.  He  was  a  pure  spirit ;  the  friend  that  knew  him 
best  and  valued  him  most,  thus  speaks  of  him  :  "  He  perseveres  in 
pressing  on  toward  the  goal,  and  his  whole  life  is  spent  in  endeavors 
to  do  good  for  his  unhappy  fellow-men.  The  result  is  that  he  enjoys 
a  tranquillity  of  mind,  a  sunshine  of  the  soul,  that  all  the  Alexanders 
of  the  earth  can  neither  confer  nor  take  away." 

Dr.  Brockenbrough  had  hitherto,  for  the  most  part,  been  in  the 
same  category  with  himself,  somewhat  skeptical ;  hence,  in  their  re- 
lations, Randolph  rather  assumed  the  province  of  a  teacher  than 
scholar,  on  the  subject  of  morals  and  religion.  Writing  to  that  gen- 
tleman from  Buckingham  Court  House,  the  29th  May,  18 15,  he  says* 


RELIGION.  65 

"  I  got  here  to-day.  To-morrow  we  are  to  begin  our  inquisition. 
[A  contested  election.]  This  business  does  not  suit  me  at  all.  My 
thoughts  are  running  in  a  far  different  channel.  I  never  feel  so  free 
from  uneasiness  as  when  I  am  reading  the  Testament,  or  hearing 
some  able  preacher.  This  great  concern  presses  me  by  day  and  by 
night,  almost  to  the  engrossing  of  my  thoughts.  It  is  first  in  my 
mind  when  I  wake,  and  the  last  when  I  go  to  sleep.  I  think  it  be- 
comes daily  more  clear  to  me.  All  other  things  are  as  nothing  when 
put  in  comparison  with  it.  You  have  had  a  great  comfort  in  the 
presence  of  Mr.  Meade.  I,  too,  am  not  without  some  consolation ; 
for  I  have  received  a  letter  from  Frank  Key,  that  I  would  not  ex- 
change for  the  largest  bundle  of  bank  notes  that  you  ever  signed. 
Hear  him.  '  I  cannot  describe  to  you  the  gratification  your  letter 
has  given  me.  The  sentiments  they  express,  I  thank  God  I  am  no 
stranger  to  ;  and  they  have  been  made  to  lead  me,  through  much 
anxiety  and  distress,  to  a  state  of  peace  and  happiness — as  far  above 
what  I  have  deserved,  as  below  what  I  yet  hope,  even  in  this  life,  to 
attain.  May  you  soon,  my  friend,  experience  the  most  delightful 
of  all  sensations,  that  springs  from  a  well  grounded  hope  of  recon- 
ciliation with  God  !  You  are  in  the  right  track.  [God  grant  it 
may  be  so  !]  God  is  leading  you.  Your  sentiments  show  the  divinity 
that  stirs  within  you.  That  we  have  ruined  ourselves — that  an  ever- 
lasting life  is  before  us — that  we  are  about  (how  soon  we  know 
not)  to  enter  upon  it,  under  the  sentence  of  Almighty  condemnation 
— and  that  we  can  do  nothing  to  save  ourselves  from  this  misery ; 
these  convictions  are  the  genuine  work  of  the  Spirit ;  other  founda- 
tion can  no  man  lay  !  They  lead  us  to  a  Saviour  who  gives  us  all  we 
want — pardon,  peace,  and  holiness.  They  do  not  bid  us  first  to  be- 
come righteous,  and  then  come  to  him ;  but  they  bring  us  to  him  as 
we  are — as  sinners  to  be  pardoned  for  our  sins,  and  cleansed  from 
all  our  iniquities.  This  is  the  true  doctrine  of  our  Church,  and  the 
plain  meaning  of  the  Gospel ;  and  indeed  it  seems  to  me,  notwith- 
standing some  peculiarities  (about  which  there  has  been  much 
useless  disputation),  that  in  these  essential  points  almost  all  sects 
agree.'  " 

Writing  to  Mr.  Key  himself,  from  the  same  place,  two  days  after 
the  above,  he  says  : 

"  I  cannot  refrain  from  unburthening  some  of  my  thoughts  to  you. 
I  carry  your  last  letter  (of  the  llth)  constantly  in  my  pocket,  read- 
ing it  frequently,  and  praying  God  that  your  charitable  anticipations 
respecting  me  may  be  realized.  After  all,  is  there  not  selfishness  at 
the  bottom  of  that  yearning  of  my  heart  to  believe  ?  Can  that  faith, 
Betting  aside  its  imperfection,  be  acceptable  in  the  sight  of  God,  to 


66  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

which  the  unhappy  sinner  is  first  moved  by  the  sense  of  self-preser 
vation  ?  . 

"  I  am  brought  on  here  by  this  contested  election  ;  but  my  mind 
is  not  at  all  in  the  thing. 

"Indeed  I  must  tell  you  what  gives  me  great  uneasiness  ;  that, 
instead  of  being  stimulated  to  the  discharge  of  my  duties,  I  am  daily 
becoming  more  indifferent  to  them,  and,  consequently,  more  negli- 
gent. I  see  many  whose  minds  are  apparently  little  occupied  on  the 
subject  that  employs  me,  with  whom  I  think  I  should  be  glad  to  ex- 
change conditions  ;  for  surely,  when  they  discharge  conscientiously 
their  part  in  life,  without  the  same  high  motive  that  I  feel,  how  cul- 
pable am  I,  being  negligent !  For  a  long  time  the  thoughts  that  now 
occupy  me,  came  and  went  out  of  my  mind.  Sometimes  they  were 
banished  by  business ;  at  others,  by  pleasure.  But  heavy  afflic- 
tions fell  upon  me.  They  came  more  frequently,  and  staid  longer — 
pressing  upon  me,  until,  at  last,  I  never  went  asleep  nor  awoke  but 
they  were  last  and  first  in  my  recollection.  Oftentimes  have  they 
awakened  me,  until,  at  length,  I  cannot,  if  I  would,  detach  myself  from 
them.  Mixing  in  the  business  of  the  world  I  find  highly  injurious 
to  me.  I  cannot  repress  the  feelings  which  the  conduct  of  our  fel- 
low-men too  often  excites ;  yet  I  hate  nobody,  and  I  have  endeavored 
to  forgive  all  who  have  done  me  an  injury,  as  I  have  asked  forgiveness 
of  those  whom  I  may  have  wronged,  in  thought  or  deed.  If  I  could 
have  my  way,  I  would  retire  to  some  retreat,  far  from  the  strife  of  the 
world,  and  pass  the  remnant  of  my  days  in  meditation  and  prayer ; 
and  yet  this  would  be  a  life  of  ignoble  security.  But,  my  good  friend, 
I  am  not  qualified  (as  yet,  at  least,)  to  bear  the  heat  of  the  battle. 
I  seek  for  rest — for  peace.  I  ha»ve  read  much  of  the  New  Testament 
lately.  Some  of  the  texts  are  full  of  consolation  ;  others  inspire 
dread.  The  Epistles  of  Paul  I  cannot,  for  the  most  part,  compre- 
hend ;  with  the  assistance  of  Mr.  Locke's  paraphrase,  I  hope  to  ac- 
complish it.  My  good  friend,  you  will  bear  with  this  egotism ;  for 
I  seek  from  you  instruction  on  a  subject,  in  comparison  with  which 
all  others  sink  into  insignificance.  I  have  had  a  strong  desire  to  gc 
to  the  Lord's  Supper;  but  I  was  deterred  by  a  sense  of  my  un- 
worthiness ;  and,  only  yesterday,  reading  the  denunciation  against 
those  who  received  unworthily,  I  thought  it  would  never  be  in  mj 
power  to  present  myself  at  the  altar.  I  was  present  when  Mr. 
Hogue  invited  to  the  table,  and  I  would  have  given  all  I  was  worth 
to  have  been  able  to  approach  it.  There  is  no  minister  of  our  church 
in  these  parts.  I  therefore  go  to  the  Presbyterians,  who  are  the  most 
learned  and  regular ;  but  having  been  born  in  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land, I  do  not  mean  to  renounce  it.  On  the  contrary,  I  feel  a  com- 
fort in  repeating  the  Liturgy,  that  I  would  not  be  deprived  of  for 
worlds.  Is  it  not  for  the  want  of  some  such  service  that  Socinian.' 


RELIGION.  67 

ism  has  crept  into  the  eastern  congregations  ?  How  could  any  So 
cinian  repeat  the  Apostle's  Creed,  or  read  the  Liturgy  ?  I  begin  ts 
think,  with  you,  about  those  people.  You  remember  the  opinions 
you  expressed  to  me  last  winter  concerning  them.  Among  the  causes 
of  uneasiness  which  have  laid  hold  upon  me  lately,  is  a  strong  anxiety 
for  the  welfare  of  those  whom  I  love,  and  whom  I  see  walking  in 
darkness.  But  there  is  one  source  of  affliction,  the  last  and  deepest, 
which  I  must  reserve  till  we  meet,  if  I  can  prevail  upon  myself  to 
communicate  it  even  then.  It  was  laid  open  ly  one  of  those  wonder- 
ful coincidences,  which  men  call  chance,  but  which  manifest  the  hand 
of  God.  It  has  lacerated  my  heart,  and  taken  from  it  its  last  hope 
in  this  world.  Ought  I  not  to  bless  God  for  the  evil  (as  it  seems  in  my 
sight)  as  well  as  the  good  ?  Is  it  not  the  greatest  of  blessings,  if  it  be 
made  the  means  of  drawing  me  unto  him  ?  Do  I  know  what  to  ask 
at  his  hands?  Is  he  not  the  judge  of  what  is  good  for  me?  If  it 
be  his  pleasure  that  I  perish,  am  I  not  conscious  that  the  sentence  is 
just? 

"  Implicitly,  then,  will  I  throw  myself  uponhis  mercy ;  '  Not  my 
will,  but  thine  be  done  ;'  '  Lord  be  merciful  to  me  a  sinner  ;'  ;  Help, 
Lord,  or  I  perish.'  And  now,  my  friend,  if,  after  these  glimpses  of 
the  light,  I  should  shut  mine  eyes  and  harden  my  heart,  which  now 
is  as  melted  wax ;  if  I  should  be  enticed  back  to  the  '  herd/  and  lose 
all  recollection  of  my  wounds,  how  much  deeper  my  guilt  than  his 
whose  heart  has  never  been  touched  by  the  sense  of  his  perishing,  un- 
done condition.  This  has  rushed  upon  my  mind  when  I  have  thought 
of  partaking  of  the  Lord's  supper.  After  binding  myself  by  that  sa- 
cred rite,  should  passion  overcome  me,  should  I  be  induced  to  forget 
in  some  unhappy  hour  that  holy  obligation,  I  shudder  to  think  of  it. 
There  are  two  ways  only  which  I  am  of  opinion  that  I  may  be  ser- 
viceable to  mankind.  One  of  these  is  teaching  children ;  and  I  have 
some  thoughts  of  establishing  a  school.  Then,  again,  it  comes  into 
my  head  that  I  am  borne  away  by  a  transient  enthusiasm  ;  or  that  I 
may  be  reduced  to  the  condition  of  some  unhappy  fanatics  who  mis- 
take the  perversion  of  their  intellects  for  the  conversion  of  their 
hearts.  Pray  for  me." 

On  another  occasion,  writing  to  Mr.  Key,  he  says : 
:/- 1  took  up  yesterday  a  work,  which  I  never  met  with  before,  the 
'  Christian  Observer.'  In  a  critique  of  Scott,  vol.  XII.,  upon  the 
Bishop  of  Lincoln's  '  Refutation  of  Calvinism,'  it  is  stated  that  no  man 
is  converted  to  the  truth  of  Christianity  without  the  self-experience  of  a 
miracle.  Such  is  the  substance.  He  must  be  sensible  of  the  working 
of  a  miracle  in  his  own  person.  Now,  my  good  friend,  I  have  never 
experienced  any  thing  like  this.  I  have  been  sensible,  and  am 
always,  of  the  proneness  to  sin  in  my  nature.  I  have  grieved  un- 
feignedly  for  my  manifold  transgressions.  I  have  thrown  mysel/ 


68  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

upon  the  mercy  of  my  Redeemer,  conscious  of  my  own  utter  in* 
bility  to  conceive  one  good  thought,  or  do  one  good  act  without  hia 
gracious  aid.  But  I  have  felt  nothing  like  what  Scott  requires. 
Indeed,  my  good  friend,  I  sometimes  dread  that  I  am  in  a  far  worse 
condition  than  those  who  never  heard  the  Word  of  God,  or,  who 
having  heard,  reject  it — if  any  condition  can  be  worse  than  the  last. 
When  I  am  with  Mr.  Hogue  I  am  at  ease.  He  makes  every  thing 
plain  to  me.  But  when  I  hear  others  I  am  disturbed.  Indeed,  my 
doubts  and  misgivings  do  not  desert  me  always  in  his  presence,  I 
wish  I  could  see  you,  and  converse  with  you.  To  you  I  have  no 
scruple  in  writing  in  this  style ;  but  to  any  other  I  feel  repugnant 
to  communicate.  I  fear  that  I  mistake  a  sense  of  my  sins  for  true 
repentance,  and  that  I  sometimes  presume  upon  the  mercy  of  God. 
Again,  it  appears  incredible  that  one  so  contrite  as  I  sometimes 
know  myself  to  be,  should  be  rejected  entirely  by  infinite  mercy. 
Write  to  me  upon  this  topic — not  my  own  state — but  give  me  your 
ideas  generally  on  salvation ;  or  direct  me  to  some  publication  that 
puts  it  in  the  clearest  light.  I  have  carefully  read  the  gospels,  but 
cannot  always  comprehend." 

Writing  to  Dr.  Brockenbrough,  from  Roanoke,  the  4th  of  July, 
1815,  he  says: 

"  It  was  to  me  a  subject  of  deep  regret  that  I  was  obliged  to 
leave  town  before  Mr.  Meade's  arrival.  I  promised  myself,  much 
comfort  and  improvement  from  his  conversation.  My  dear  sir,  there 
is,  or  there  is  not,  another  and  a  better  world.  If  there  is,  as  we 
all  believe,  what  is  it  but  madness  to  be  absorbed  in  the  cares  of 
a  clay-built  hovel,  held  at  will,  unmindful  of  the  rich  inheritance 
of  an  imperishable  palace,  of  which  we  are  immortal  heirs  ?  We  ac- 
knowledge these  things  with  our  lips,  but  not  with  our  hearts  ;  we 
lack  faith. 

"  We  would  serve  God  provided  we  may  serve  mammon  at  the 
same  time.  For  my  part,  could  I  be  brought  to  believe  that  this 
life  must  be  the  end  of  my  being,  I  should  be  disposed  to  get  rid  of 
it  as  an  incumbrance.  If  what  is  to  come  be  any  thing  like  what  ia 
passed,  it  would  be  wise  to  abandon  the  hulk  to  the  underwriters,  the 
worms.  I  am  more  and  more  convinced  that,  with  a  few  exceptions, 
this  world  of  ours  is  a  vast  mad-house.  The  only  men  I  ever  knew 
well,  ever  approached  closely,  whom  I  did  not  discover  to  be  unhappy, 
are  sincere  believers  of  the  Gospel,  and  conform  their  lives,  as  far  as 
the  nature  of  man  can  permit,  to  its  precepts.  There  are  only  three, 
of  them."  [Meade,  Hogue,  Key?]  "And  yet,  ambition,  and  ava- 
rice, and  pleasure,  as  it  is  called,  have  their  temples  crowded  with 
votaries,  whose  own  experience  has  proved  to  them  the  insufficiency 
and  emptiness  of  their  pursuits,  and  who  obstinately  turn  away  from 


RELIGION.  69 

ike  only  waters  that  can  slake  their  dying  thirst  and  heal  their  dis- 
eases. 

"  One  word  on  the  subject  of  your  own  state  of  mind.  I  am  well 
acquainted  with  it — too  well.  Like  you,  I  have  not  reached  that 
lively  faith  which  some  more  favored  persons  enjoy.  But  I  am  per- 
suaded that  it  can  and  will  be  attained  by  all  who  are  conscious  of 
the  depravity  of  our  nature,  of  their  own  manifold  departures  from  the 
laws  of  God.  and  sins  against  their  own  conscience ;  and  who  are  sin- 
cerely desirous  to  accept  of  pardon  on  the  terms  held  out  in  the 
Gospel.  Without  puzzling  ourselves,  therefore,  with  subtle  disqui- 
sitions, let  us  ask,  are  we  conscious  of  the  necessity  of  pardon  ?  are 
we  willing  to  submit  to  the  terms  offered  to  us — to  consider  '  Chris- 
tianity as  a  scheme  imperfectly  understood,  planned  by  Infinite 
Wisdom,  and  canvassed  by  finite  comprehensions' — to  ask  of  our 
Heavenly  Father  that  faith  and  that  strength  which  ly  our  own 
unassisted  efforts  we  can  never  attain  ?  To  me  it  would  be  a  stronger 
objection  to  Christianity  did  it  contain  nothing  which  baffled  my 
comprehension,  than  its  most  difficult  doctrines.  What  professor 
ever  delivered  a  lecture  that  his  scholars  were  not  at  a  loss  to  com- 
prehend some  parts  of  it  ?  But  that  is  no  objection  to  the  doctrine. 
But  the  teacher  here  is  God!  I  may  deceive  myself,  but  I  hope 
that  I  have  made  some  progress,  so  small  indeed  that  I  may  be 
ashamed  of  it,  in  this  necessary  work,  even  since  I  saw  you.  I  am 
no  disciple  of  Calvin  or  Wesley,  but  I  feel  the  necessity  of  a  changed 
nature  ;  of  a  new  life  ;  of  an  altered  heart.  I  feel  my  stubborn  and 
rebellious  nature  to  be  softened,  and  that  it  is  essential  to  my  com- 
fort here,  as  well  as  to  my  future  welfare,  to  cultivate  and  cherish 
feelings  of  good  will  towards  all  mankind ;  to  strive  against  envy, 
malice,  and  "all  uncharitableness.  I  think  I  have  succeeded  in  for- 
giving all  my  enemies.  There  is  not  a  human  being  that  I  would 
hurt  if  it  were  in  my  power ;  not  even  Bonaparte." 

Mr.  Randolph  was  now  destined  to  receive  the  severest  stroke  of 
misfortune  that  had  befallen  him  since  the  death  of  his  brother 
Richard.  It  seems  that  his  ill-fated  family  were  destined  to  fall  one 
by  one.  and  to  leave  him  the  sole  and  forlorn  wreck  of  an  ancient 
house,  whose  name  and  fortunes  he  had  so  fondly  cherished.  Tudor, 
the  last  hope,  had  been  sent  abroad  this  spring  (1815)  in  search  of 
health.  He  had  scarcely  reached  Cheltenham,  England,  when  he 
fell  into  the  arms  of  death.  In  a  letter  from  Dr.  Brockenbrough, 
Mr.  Randolph  received  the  first  tidings  of  this  melancholy  event. 
He  was  dumb — he  opened  not  his  mouth.  "  Your  kind  and  conside- 
rate letter,"  says  he,  "  contained  the  first  intelligence  of  an  event 


70  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

which  I  have  long  expected,  yet  dreaded  to  hear.  I  can  make  nc 
comment  upon  it.  To  attempt  to  describe  the  situation  of  my  mind 
would  be  vain,  even  if  it  were  practicable.  May  God  bless  you :  to 
him  alone  I  look  for  comfort  on  this  side  the  grave;  there  alone,  if 
at  all,  I  shall  find  it." 

Many  said  his  mind  was  unsettled ;  that  this  dark  destiny  drove 
reason  from  her  throne,  and  made  him  mad,  In  the  vulgar  estima- 
tion of  a  cold  and  selfish  world  he  was  aurely  mad.  The  cries  of  a 
deep  and  earnest  soul  are  a  mockery  to  the  vain  and  unfeeling  multi- 
tude. David  had  many  sons :  Randolph  this  only  hope,  the  child  of 
his  affections.  Yet  when  Absalom  was  slain,  « the  king  was  much 
moved,  and  went  up  to  the  chamber  over  the  gate,  and  wept ;  and  as 
he  wept,  thus  he  said,  '  0  my  son  Absalom — my  son,  my  son  Absa- 
lom !  would  God  I  had  died  for  thee,  0  Absalom,  my  son, my  son!'" 


CHAPTEK    VI. 

POLITICAL  REFLECTIONS — CONGRESS — BANK  CHARTER. 

IN  the  midst  of  all  his  domestic  afflictions,  bodily  ailments,  and 
mental  anxiety,  Mr.  Randolph  never  lost  sight  of  public  affairs. 
"  As  to  politics,"  says  he,  "  I  am  sick  of  them,  and  have  resolved  to 
wash  my  hands  of  them  as  soon  as  possible."  The  thought  of  min- 
gling again  in  the  strife  of  party  politics  was  loathing  to  him  ;  but 
he  could  not  banish  from  his  mind  the  intimate  knowledge  of  politi- 
cal events,  their  causes  and  consequences,  which  he  possessed  in  so 
eminent  a  degree ;  nor  could  he  prevent  the  natural  affinity  for  those 
great  moral  and  political  principles  and  agencies,  which  are  for  ever 
moving  and  moulding  the  social  and  political  institutions  of  mankind. 
He  was  a  statesman  by  nature — nascitur  non  fit — a  born  statesman. 
His  observations,  however  trivial  or  brief,  have  a  pith  and  meaning 
beyond  the  sagest  reflections  of  most  other  men. 

Many  of  his  reflections  rise  to  the  dignity  of  political  aphorisms, 
and  are  worthy  to  be  ranked  with  the  profound  maxims  of  the  great 


POLITICAL  REFLECTIONS.  71 

master  of  political  philosophy.  Last  May,  after  Bonaparte  had  es- 
caped from  Elba,  marched  in  triumph  to  Paris,  and  driven  the  fright- 
ed Bourbon  once  more  from  his  throne,  Mr.  Randolph  thus  discourses 
on  the  affairs  of  Europe : 

"  On  the  late  events  in  Europe,  which  baffle  all  calculation,  I  have 
looked  with  an  eye  not  very  different  from  yours."  [Addressed  to  Mr. 
Key.]  "  The  Bourbons  refused  to  abolish  the  slave  trade.  Bona- 
parte, from  temporal  views,  no  doubt,  has  made  it  the  first  act  after 
his  restoration  !  Here  is  food  for  solemn  meditation.  The  situation 
of  England  is,  according  to  my  conception  of  things,  more  awful  than 
ever.  A  sated  libertine  at  the  head  of  the  government ;  a  profligate 
debauchee  her  prime  minister.  When  I  think  on  Wilberforce  and  "his 
worthy  compeers,  I  cannot  despair.  Ten  such  would  have  saved  So- 
dom. But  what  a  frightful  mass  of  wickedness  does  that  country,  as 
well  as  our  own,  present !  Both  rescued,  by  the  most  providential  in- 
terference of  Heaven,  from  ruin.  But  what  do  we  see  ?  Humble 
and  hearty  thanks  for  unmerited  mercy  ?  Self-abasement,  penitence 
for  past  offences,  and  earnest  resolutions  for  future  amendment, 
through  divine  assistance  ?  I  can  recognize  none  of  these.  Even 
in  myself  how  faint  are  these  feelings,  compared  with  my  conscious- 
ness of  their  necessity  !  England,  I  sometimes  think,  stands  on  the 
verge  of  some  mighty  convulsion.  The  corruption  of  her  government 
and  her  principal  men,  the  discontents  of  her  needy  and  profligate 
lower  orders,  the  acts  of  her  Cobbetts  and  Burdetts,  all  seem  to  threaten 
the  overthrow  of  her  establishment,  in  Church  and  State.  Jacobinism 
has.  I  believe,  a  stronger  hold  in  that  country  than  in  any  other  in  Eu- 
rope. But  the  foolishness  of  human  wisdom,  nothing  daunted  by  re- 
peated overthrows  of  all  its  speculations  and  the  confusion  of  its  plans, 
yet  aspires  to  grasp  and  to  control  the  designs  of  the  Almighty." 

But  the  period  had  come  for  John  Randolph  to  appear  again 
on  the  public  stage.  The  times  had  been  truly  eventful.  The  cycle 
of  five  and  twenty  years,  in  which  the  spirit  of  human  liberty  fought 
for  her  existence,  had  rolled  round  and  come  to  a  close.  Born  of  the 
divine  love  shed  forth  in  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ,  bursting  up  in 
radiant  majesty  from  the  crumbling  ruins  of  an  effete  feudalism,  the 
cheerful  voice  of  the  Spirit  of  Liberty  was  first  heard  in  the  National 
Assembly  of  France,  speaking  in  the  accents  of  hope  and  of  joy  to 
the  down-trodden  millions  of  the  earth.  But,  alas  !  in  the  wanton 
excess  of  an  untried  freedom,  she  quickly  ran  into  a  wild  fanati- 
cism, and  swept  the  good  as  well  as  the  evil  into  one  common 
ruin.  Seeking  to  break  the  oppressor's  rod,  and  to  tear  down  his  tow- 


72  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

ers  and  his  dungeons  of  cruelty,  she  condemned  time-honored  virtue  to 
the  same  indiscriminate  death  with  hoary-headed  vice,  and  pointed 
her  finger  of  contempt  and  mockery  at  venerated  wisdom  no  Ies3 
than  at  cant  and  hypocrisy.  This  mad  Spirit,  lovely  even  in  her 
madness,  though  mangled  by  the  guillotine,  and  suffocated  in  the 
dungeons  of  the  Conciergerie,  rose  triumphant,  swept  like  an  angel  of 
destruction  over  the  hills  of  Ardenne,  the  plains  of  Lombardy,  and 
called  down  from  the  Pyramids  of  Egypt  the  witness  of  ages  on  tht 
heroic  deeds  of  her  sons  amid  the  desert  sands  of  Africa.  Bu< 
wearied  with  excess,  and  hunted  down,  like  Acteon,  by  the  blood- 
hounds  that  had  been  nurtured  in  her  own  bosom,  she  at  length  fell 
beneath  the  iron  heel  of  an  imperial  despotism,  and  was  finally  crushed 
and  stifled  in  the  blood  of  Waterloo.  In  the  death  agonies  of  Wa- 
terloo, freedom  expired ;  a  leaden  peace  was  restored  to  Europe,  and 
a  new  lease  of  thirty  years  for  their  dominions  and  their  thrones,  was 
vouchsafed  to  monarchs.  Peace  also,  about  the  same  time,  was  re- 
stored to  our  own  borders,  and  with  it  came  temptations  to  seduce 
the  watchful  guardian  from  his  vigilant  protection  of  the  Constitu- 
tion, and  dangers  more  threatening  than  war  to  the  liberties  of  the 
country.  Pressed  by  a  common  necessity,  bearing  a  heavy  burthen 
of  taxes,  and  confronting  on  every  hand  the  external  foes  of  their 
country,  the  mass  of  the  people  had  but  one  object,  were  impelled  by 
one  sentiment — a  speedy  and  successful  termination  of  hostilities. 
That  accomplished,  each  individual  plunged  into  his  own  chosen  field 
of  enterprise,  eagerly  bent  on  his  own  aggrandizement,  while  the 
government  was  left,  unrestrained  and  unobserved,  to  pursue  its 
course  in  repairing  the  damages  brought  on  the  country  by  that  most 
unprofitable  of  all  work,  the  struggle  to  see  how  much  harm  each 
can  do  to  the  other.  The  obstructions  of  embargo  and  non- 
intercourse,  followed  by  the  destructive  operations  of  a  maritime 
war,  had  brought  in  their  train  a  series  of  evil  consequences.  The 
republican  party,  as  we  already  know,  advocated  those  measures. 
Without  stopping  to  inquire  whether  right  or  wrong,  the  task 
devolved  on  them,  being  still  in  the  ascendent,  to  remedy  the  evils 
they  must  have  foreseen  and  anticipated.  "  The  embargo,"  said  Mr. 
Randolph  long  ago,  "was  the  Iliad  of  all  our  woes."  The  repub- 
licans were  placed  in  a  most  difficult  and  critical  position. 

Those  young  and  ardent  spirits  who  urged  on  the  war,  and  conducted 


POLITICAL  REFLECTIONS.  7g 

it  to  a  successful  termination,  were  well  suited  for  a  time  of 
excitement  and  destruction ;  but  when  the  period  arrived  for  heal- 
ing and  building  up,  graver  counsel  would  have  been  more  desirable. 
It  required  the  utmost  prudence  and  delicacy  -to  restore  the  Consti- 
tution to  its  normal  state,  and  to  adjust  the  various  and  conflicting 
interests  of  the  country  in  the  well-poised  scale  of  a  wise  abstinence 
and  justice.  Unfortunately,  the  republican  party  adopted  those  mea- 
sures of  relief  which  were  most  fatal  to  their  principle?.  They  who 
had  come  into  power  on  the  overthrow  of  the  doctrines  of  Hamilton, 
were  now,  under  the  plea  of  necessity,  about  to  outstrip  the  great  fede- 
ral leader  himself  in  the  adoption  and  advocacy  of  those  temporizing 
and  unconstitutional  expedients  they  had  so  loudly  condemned. 
"  Until  the  present  session,"  says  Mr.  Randolph,  "  I  had  net  a  concep- 
tion of  the  extent  of  the  change  wrought  in  the  sentiments  of  the 
people  of  this  country  by  the  war.  I  now  see  men  trained  in  the 
school  of  the  opposition  to  the  administration  of  John  Adams,  who, 
down  to  June,  1812,  were  stanch  sticklers  for  the  Constitution,  ab- 
jure all  their  former  principles,  and  declare  for  expediency  against 
right."  ""We  have  been  told,  sir,"  said  Mr.  Randolph  at  a  later 
period,  li  that  the  framers  of  the  Constitution  foresaw  the  rising  sun 
of  some  new  sects,  which  were  to  construe  the  powers  of  the  govern- 
ment differently  from  their  intention  ;  and  therefore  the  clause  grant- 
ing a  general  power  to  make  all  laws  that  might  be  necessary  and 
proper  to  carry  the  granted  powers  into  effect,  was  inserted  in  the 
Constitution.  Yes,  such  a  sect  did  arise  some  twenty  years  ago ; 
and,  unfortunately,  I  had  the  honor  to  be  a  member  of  that  church. 
From  the  commencement  of  the  government  to  this  day,  differences 
have  arisen  between  the  two  great  parties  in  this  nation ;  one  con- 
sisting of  the  disciples  of  Mr.  Hamilton,  the  Secretary  of  the  Trea- 
sury :  and  another  party,  who  believed  that  in  their  construction  of 
the  Constitution,  those  to  whom  they  opposed  themselves  exceeded 
the  just  limits  of  its  legitimate  authority ;  and  I  pray  gentlemen  to 
take  into  their  most  serious  consideration  the  fact,  that  on  this  very 
question  of  construction,  this  sect,  which  the  framers  of  the  Constitu- 
tion foresaw  might  arise,  did  arise  in  their  might,  and  put  down  the 
construction  of  the  Constitution  according  to  the  Hamiltonian  ver- 
sion. But,  did  we  at  that  clay  dream  that  a  new  sect  would  arise  after 
them,  which  would  as  far  transcend  Alexander  Hamilton  and  his  dis« 


74  LIJb'E  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

ciples  as  they  outwent  Thomas  Jefferson,  James  Madison  and  John 
Taylor,  of  Caroline?  This  is  the  deplorable  fact.  Such  is  now  the 
actual  state  of  things  in  this  land ;  and  it  is  not  a  subject  so  much 
of  demonstration  as  it  is  self-evident ;  it  speaks  to  the  senses,  so  that 
every  one  may  understand  it." 

The  first  of  that  series  of  measures  which  gave  birth  to  this  new  sect 
of  politicians,  and  brought  about  the  state  of  things  so  much  deplored 
by  Mr.  Randolph,  was  the  Bank  Charter,  passed  at  this  session  of 
Congress. 

The  first  incorporation  of  a  bank,  in  1791,  was  opposed  by  Tho- 
mas Jefferson  and  the  republican  party,  as  being  an  unwarranted 
assumption  of  power,  nowhere  granted  in  the  Constitution.  Conse- 
quently, when  the  charter  of  the  old  bank  expired  in  1811,  they 
refused  to  renew  it  on  the  same  ground.  Henry  Clay,  then  a  sena- 
tor from  Kentucky,  argued  the  question  at  great  length :  "  This 
yagrant  power,"  says  he,  "  to  erect  a  bank,  after  having  wandered 
throughout  the  whole  Constitution  in  quest  of  some  congenial  spot 
whereon  to  fasten,  has  been  at  length  located,  by  the  gentleman  from 
Georgia,  on  that  provision  which  authorizes  Congress  to  lay  and  col- 
lect taxes.  In  1791  the  power  is  referred  to  one  part  of  the  instru- 
ment; in  1811,  to  another.  Sometimes  it  is  alleged  to  be  deducible 
from  the  power  to  regulate  commerce.  Hard  pressed  here,  it  dis- 
appears, and  shows  itself  under  the  grant  to  coin  money.  The  saga- 
cious Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  in  1791,  pursued  the  wisest  course. 
He  has  taken  shelter  behind  general  high-sounding  and  imposing 
terms.  He  has  declared  in  the  preamble  to  the  act  establishing  the 
bank  that  it  will  be  very  conducive  to  the  successful  conducting  of 
the  national  finances ;  will  tend  to  give  facility  to  the  obtaining  of 
loans  ;  and  will  be  productive  of  considerable  advantage  to  trade  and 
industry  in  general.  No  allusion  is  made  to  the  collection  of  taxes. 
What  is  the  nature  of  this  government1?  It  is  emphatically  fede- 
raj,  vested  with  an  aggregate  of  specified  powers  for  general  pur- 
poses, conceded  by  existing  sovereignties,  who  have  themselves 
retained  what  is  not  so  conceded.  It  is  said  that  there  are  cases 
in  which  it  must  act  on  implied  powers.  This  is  not  controverted , 
but  the  implication  must  be  necessary,  and  obviously  flow  from  the 
enumerated  power  with  which  it  is  allied.  The  power  to  charter 
companies  is  not  specified  in  the  grant,  and,  I  contend,  is  of  a  nature 


POLITICAL  REFLECTIONS.  75 

not  transferable  by  mere  implication.  It  is  one  of  the  most  exalted 
attributes  of  sovereignty.  In  the  exercise  of  this  gigantic  power,  we 
have  seen  an  East  India  Company  created,  which  has  carried  dismay, 
desolation  and  death,  thoughout  one  of  the  largest  portions  of  the  habit- 
able globe  ;  a  company  which  is,  in  itself,  a  sovereignty,  which  has 
subverted  empires,  and  set  up  new  dynasties,  and  has  not  only  made 
war,  but  war  against  its  legitimate  sovereign  !  Under  the  influence 
of  this  power,  we  have  seen  arise  a  South  Sea  Company  and  a  Missis- 
sippi Company,  that  distracted  and  convulsed  all  Europe,  and 
menaced  a  total  overthrow  of  all  credit  and  confidence,  and  universal 
bankruptcy.  Is  it  to  be  imagined  that  a  power  so  vast  would  have 
been  left  by  the  wisdom  of  the  Constitution  to  doubtful  inference  ?" 
Such  was  the  forcible  reasoning  that  induced  the  republicans  in 
1811  to  refuse  to  recharter  the  bank  or  to  incorporate  another  simi- 
lar institution.  They  stood  by  the  Constitution.  But  now,  in  1816, 
every  thing  was  changed  ;  and  what  seemed  unconstitutional  before 
had  become  clearly  necessary  and  proper,  and  therefore  constitu- 
tional. Mr.  Clay,  who  had  become  their  leader  and  exponent,  under- 
takes to  justify  his  change  of  position :  "  The  consideration,"  says  he, 
-  upon  which  I  acted  in  1811  was,  that  as  the  power  to  create  a  cor- 
poration, such  as  was  proposed  to  be  continued,  was  not  specifically 
granted  in  the  Constitution,  and  did  not  then  appear  to  me  to  be 
necessary  to  carry  into  effect  any  of  the  powers  which  were  specifi- 
cally granted,  Congress  was  not  authorized  to  continue  the  bank. 
The  Constitution  contains  powers  delegated  and  prohibitory  ;  powers 
expressed  and  constructive.  It  vests  in  Congress  all  powers  neces- 
sary to  give  effect  to  the  enumerated  powers ;  all  that  may  be  neces- 
sary to  put  in  motion  and  activity  the  machine  of  government  which 
it  constructs.  The  powers  that  may  be  so  necessary  are  deducible 
by  construction  ;  they  are  not  defined  in  the  Constitution  ;  they  are, 
from  their  nature,  un definable.  When  the  question  is  in  relation  to 
one  of  these  powers,  the  point  of  inquiry  should  be,  is  its  oxertion 
necessary  to  carry  into  effect  any  of  the  enumerated  powers  and  ob- 
jects of  the  General  Government?  With  regard  to  the  degree  of  ne- 
cessity, various  rules  have  been  at  different  times  laid  down ;  but. 
perhaps,  at  last,  there  is  no  other  than  a  sound  and  honest  judgment 
exercised,  under  the  checks  and  control  which  belong  to  the  Consti- 
tution and  the  people. 
26 


76  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

"The  constructive  powers  being  auxiliary  to  the  specifically 
granted  powers,  and  depending  for  their  sanction  and  existence  upon 
a  necessity  to  give  effect  to  the  latter — which  necessity  is  to  be 
sought  for  and  ascertained  by  a  sound  and  honest  discretion — it  is 
manifest  that  this  necessity  may  not  be  perceived,  at  one  time,  under 
one  state  of  things,  when  it  is  perceived,  at  another  time,  under  a 
different  state  of  things.  The  Constitution,  it  is  true,  never  changes ; 
it  is  always  the  same  ;  but  the  force  of  circumstances  and  the  lights 
of  experience  may  evolve,  to  the  fallible  persons  charged  with  its  ad- 
ministration, the  fitness  and  necessity  of  a  particular  exercise  of  con- 
structive power  to-day,  which  they  did  not  see  at  a  former  period." 
Mr.  Clay  then  goes  on  to  state  facts  which,  in  his  judgment,  rendered 
a  bank  in  1811  unnecessary.  There  were  other  means  of  conducting 
the  fiscal  affairs  of  the  Government ;  "  They,"  says  he,  "  superseded 
the  necessity  of  a  national  institution."  But  how  stood  the  case  in 
1816,  when  he  was  called  upon  again  to  examine  the  power  of  the 
General  Government  to  incorporate  a  national  bank?  A  total  change 
of  circumstances  was  presented;  events  of  the  utmost  magnitude 
had  intervened.  These  events  made  a  bank,  in  the  opinion  of  Mr. 
Clay,  necessary  and  proper,  as  an  implied  power,  and  therefore  con- 
stitutional. But  Mr.  Clay  does  not  do  full  justice  to  his  position  in 
1811.  He  then  declared  that  the  power  to  charter  companies  is  not 
specified  in  the  grant,  and  is  of  a  nature  not  transferable  by  mere 
implication.  It  is  one  of  the  most  exalted  attributes  of  sovereignty.  It 
is  inconceivable  how  a  man,  holding  these  opinions,  could  suffer  any 
possible  circumstances  that  might  arise,  to  influence  and  change  his 
position . 

Yet  Mr.  Clay  did  shift  his  ground  entirely,  and  contend,  that 
filth ough  the  power  to  charter  companies  was  not  specified  in  the 
grant,  and  was  one  of  the  most  exalted  attributes  of  sovereignty,  still 
it  was  a  constructive  power  necessary  and  proper  to  carry  into  effect 
those  specifically  granted,  and  therefore  to  be  implied  as  a  consequent 
and  appendage  to  them.  The  force  of  circumstances  may  evolve  to 
the  fallible  persons,  charged  with  the  administration  of  the  govern- 
ment, the  fitness  and  necessity  of  a  particular  exercise  of  constructive 
power  to-day,  which  they  did  not  see  at  a  former  period.  And  the 
degree  of  necessity  which  renders  such  constructive  pmver  constitu- 
tional is  made  to  depend  on  the  sound  and  honest  judgment  of  those 


POLITICAL  REFLECTIONS.  77 

in  authority.  Men  who  wish  to  exercise  a  doubtful  power,  not  spe* 
cified  in  the  grant,  may  themselves  create  the  circumstances  that  shall 
render  its  exercise,  in  their  estimation,  necessary  and  proper.  In- 
stead of  looking  to  the  charter  to  see  whether  the  power  is  granted, 
they  have  only  to  consider  the  force  of  circumstances  urging  on  them, 
and  to  consult  their  own  judgments  (fallible  persons)  as  to  the  degree 
of  necessity  which  justifies  the  assumption  of  an  undelegated  author- 
ity. This  is  a  virtual  surrender  of  the  Constitution.  By  such  a  law 
of  interpretation,  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Federal  Government  is  made 
unlimited,  and,  instead  of  possessing  delegated,  specifically  defined, 
and  limited  powers,  it  becomes  a  magnificent,  all-absorbing,  all-gov- 
erning empire,  with  unrestrained  and  unlimited  authority. 

But  Mr.  Clay  did  not  stand  alone  in  this  abandonment  of  the  Con- 
stitution. He  was  followed  by  a  decided  majority  of  the  republican 
party  in  Congress,  and  by  all  the  executive  authorities,  with  the  Pre- 
sident at  their  head.  At  first,  there  were  some  constitutional  scru- 
ples manifested  by  the  members  of  the  House  of  Representatives. 
Men  could  not  be  brought  to  believe  the  difficulties  in  question,  if 
they  existed  at  all,  were  such  as  to  require  the  House  to  sacrifice 
principle  at  the  shrine  of  necessity.  On  the  10th  of  January,  1814, 
Mr.  Eppes,  from  the  Committee  of  Ways  and  Means,  reported  that 
the  power  to  create  corporations  within  the  territorial  limits  of  the 
States,  without  the  consent  of  the  States,  is  neither  one  of  the  pow- 
ers delegated  by  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  or  essentially 
necessary  for  carrying  into  effect  any  delegated  power. 

Mr.  Calhoun,  of  South  Carolina,  moved  that  the  Committee  of  the 
Whole  be  discharged  from  the  consideration  of  this  report,  which  was 
agreed  to,  and  offered,  as  a  substitute,  a  resolution  that  the  Commit- 
tee of  Ways  and  Means  be  instructed  to  inquire  into  the  expediency 
of  establishing  a  national  bank,  to  be  located  in  the  District  of  Co- 
lumbia. In  this  way  they  thought  to  get  around  the  constitutional 
question.  But  men  soon  came  to  see  the  alarming  consequences  of 
an  interpretation  which  permitted  Congress,  in  the  District,  to  do  the 
most  unconstitutional  acts,  merely  because  they  possessed  exclusive 
jurisdiction. 

At  length,  all  these  subterfuges  were  abandoned ;  and  on  the  8th 
of  January,  1816,  an  ominous  day  for  the  bank,  Mr.  Calhoun  re- 
ported "  A  bill  to  incorporate  the  subscribers  to  the  Bank  of  the 

• 

I 


78  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

United  States."  In  his  opening  argument,  he  undertook  to  show  the 
necessity  that  urged  to  the  adoption  of  the  measure  now  proposed. 
"  We  have,"  says  he,  "  in  lieu  of  gold  and  silver,  a  paper  medium,  un- 
equally but  generally  depreciated,  which  affects  the  trade  and  indus- 
try of  the  nation ;  which  paralyzes  the  national  arm  ;  which  sullies 
the  faith,  both  public  and  private,  of  the  United  States — a  paper  no 
longer  resting  on  gold  and  silver  as  its  basis.  We  have,  indeed, 
laws  regulating  the  currency  of  foreign  coin,  but  they  are,  under  pre- 
sent circumstances,  a  mockery  of  legislation,  because  there  is  no  coin 
in  circulation.  The  right  of  making  money — an  attribute  of  sove- 
reign power,  a  sacred  and  important  right — was  exercised  by  two 
hundred  and  sixty  banks,  scattered  over  every  part  of  the  United 
States ;  not  responsible  to  any  power  whatever  for  their  issues  of 
paper.  The  next  and  great  inquiry  was,"  he  said,  "  how  this  evil 
was  to  be  remedied  ?  Restore,"  said  he,  "  these  institutions  to  their 
original  use ;  cause  them  to  give  up  this  usurped  power ;  cause  them 
to  return  to  their  legitimate  office  of  places  of  discount  and  deposit ; 
let  them  be  no  longer  mere  paper  machines  ;  restore  the  state  of 
things  which  existed  anterior  to  1813,  which  was  consistent  with 
the  just  policy  and  interests  of  the  country ;  cause  them  to  fulfil 
their  contracts ;  to  respect  their  broken  faith ;  resolve  that  every 
where  there  shall  be  an  uniform  value  to  the  national  currency ; 
your  constitutional  control  will  then  prevail."  A  National  Bank,  he 
argued,  was  the  specific  to  cure  all  these  evils. 

Mr.  Randolph,  who  made  his  appearance  in  the  House  for  the  first 
time  about  the  period  that  Mr.  Calhoun  introduced  his  bill,  took 
occasion  to  say,  that  he  had  listened  to  the  honorable  gentleman  with 
pleasure.  He  was  glad  to  see  a  cause  so  important  in  hands  so  able. 
He  promised  the  honorable  gentleman,  though  he  might  not  agree 
with  his  mode  of  remedying  the  evil,  he  would  go  with  him  in  the 
application  of  any  adequate  remedy  to  an  evil  which  he  regarded  as 
most  enormous. 

Mr.  Randolph  said  he  rose  to  ask  two  questions — one  of  the  gen- 
tleman from  South  Carolina,  aud  the  other  of  the  gentleman  from 
Maryland : — first,  how  the  paper  to  be  created  by  this  bank  will  cor- 
rect the  vitiated  state  of  our  currency?  and,  secondly,  how  bank 
notes  can  answer  the  purpose  of  a  circulating  medium  better  than 
treasury  notes  ?  Though  no  stickler  for  treasury  notes,  Mr.  Ran 


POLITICAL  REFLECTIONS.  79 

dolph  intimated  his  opinion  that  they  were,  in  time  of  peace,  a  better 
substitute  for  gold  and  silver  than  any  paper  he  had  yet  heard  sub- 
mitted. He  added  some  incidental  observations,  and  concluded  by 
saying,  that  he  was  sorry  to  see  the  apathy,  the  listlessness  on  this 
subject ;  on  a  question,  which,  if  it  passed,  would,  perhaps,  be  the 
most  important  decided  since  the  establishment  of  the  Constitution ; 
and  that  though  he  agreed  fully  as  to  the  extent  of  the  existing  evil, 
the  remedy  had  been  totally  mistaken. 

During  the  progress  of  the  bill  through  the  House,  a  motion  was 
made  to  strike  out  that  part  which  authorizes  the  Government  to 
subscribe  a  certain  portion  of  the  stock.  Mr.  Randolph  said  he 
should  vote  for  this  motion,  becau&  one  of  his  chief  objections  (one 
of  them,  he  repeated)  was  the  concern  which  it  was  proposed  to  give 
to  the  United  States  in  the  bank.  He  referred  to  the  sale,  by  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  some  years  ago.  of  the  shares  belonging  to 
the  Bank  of  the  United  States,  and  stated  the  reasons  of  his  approv- 
ing that  step  ;  but,  he  added,  that  it  was  a  strong  argument  against 
the  feature  of  the  bank  bill  now  under  consideration,  that  whenever 
there  should  be  in  this  country  a  necessitous  and  profligate  adminis- 
tration of  the  Government,  that  bank  stock  would  be  laid  hold  of  by 
the  first  Squanderfield  at  the  head  of  the  Treasury,  as  the  means  of 
filling  its  empty  coffers.  But,  if  there  was  no  objection  to  this  fea- 
ture stronger  than  that  it  would  afford  provision  for  the  first  rainy 
day,  it  might  not  be  considered  so  very  important.  He  argued,  how- 
ever, that  it  was  eternally  true,  that  nothing  but  the  precious  metals, 
or  paper  bottomed  on  them,  could  answer  as  the  currency  of  any 
nation  or  age,  notwithstanding  the  fanciful  theories  .that  great  pay- 
ments could  only  be  made  by  credits  and  paper.  How,  he  asked  on 
this  point,  were  the  mighty  armies  of  the  ancient  world  paid  off? 
Certainly  not  in  paper  or  bank  credits.  He  expressed  his  fears,  lest 
gentlemen  had  got  some  of  tfyeir  ideas  on  these  subjects  from  the 
wretched  pamphlets  under  which  the  British  and  American  press  had 
groaned,  on  the  subject  of  a  circulating  medium.  He  said  he  had 
once  himself  turned  projector,  and  sketched  the  plan  of  a  bank,  of 
which  it  was  a  feature,  that  the  Government  should  have  a  concern 
in  it ;  but  he  became  convinced  of  the  fallacy  of  his  views — he  found 
his  project  would  not  answer.  His  objections  to  the  agency  of  the 
Government  in  a  bank  was,  therefore,  he  said,  of  no  recent  date,  but 


80  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

one  long  formed — the  objection  was  vital ;  that  it  would  be  an  engine 
of  irresistible  power  in  the  hands  of  any  administration ;  that  it 
would  be  in  politics  and  finance,  what  the  celebrated  proposition  of 
Archimedes  was  in  physics — a  place,  the  fulcrum ;  from  which,  at 
the  will  of  the  Executive,  the  whole  nation  could  be  hurled  to  de- 
struction, or  managed  in  any  way,  at  his  will  and  pleasure. 

This  bill,  in  the  view  of  Mr.  Randolph,  presented  two  distinct 
questions :  the  one  frigidly  and  rigorously  a  mere  matter  of  calcula- 
lation ;  the  other,  involving  some  very  important  political  conside- 
rations. 

In  regard  to  the  present  depreciation  of  paper,  he  did  not  agree 
with  those  who  thought  the  establishment  of  a  National  Bank  would 
aid  in  the  reformation  of  it.  If  he  were  to  go  into  the  causes  which 
produced  the  present  state  of  things,  he  said,  he  should  never  end. 
As  to  the  share  the  banks  themselves  had  in  producing  it,  he  re- 
garded the  dividends  they  had  made  since  its  commencement  as  con- 
clusive proof. 

"  The  present  time,  sir,"  continued  Mr.  Randolph,  "  is,  in  my  view, 
one  of  the  most  diastrous  ever  witnessed  in  the  republic,  and  this  bill 
proves  it.  The  proposal  to  establish  this  great  bank  is  but  resorting 
to  a  crutch,  and,  so  far  as  I  understand  it,  it  is  a  broken  one ;  it  will 
tend,  instead  of  remedying  the  evil,  to  aggravate  it.  The  evil  of  the 
times  is  a  spirit  engendered  in  this  republic,  fatal  to  republican  prin- 
ciples— fatal  to  republican  virtue :  a  spirit  to  live  by  any  means  but 
those  of  honest  industry ;  a  spirit  of  profusion :  in  other  words,  the 
spirit  of  Catiline  himself — alieni  avidus  sui  profusus — a  spirit  of  ex- 
pediency, not  only  in  public  but  in  private  life :  the  system  of  Didler 
in  the  farce- — living  any  way  and  well ;  wearing  an  expensive  coat, 
and  drinking  the  finest  wines,  at  any  body's  expense.  This  bank,  I 
imagine,  sir,  (I  am  far  from  ascribing  to  the  gentleman  from  South 
Carolina  any  such  views,)  is,  to  a  certain  extent,  a  modification  of  the 
same  system.  Connected,  as  it  is  to  be,  with  the  Government,  when- 
ever it  goes  into  operation,  a  scene  will  be  exhibited  on  the  great 
theatre  of  the  United  States,  at  which  I  shudder.  If  we  mean  to  trans- 
mit our  institutions  unimpaired  to  posterity ;  if  some,  now  living,  wish 
to  continue  to  live  under  the  same  institutions  by  which  they  are  now 
ruled — and  with  all  its  evils,  real  or  imaginary,  I  presume  no  man 
will  question  that  we  live  under  the  easiest  government  on  the  globe 
— we  must  put  bounds  to  the  spirit  which  seeks  wealth  by  every  path 
but  the  plain  and  regular  path  of  honest  industry  and  honest  fame. 

Let  us  not  disguise  the  fact,  sir.  we  think  we  are  living  in  the  bet- 
ter times  of  the  Republic.  We  deceive  ourselves  ;  we  are  almost  in 


POLITICAL  REFLECTIONS.  g| 

the  days  of  Sylla  and  Marius  :  yes,  we  have  almost  got  down  to  the 
time  of  Jugurtha.  It  is  unpleasant  to  put  one's  self  in  array  against  a 
great  leading  interest  in  a  community,  be  they  a  knot  of  land  specula- 
tors, paper  jobbers,  or  what  not ;  but,  sir,  every  man  you  meet  in  this 
House  or  out  of  it,  with  some  rare  exceptions,  which  only  serve  to 
prove  the  rule,  is  either  a  stockholder,  president,  cashier,  clerk,  or 
doorkeeper,  runner,  engraver,  paper-maker,  or  mechanic,  in  some  way 
or  other,  to  a  bank.  The  gentleman  from  Pennsylvania  may  dismiss 
his  fears  for  the  banks,  with  their  one  hundred  and  seventy  millions 
of  paper,  on  eighty-two  millions  of  capital.  However  great  the  evil 
of  their  conduct  may  be,  who  is  to  bell  the  oat  ?  who  is  to  take  the 
bull  by  the  horns  ?  You  might  as  well  attack  Gibraltar  with  a  pocket 
pistol  as  to  attempt  to  punish  them.  There  are  very  few  who  dare 
speak  truth  to  this  mammoth.  The  banks  are  so  linked  together  with 
the  business  of  the  world,  that  there  are  very  few  men  exempt  from 
their  influence.  The  true  secret  is,  the  banks  are  creditors  as  well  as 
debtors ;  and  if  they  were  merely  debtors  to  us  for  the  paper  .in  our 
pockets,  they  would  soon,  like  Morris  and  Nicholson,  go  to  jail  (figu- 
ratively speaking)  for  having  issued  more  paper  than  they  were  able 
to  pay  when  presented  to  them.  A  man  has  their  note  for  fifty  dol- 
lars, perhaps,  in  his  pocket,  for  which  he  wants  fifty  Spanish  milled 
dollars  ;  but  they  have  his  note  for  five  thousand  in  their  possession, 
and  laugh  at  his  demand.  We  are  tied  hand  and  foot,  sir,  and  bound 
to  conciliate  this  great  mammoth,  which  is  set  up  to  worship  in  this 
Christian  land  :  we  are  bound  to  propitiate  it.  Thus  whilst  our  govern- 
ment denounces  hierarchy ;  will  permit  no  privileged  order  for  con- 
ducting the  services  of  the  only  true  God;  whilst  it  denounces  nobi- 
lity— has  a  privileged  order  of  new  men  grown  up,  the  pressure  of 
whose  foot,  sir,  I  feel  at  this  moment  on  my  neck.  If  any  thing 
could  reconcile  me  to  this  monstrous  alliance  between  the  bank  and 
the  government,  if  the  object  could  be  attained  of  compelling  the 
banks  to  fulfil  their  engagements,  I  could  almost  find  it  in  my  heart 
to  go  with  the  gentleman  in  voting  for  it. 

';  The  stuff  uttered  on  all  hands,  and  absolutely  got  by  rote  by  the 
haberdashers'  boys  behind  the  counters  in  the  shops,  tjhat  the  paper 
now  in  circulation  will  buy  any  thing  you  want  as  well  as  gold  and 
silver,  is  answered  by  saying  that  you  want  to  buy  silver  with  it. 
The  present  mode  of'  banking,  sir,  goes  to  demoralize  society  ;  it  is  as 
much  swindling  to  issue  notes  with  the  intent  not  to  pay,  as  it  is  bur- 
glary to  break  open  a  house.  If  they  are  unable  to  pay,  the  banks 
are  bankrupts  ;  if  able  to  pay  and  will  not,  they  are  fraudulent  bank- 
rupts. But  a  man  might  as  well  go  to  Constantinople  to  preach 
Christianity,  as  to  get  up  here  and  preach  against  the  banks.  To 
pass  this  bill  would  be  like  getting  rid  of  the  rats  by  setting  fire  to 
the  house.  Whether  any  other  remedy  can  be  devised,  I  will  not 


32  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

now  undertake  to  pronounce.  The  banks  have  lost  all  shame,  and 
exemplify  a  beautiful  and  very  just  observation  of  one  of  the  fines* 
writers,  that  men  banded  together  in  a  common  cause,  will  collectively 
do  that  at  which  every  individual  of  the  combination  would  spurn. 
This  observation  has  been  applied  to  the  enormities  committed  and 
connived  at  by  the  British  East  India  Company ;  and  will  equally 
appply  to  the  modern  system  of  banking,  and  still  more  to  the  spirit 
of  party. 

"  As  to  establishing  this  bank  to  prevent  a  variation  in  the  rate  of 
exchange  of  bank  paper,  you  might  as  well  expect  it  to  prevent  tho 
variations  of  the  wind ;  you  might  as  well  pass  an  act  of  Congress 
(for  which,  if  it  would  be  of  any  good,  I  should  certainly  vote)  to 
prevent  the  northwest  wind  from  blowing  in  our  teeth  as  we  go  from 
the  House  to  our  lodgings. 

"  But,  sir,  I  will  conclude  by  pledging  myself  to  agree  to  any  ade- 
quate means  to  cure  the  great  evil,  that  are  consistent  with  the  ad- 
ministration of  the  government,  in  such  a  manner  as  to  conduce  to 
the  happiness  of  the  people  and  the  reformation  of  the  public  morals." 

Mr.  Randolph  combated  the  bill  in  all  its  stages,  moved  amend- 
ments with  a  view  of  abridging  and  restraining  the  powers  of  the 
corporation,  and,  finally,  on  the  5th  of  April,  1816,  when  the  bill  was 
sent  back  from  the  Senate  with  sundry  amendments  for  the  concur- 
rence of  the  House,  he  moved,  for  the  purpose  of  destroying  the  bill, 
that  the  whole  subject  be  indefinitely  postponed  ;  and  supported  his 
motion  by  adverting  to  the  small  number  of  members  present,  and 
the  impropriety  of  passipg,  by  a  screwed  up,  strained,  and  costive 
majority,  so  important  a  measure,  at  the  end  of  a  session,  when  the 
members  were  worn  down  and  exhausted  by  a  daily  and  long  atten- 
tion to  business  ;  a  measure  which,  in  time  of  war,  and  of  great  pub- 
lic emergency,  could  not  be  forced  through  the  House  ;  a  measure  so 
deeply  involving  the  future  welfare,  and  which  was  to  give  a  color 
and  character  to  the  future  destiny  of  this  country  ;  a  measure  which, 
if  it  arid  another  (the  tariff)  should  pass  into  laws,  the  present  ses- 
sion would  be  looked  back  to  as  the  most  disastrous  since  the  com- 
mencement of  the  republic  ;  and  which,  much  as  he  deprecated  war. 
he  would  prefer  war  itself  to  either  of  them.  Mr.  Randolph  then 
proceeded  to  argue  against  the  bill  as  unconstitutional,  inexpedient, 
and  dangerous.  His  constitutional  objections,  he  said,  were  borno 
out  by  the  decision  of  Congress  in  refusing  to  renew  the  charter  of 
the  old  bank,  which  decision  was  grounded  on  the  want  of  constitu- 


POLITICAL  REFLECTIONS.  83 

tional  power.  He  adverted,  also,  in  support  of  his  opinion,  to  the 
instructions  from  the  legislatures  of  Virginia  and  Kentucky  to  their 
senators  to  vote  against  the  old  bank  ;  which  instructions  were  given 
on  the  ground  of  that  institution  being  unconstitutional.  "  I  declare 
to  you,  sir,"  said  Mr.  Randolph,  "  that  I  am  the  holder  of  no  stock 
whatever,  except  live  stock,  and  had  determined  never  to  own  any 
— but,  if  this  bill  passes,  I  will  not  only  be  a  stockholder  to  the 
utmost  of  my  power,  but  will  advise  every  man,  over  whom  I  have 
any  influence,  to  do  the  same,  because  it  is  the  creation  of  a  great 
privileged  order  of  the  most  hateful  kind  to  my  feelings,  and  because 
I  would  rather  be  the  master  than  the  sla  re.  If  I  must  have  a 
master,  let  him  be  one  with  epaulettes — something  that  I  can  fear 
and  respect,  something  that  I  can  look  up  to — but  not  a  master  with 
a  quill  behind  his  ear." 

After  finally  passing  through  both  Houses,  the  bank  bill  was  pie- 
sented  to  Mr.  Madison ;  he  signed  it,  and  it  became  a  law.  Mr. 
Madison,  it  is  well  known,  was  hitherto  opposed  to  the  incorporation 
of  a  National  Bank  on  constitutional  grounds.  His  Report  in  1799- 
1800,  to  the  Virginia  legislature  on  the  general  powers  of  the  Fed- 
eral Government,  is  conclusive  and  unanswerable  on  that  subject. 
But  on  the  present  occasion  he  waived  the  question  of  the  constitu- 
tional authority  of  the  legislature  to  establish  an  incorporated  bank, 
as  being  precluded,  in  his  judgment,  by  repeated  recognitions,  under 
varied  circumstances,  of  the  validity  of  such  an  institution  in  acts  of 
the  legislative,  executive,  and  judicial  branches  of  the  government, 
accompanied  by  indications,  in  different  modes,  of  a  concurrence  of 
the  general  will  of  the  nation. 

Mr.  Clay  and  his  compeers  surrendered  the  Constitution  on  the 
plea  of  necessity — the  force  of  circumstances — Mr.  Madison  on  the 
score  of  precedent — repeated  recognitions  of  the  validity  of  such  an 
institution  !  Well  might  the  patriot  weep  over  this  last,  fatal  act  of 
a  great  and  a  good  man  !  Well  might  he  bemoan  the  imbecility  of 
human  nature,  when  he  beheld  the  same  hand  that  constructed  the 
immortal  argument  by  which  the  Constitution  is  imtde  to  rest  on  its 
true  and  lasting  basis,  in  old  age  destroy  the  glorious  work  of  its 
meridian  power. 

Randolph  did  not  scruple  to  charge  this  act  to  the  weakness  of 


34  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

old  age.     Sonic  years  after  this  event,  and  when  the  bank  was  in  fuft 
career,  fulfilling  all  his  predictions,  hear  what  he  says  : — 

"  I  am  sorry  to  say,  because  I  should  be  the  last  man  in  the  world 
to  disturb  the  repose  of  a  venerable  man,  to  whom  I  wish  a  quiet  end 
of  his  honorable  life,  that  all  the  difficulties  under  which  we  have 
labored,  and  now  labor,  on  this  subject  (Tariff  and  Internal  Improve- 
ment by  the  General  Government),  have  grown  out  of  a  fatal  admis- 
sion, by  one  of  the  late  Presidents  of  the  United  States,  an  admission 
which  runs  counter  to  the  tenor  of  his  whole  political  life,  and  is  ex- 
pressly contradicted  by  one  of  the  most  luminous  and  able  state  pa- 
pers that  ever  was  written,  the  offspring  of  his  pen — an  admission 
which  gave  a  sanction  to  the  principle,  that  this  government  had  the 
power  to  charter  the  present  colossal  Bank  cf  the  United  States. 
Sir,"  said  Mr.  Randolph,  "  that  act,  and  one  other,  which  I  will  not 
name,  bring  forcibly  home  to  my  mind  a  train  of  melancholy  reflec- 
tions on  the  miserable  state  of  our  mortal  being. 

'.  In  life's  last  scenes,  what  prodigies  arise ! 
Fears  of  the  brave  and  follies  of  the  wise. 
From  Marlborough's  eyes  the  streams  of  dotage  floAV ; 
And  Swift  expires  a  driv'ler  and  a  show.' 

u  Such  is  the  state  of  the  case,  sir.  It  is  miserable  to  think  of  it 
— and  we  have  nothing  left  to  us  but  to  weep  over  it." 

And  again,  on  the  same  occasion,  in  1824 — 

"  But  the  gentleman  from  New-York,  and  some  others  who  have 
spoken  on  this  occasion,  say.  What !  shall  we  be  startled  by  a  shadow  ? 
Shall  we  recoil  from  taking  a  power  clearly  within  (what  ?)  our  reach  ? 
Shall  we  not  clutch  the  sceptre — the  air-drawn  sceptre  that  invites 
our  hand,  because  of  the  fears  and  alarms  of  the  gentleman  from 
Virginia? 

"  Sir,  if  I  cannot  give  reason  to  the  committee,  they  shall  at  least 
have  authority.  Thomas  Jefferson,  then  in  the  vigor  of  his  intellect, 
was  one  of  the  persons  who  denied  the  existence  of  such  powers — • 
James  Madison  was  another.  He,  in  that  masterly  and  unrivalled 
report  in  the  legislature  of  Virginia,  which  is  worthy  to  be  the  text- 
book of  every  American  statesman,  has  settled  this  question.  For 
me  to  attempt  to  add  any  thing  to  the  arguments  of  that  paper,  would 
be  to  attempt  to  gild  refined  gold — to  paint  the  lily — to  throw  a  per- 
fume on  the  violet — to  smooth  the  ice — or  add  another  hue  unto  the 
rainbow — in  every  aspect  of  it,  wasteful  and  ridiculous  excess.  Nei- 
ther will  I  hold  up  my  farthing  rush-light  to  the  blaze  of  that  me- 
ridian sun.  But,  sir,  I  cannot  but  deplore — my  heart  aches  when  I 
think  of  it — that  the  hand  which  erected  that  monument  of  political 
wisdom,  should  have  signed  the  act  to  incorporate  the  present  Bank 
of  the  United  States." 


HOME— SOLITUDE.  85 

i 

CHAPTER,    VII. 

HOME — SOLITUDE. 

MR.  RANDOLPH  was  not  less  strenuous  in  his  opposition  to  the  "  revenue 
bill,"  or  tariff  'measure^  of  this  eventful  session  ;  but  we  pass  that,  for 
the  present,  until  it  conies  up  again  in  a  more  aggravated  form.  Death, 
it  seems,  had  made  his  friends  the  chosen  mark  for  his  fatal  weapons. 
Mrs.  Judith  Randolph  died  in  March,  at  the  house  of  her  friend — a 
great  and  a  good  man — Dr.  John  H.  Rice,  of  Richmond.  She  doubt- 
less died  of  a  broken  heart.  Bereft  of  every  comfort,  life  had  no 
charms  for  her.  and  she  sought  death  as  a  blessing.  Her  friends 
and  Mr.  Randolph's  friends  followed  her  mortal  remains  in  sad  pro- 
cession to  Tuckahoe — the  family  seat  of  her  ancestors — some  miles 
above  Richmond,  on  James  River,  where  they  rest  in  peace  beneath 
the  shadow  of  those  venerable  oaks  that  witnessed  the  sweet  gambols 
of  her  joyous  and  innocent  childhood. 

No  sooner  was  this  sad  bereavement  communicated  to  Mr.  Ran- 
dolph, than  he  was  called  to  the  bedside  of  a  dying  friend — an  old 
and  tried  friend — a  companion  who  had  stood  by  him  through  evil  as 
well  as  good  report,  as  he  fought  like  a  bold  champion  for  the  Con- 
stitution and  the  rights  of  the  people.  "Yesterday  (April  llth)  we 
buried  poor  Stanford.  I  staid  by  his  bedside  the  night  before  he 
died.  Jupiter  was  worn  down  by  nursing  him,  and  is  still  feeling  the 
effects  of  it.  He  returned  home  on  Sunday  morning,  and  has  been 
sick  ever  since.  My  own  health  is  not  much  better,  and  my  spirits 
worse.  Poor  Stanford  !  he  is  not  the  least  regretted  of  those  who 
have  been  taken  from  me  within  the  past  year." 

In  addition  to  his  present  family — Dr.  Dudley  and  young  Clay — 
Mr.  Randolph  took  upon  himself  the  charge  and  the  responsibility  of  two 
other  orphan  boys.  "  I  have  just  returned  from  Baltimore,  where  I 
went  to  meet  the  sons  of  my  deceased  friend  Bryan,  consigned  to  my 
care.  They  are  fine  boys,  but  have  been  much  neglected.  I  propose 
to  place  them  at  Prince  Edward  College,  under  the  care  of  Dr. 
Hogue,  after  they  shall  have  undergone  some  preparatory  tuition  at 
Mr.  Lacy's  school." 


86  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

These  acts  speak  for  themselves.  By  these,  and  such  as  these, 
that  crowd  his  whole  life,  let  him  be  judged.  Here  is  one  the 
world  have  agreed  to  condemn  as  a  misanthrope — a  hater  of  his 
fellow-man.  It  is  certain  he  did  not  seek  to  be  known  of  men. 
Few  could  understand  ("  My  mother — she  understood  me !"),  few 
could  appreciate  him. 

While  apparently  absorbed  in  the  business  of  legislation,  the  great 
question  was  still  uppermost  in  his  thoughts.  Before  leaving  Wash- 
ington for  his  solitary  home,  he  sought  an  interview  with  his  trusty 
friend,  "Frank  Key,"  and  rode  over  to  Georgetown  (May  7th,  1816,) 
for  that  purpose.  But  failing  to  meet  with  him.  he  went  into  Semmes's 
Hotel,  and  wrote  him  the  following  letter  : 

"  Hearing,  at  Davis's,  yesterday,  that  you  were  seen  in  George- 
town the  evening  before,  I  came  here  in  the  expectation  of  the  pleas- 
ure of  seeing  you ;  but  my  intelligence  proved  to  be  like  the  greater 
part  that  happens  under  that  name  in  this  poor,  foolish  world  of 
ours.  I  had  also  another  motive.  I  wished  to  give  Wood  an  oppor- 
tunity to  finish  the  picture.  I  called  last  evening,  but  he  was  gone  to 
Mt.  Yernon.  I  shall  drive  by  his  apartment,  and  give  him  the  last 
sitting  this  morning.  It  is  a  soothing  reflection  to  me,  that  your 
children,  long  after  I  am  dead  and  gone,  may  look  upon  their  some- 
time father's  friend,  of  whose  features  they  will  have  perhaps  retained 
some  faint  recollection.  Let  me  remind  you  that,  although  I  am 
childless,  I  cannot  forego  my  claim  to  the  return  picture,  on  which  I 
set  a  very  high  value. 

"  Your  absence  from  home  is  a  sore  disappointment  to  me.  I 
wanted  to  have  talked  with  you,  unreservedly,  on  subjects  of  the  high- 
est interest.  I  wanted  your  advice  as  a  friend,  on  the  course  of  my 
future  life.  Hitherto  it  has  been  almost  without  plan  or  system — 
the  sport  of  what  we  call  chance. 

"  About  a  year  ago,  I  got  a  scheme  into  my  head,  which  I  have 
more  than  once  hinted  to  you ;  but  I  fear  my  capacity  to  carry  it 
into  execution. 

"  There  is,  however,  another  cause  of  uneasiness,  about  which  I 
could  have  wished  to  confer  freely  with  you.  It  has  cost  me  many  a 
pang,  within  a  few  months  past  especially.  In  the  most  important 
of  human  concerns  I  have  made  no  advancement ;  on  the  contrary 
(as  is  always  the  case  when  we  do  not  advance),  I  have  fallen  back. 
My  mind  is  filled  with  misgivings  and  doubts  and  perplexities  that 
leave  me  no  repose.  Of  the  necessity  for  forgiveness  I  have  the 
strongest  conviction  ;  but  I  cannot  receive  any  assurance  that  it  has 
been  accorded  to  me.  In  short.  I  am  in  the  worst  conceivable  situ- 


HOME— SOLITUDE.  87 

atioii  as  its  respects  my  internal  peace  and  future  welfare.  I  want 
aid  ;  and  the  company  and  conversation  of  such  a  friend  as  yourself 
might  assist  in  dispelling,  for  a  time,  at  least,  the  gloom  that  de- 
presses me.  I  have  humbly  sought  comfort  where  alone  it  is  effectu- 
ally to  be  obtained,  but  without  success.  To  you  and  Mr.  Meade  I 
can  venture  to  write  in  this  style,  without  disguising  the  secret  work- 
ings of  my  heart.  I  wish  I  could  always  be  in  reach  of  you.  The 
solitude  of  my  own  dwelling  is  appalling  to  me.  Write  to  me,  and 
direct-  to  Richmond." 

To  this  Mr.  Key  replied : 

"  As  we  could  not  confer  upon  the  subjects  yc«u  mention,  we  must 
postpone  them  till  we  meet  again,  or  manage  them  in  writing ;  just 
as  you  please.  In  either  way  you  will  have  much  to  excuse  in  me  ; 
but  I  trust  you  will  find  within  yourself  a  counsellor  and  comforter 
who  will  guide  you  'into  all  peace.'  Desperate  indeed  would  be 
our  case,  if  we  had  nothing  better  to  lead  us  than  our  own  wisdom 
and  strength  or  the  experience  of  our  friends.  If,  notwithstanding 
all  your  doubts  and  misgivings,  you  are  sincerely  and  earnestly  desi- 
rous to  know  the  truth,  and  resolved  to  obey  it,  cost  what  it  may,  you 
have  the  promise  of  God  that  it  shall  be  revealed  to  you.  If  you  are 
convinced  you  are  a  sinner,  that  Christ  alone  can  save  you  from 
the  sentence  of  condemnation  incurred  by  your  sins,  and  from  the 
dominion  of  them ;  if  you  make  an  entire  and  unconditional  surren- 
der of  yourself  to  his  service,  renouncing  that  of  the  world  and  of 
yourself;  if  you  thus  humbly  and  faithfully  come  to  him,  'he  will  in 
no  wise  cast  you  out.' 

"  You  can  do  much  for  the  cause  of  religion,  whatever  plan  of  life 
you  may  adopt ;  you  can  resolutely  and  thoroughly  bear  your  testi- 
mony in  its  favor.  You  can  adorn  its  doctrines,  and  so  preach  them 
most  powerfully  by  a  good  life.  You  can  be  seen  resisting  and  over- 
coming, in  the  strength  of  God,  the  powerful  and  uncommon  tempta- 
tions that  oppose  you ;  and  your  light  can,  and,  I  trust,  will  shine 
far  and  brightly  around  you.  Do  not  be  disheartened  by  the  diffi- 
culties you  may  feel ;  they  are  experienced  by  all,  and  grace  and 
strength  to  overcome  them  are  offered  to  all.  The  change  from  dark- 
ness to  light,  from  death  to  life,  is  the  result  of  no  single  effort,  but 
of  constant  and  persevering,  and,  often,  painful  striving.  How  can 
it  be  otherwise  when  we  think  of  what  that  change  is  ?  It  finds  us 
'  dead  in  trespasses  and  sins,'  '  having  our  conversation  in  the  flesh,' 
'  fulfilling  the  desires  of  the  flesh  and  of  the  mind,'  '  children  of 
wrath,'  'without  Christ.'  'strangers  to  the  covenant  of  promise, 
'  having  no  hope,  and  without  God  in  the  world  •'  and  it  makes  us 
'  nigh  by  the  blood  of  Christ ;'  '  no  more  foreigners  and  strangers,  but 
fellow-citizens  with  the  saints  and  of  the  household  of  God;'  'justi- 
fied by  faith,  and  having  peace  with  God,  through  our  Lord  Jesus 


S3  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

Christ.'     May  you  experience  this  change,  my  dear  friend,  in  all  its 
blessedness." 

Randolph  thus  replied : 

"  ROANOKE,  June  16,  1816. 

"  Owing  to  the  incorrigible  negligence  of  the  postmaster  at  Rich- 
mond, I  did  not  get  your  letter  of  the  22d  of  last  month  until  this 
morning.  I  had  felt  some  surprise  at  not  hearing  from  you,  and  the 
delay  of  your  letter  served  but  to  enhance  its  value.  I  read  it  this 
morning  in  bed,  and  derived  great  consolation  from  the  frame  of  mind 
to  which  it  disposed  me.  My  time  has  been  a  wretched  one  since  I  saw 
you — dreary  and  desponding.  I  heard  Mr.  Hogue  yesterday ;  and  dur- 
ing a  short  conversation,  riding  from  church,  he  told  me  that  he  believed 
that  there  were  times  and  seasons  when  all  of  us  were  overcome  by 
such  feelings  in  spite  of  our  best  -efforts  against  them ;  efforts  which, 
however,  we  ought  by  no  means  to  relax,  since  they  tended  both  to  miti- 
gate the  degree  and  shorten  the  period  of  our  sufferings.  My  own 
case  (every  body,  no  doubt,  thinks  the  same)  appears  to  be  peculiarly 
miserable.  To  me  the  world  is  a  vast  desert,  and  there  is  no  merit 
in  renouncing  it,  since  there  is  no  difficulty.  There  never  was  a  time 
when  it  was  so  utterly  destitute  of  allurement  for  me.  The  difficulty 
with  me  is  to  find  some  motive  to  action — something  to  break  the 
sluggish  tenor  of  my  life.  I  look  back  upon  the  havoc  of  the  past 
year  as  upon  a  bloody  field  of  battle,  where  my  friends  have  perished. 
I  look  out  towards  the  world,  and  find  a  wilderness,  peopled  indeed, 
but  not  with  flesh  and  blood — with  monsters  tearing  one  another  to 
pieces  for  money  or  power,  or  some  other  vile  lust.  Among  them 
will  be  found,  with  here  and  there  an  exception,  the  professors  of  the 
religion  of  meekness  and  love,  itself  too  often  made  the  bone  of  con- 
tention and  faction.  Is  it  not  strange  that  a  being  so  situated  should 
find  difficulty  in  renouncing  himself,  the  dominion  of  his  own  bad  pas- 
sions? To  such  an  one  another  and  a  better  world  is  a  necessary 
refuge,  and  yet  he  cannot  embrace  it. 

"  My  dear  friend,  it  is  very  unreasonable  that  I  should  throw  the 
burthen  of  my  black  and  dismal  thoughts  upon  you ;  but  they  so 
weigh  me  down  that  I  cannot  escape  from  them ;  and  when  I  can 
speak  without  restraint,  they  will  have  vent." 

Mr.  Randolph  spent  the  summer  at  home  entirely  alone.  Dr. 
Dudley's  health  required  a  visit  to  the  Virginia  Springs,  where  he 
remained  during  the  season.  The  boys  were  at  school.  With 
the  exception  of  a  short  visit  to  Richmond,  he  did  not  leave  hia 
own  plantation.  His  time  was  consumed  in  silence  and  in  solitude. 
There  can  be  no  question  that  this  entire  abstinence  from  human 
society — the  cheerful  face  of  man  and  woman — the  morning  saluta- 


DYING,  SIR— DYING.  89 

tion  and  the  evening  converse  with  friends  loving  and  beloved — had  a 
pernicious  influence  on  his  health,  his  mind,  and  his  temper. 

No  man  enjoyed  with  a  higher  relish  the  intellectual  and  polished 
society  of  those  friends,  men  and  women,  whom  he  had  endeared  to 
him  by  the  strongest  ties  of  affection,  no  man  felt  more  keenly  its  ab- 
sence. Yet  it  seems  to  have  been  his  lot  to  live  in  solitude ;  so  fetf 
understood  him  ! 

On  the  25th  of  October  he  thus  writes  to  Mr.  Key : 

"  If  your  life  is  so  unsatisfactory  to  you,  what  must  that  of  others 
be  to  them  ?  For  my  part,  if  there  breathes  a  creature  more  empty 
of  enjoyment  than  myself,  I  sincerely  pity  him.  My  opinions  seem 
daily  to  become  more  unsettled,  and  the  awful  mystery  which  shrouds 
the  future  alone  renders  the  present  tolerable.  The  darkness  of  my 
iiours,  so  far  from  having  passed  away,  has  thickened  into  the  deepest 
gloom.  I  try  not  to  think,  by  moulding  my  mind  upon  the  thoughts 
of  others  ;  but  to  little  purpose.  Have  you  ever  read  Zimmerman 
on  Solitude  ?  I  do  not  mean  the  popular  cheap  book  under  that 
title,  but  another,  in  which  solitude  is  considered  with  respect  to  its 
dangerous  influence  upon  the  mind  and  the  heart.  I  have  been 
greatly  pleased  with  it  for  a  few  hours.  It  is  a  mirror  that  reflects 
the  deformity  of  the  human  mind  to  whomsoever  will  look  into  it. 

"  Dudley  is  with  me.  He  returned  about  a  month  ago  from  our 
Springs,  and  I  think  he  has  benefited  by  the  waters.  He  returns 
your  salutation  most  cordially.  We  have  been  lounging  a  la  Virgini- 
anne,  at  the  house  of  a  friend,  about  a  day  and  a  half's  ride  off.  In 
a  few  days  I  shall  return  to  the  same  neighborhood,  not  in  pussuit  of 
pleasure,  but  pursued  by  ennui." 


CHAPTEK    VIII 

DYING,   SIR — DYING. 

THE  session  of  Congress  which  terminated  the  4th  of  March,  1817, 
presents  nothing  of  much  public  interest.  The  most  remarkable  act 
of  the  session  is  the  compensation  law,  as  it  was  called,  by  which 
members  voted  themselves  a  fixed  salary  for  their  services,  instead  of 
the  usual  per  diem  allowance. 

Mr.  Randolph's  half  brother,  Henry  St.  George  Tucker,  was  a 


90  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

member  of  this  Congress.  On  his  way  to  "Washington  he  \vas  upset 
in  the  stage — had  his  shoulder  dislocated,  and  in  other  respects  was 
much  injured.  So  soon  as  the  news  of  this  accident  reached  him, 
Mr.  Randolph  hastened  to  the  bedside  of  his  brother,  and  on  his 
return  to  Washington  wrote  the  following  letter  : 

"  I  have  been  very  unwell  since  I  left  you,  but  not  in  consequence 
of  my  journey  to  your  bedside.  On  the  contrary  I  believe  I  am  the 
better  for  it  in  every  respect.  A  wide  gulf  has  divided  us,  of  time 
and  place  and  circumstance.  Our  lot  has  been  different,  very  differ- 
ent indeed.  I  am  l  the  last  of  the  family ' — of  my  family  at  least— 
and  I  am  content  that  in  my  person  it  should  become  extinct.  In 
the  rapid  progress  of  time  and  of  events,  it  will  quickly  disappear 
from  the  eye  of  observation,  and  whatsoever  of  applause  or  disgrace 
it  may  have  acquired  in  the  eyes  of  man,  will  weigh  but  little  in  the 
estimation  of  Him  by  whose  doom  the  everlasting  misery  or  happi- 
ness of  our  condition  is  to  be  irrevocably  fixed.  '  We  are  indeed 
clay  in  the  potter's  hands.'  " 

Mr.  Randolph's  health  during  this  winter  was  wretched  in  the 
extreme  ;  more  especially  towards  the  close.  The  reader  is  already 
aware  of  his  determination  "  to  wash  his  hands  of  politics  " — he  had 
announced  to  his  friends  that  he  would  not  be  a  candidate  again  for 
Congress.  On  Saturday  night,  February  8th,  he  wrote  to  Dr. 
Dudley — 

"  Your  letter  of  the  2d  was  put  into  my  hands  this  morning,  just 
as  I  was  about  to  make  my  last  dying  speech."  The  next  Tuesday 
he  says — "  I  scribbled  a  few  lines  to  you  on  Saturday  evening  last, 
at  which  time  I  was  laboring  under  the  effects  of  fresh  cold,  taken 
in  going  to  and  coming  from  the  House,  where  I  delivered  my  valedic- 
tory. It  was  nearer  being,  than  I  then  imagined,  a  valedictory  to  this 
world.  That  night,  and  the  next  day  and  night,  I  hung  suspended 
between  two  worlds,  and  had  a  much  nearer  glimpse  than  I  have  ever 
yet  taken  of  the  other. 

"  That  I  have  written  this  letter  with  effort  will  be  apparent  from 
the  face  of  it.  I  am  not  ashamed  to  confess  that  it  has  cost  me  some 
bitter  tears — but  they  are  not  the  tears  of  remorse.  They  flow  from 
the  workings  of  a  heart  known  only  to  Him  unto  whom  the  prayers 
and  the  groans  of  the  miserable  ascend.  I  feel  that  in  this  world  I 
am  alone— that  all  my  efforts  (ill-judged  and  misdirected  I  am  wil- 
ling to  allow  they  must  have  been)  have  proved  abortive.  What 
remains  of  my  life  must  be  spent  in  a  cold  and  heartless  intercourse 
with  mankind,  compared  with  which  the  solitude  of  Robinson  Crusoe 
was  bliss.  I  have  no  longer  a  friend.  Do  not  take  this  unkindly,  for 
it  is  not  meant  so.  On  this  subject,  as  well  as  on  some  others,  per 


DYING,  SIR— DYING.  91 

haps,  I  have  been  an  enthiisiast — but  I  know  neither  how  to  concili- 
ate the  love  nor  to  command  the  esteem  of  mankind ;  and  like  the 
officious  ass  in  the  fable,  must  bear  the  blows  inflicted  on  my  pre- 
sumption. May  God  bless  you,  my  brother.  You  have  found  the 
peace  of  this  world.  May  you  find  that  of  the  world  to  come,  which 
passeth  all  understanding.  If  it  be  his  good  pleasure,  we  may  meet 
again  ;  if  not  in  this  life,  in  life  everlasting,  where  all  misunderstand- 
ing and  misinterpretation  shall  be  at  an  end ;  and  the  present  delu- 
sions of  self  appear  in  their  proper  and  vile  deformity,  and  the  busy 
cares  and  sorrows  which  now  agitate  and  distress  us  seem  more  trivial 
than  the  tears  of  infancy — succeeded,  not  by  transient,  but  everlast- 
ing sunshine  of  the  heart.  Amen,  and  so  let  it  be. 

JOHN  RANDOLPH  OF  RCA.NOKE. 

Jan.  21,  1817.     Tuesday. 

Swiiaay  morning. — I  have  been  reading  Lear  these  two  days,  and 
incline  to  prefer  it  to  all  Shakspeare's  plays.  In  that  and  Timon  only, 
it  has  been  said,  the  bard  was  in  earnest.  Read  both — the  first  espe- 
cially, 

Tuesday,  Feb.  18*7*. — "  I  had  hardly  finished  my  last  letter  (Sun- 
day the  16th)  to  you,  when  I  was  seized  by  spasms  that  threatened 
soon  to  terminate  all  my  earthly  cares ;  although  the  two  nights  since 
have  been  passed  almost  entirely  without  sleep,  I  am  much  better." 

Sunday,  February  23d. — "  The  worst  night  that  I  have  had  since 
my  indisposition  commenced.  It  was,  I  believe,  a  case  of  croup,  com- 
bined with  the  affection  of  the  liver  and  the  lungs.  Nor  was  it  un- 
like tetanus,  since  the  muscles  of  the  neck  and  back  were  rigid,  and 
the  jaw  locked.  I  never  expected,  when  the  clock  struck  two,  to 
hear  the  bell  again  ;  fortunately,  as  I  found  myself  going,  I  dispatched 
a  servant  (about  one)  to  the  apothecary  for  an  ounce  of  laudanum. 
Some  of  this  poured  down  my  throat,  through  my  teeth,  restored  me 
to  something  like  life.  I  was  quite  delirious,  but  had  method  in  my 
madness ;  for  they  tell  me  I  ordered  Juba  to  load  my  gun  and  to 
shoot  the  first  "  doctor"  that  should  enter  the  room ;  adding,  they  are 
only  mustard  seed,  and  will  serve  just  to  sting  him.  Last  night  I 
was  again  very  sick ;  but  the  anodyne  relieved  me.  I  am  now  per- 
suaded that  I  might  have  saved  myself  a  great  deal  of  suffering  by 
the  moderate  use  of  opium.  This  day  week,  when  racked  with  cramps 
and  spasms,  my  "  doctors"  (I  had  two)  prescribed  (or  rather,  admin- 
istered) half  a  glass  of  Madeira.  Half  a  drop  of  rain  water  would 
have  been  as  efficient.  On  Tuesday,  Wednesday,  and  Thursday,  I 
attended  the  House ;  brought  out  the  first  day  by  the  explosion  of 
the  motion  to  repeal  the  internal  taxes  ;  and  the  following  days  by 
some  other  circumstances  that  I  will  not  now  relate.  Knocked  up 
completely  by  the  exertion,  instead  of  recalling  my  physicians,  I  took 
my  own  case  boldly  in  hand ;  took  one  and  a  half  grains  of  calomel ; 

27 


92  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

i 

on  Tuesday  night  and  yesterday  using  mlrcurial  friction.  The  liver 
is  again  performing  its  functions,  and  I  am,  this  evening,  decidedly 
better  than  I  have  been  since  the  first  attack,  which  I  may  date  from 
my  fall  at  Mr.  T.'s,  on  Tuesday,  the  21st  of  January.  From  that  pe- 
riod, the  operations  of  the  liver  have  been  irregular  and  disturbed. 
I  conceive  the  lungs  to  be  affected  by  sympathy,  with  the  other  viscus. 
I  have  taken  from,  five  to  ten  grains  of  the  hypercarbonated  natron 
every  day,  most  generally  five  grains,  in  a  tablespoonful  of  new  milk, 
sometimes  repeating- the  dose  at  night.  My  drink  has  been  slippery 
elm  tea  and  lemonade.  Appetite  for  acids  very  strong.  Severe 
pains  in  the  fasciae  of  the  legs  and  the  tendons,  just  above  the  outer 
ankle  bone ;  also,  knees,  &c.  I  have  taken,  from  the  first,  a  pill  of 
one  and  a  half  grains  of  calomel  about  two,  sometimes  three  times  a 
week ;  and  several  doses  of  Cheltenham  salts.  I  have  used  the  vola- 
tile liniment  for  my  throat  and  limbs ;  also,  gargles  of  sage  tea.  bo- 
rax, &c. 

Mrs.  John  M.,  Mrs.  B.,  and  Mrs.  F.  K.,  have  been  very  kind  in 
sending  me  jellies,  lemons,  &c.,  &c.  Thomas  M.  N.  has  been  ex- 
tremely attentive  and  obliging.  Mr.  K.  of  New  York,  Mr.  Chief 
Justice,  Mr.  H.  of  Maryland,  Mr.  M.  of  South  Carolina,  Mr.  B.  of 
Georgetown,  (I  need  not  name  Frank  Key.)  M.  (no  longer  Abbe)  C. 
de  S.,  and  D.,  have  been  very  kind  in  their  attentions.  Mr.  M.  sent 
me  some  'old,  choice  Madeira,  and  his  man  cook  to  dress  my  rice  (a 
mystery  not  understood  any  where  on  this  side  of  Cape  Fear  river), 
sending  also  the  rice  to  be  dressed ;  and  Mr.  Chief  Justice  came  to 
assist  me  in  drawing  up  my  will — which  I  had  strangely  and  crimi- 
nally neglected  for  some  time  past,  and  of  which  neglect  I  was  more 
strangely  admonished  in  a  dream." 

About  this  time,  says  JVIr.  Win.  H.  Roane,  who  was  a  member  of 
Congress  from  Virginia  during  the  session  of  1816-17,  "I  remem- 
ber that  one  morning  Mr.  Lewis  came  into  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives and  addressed  Mr.  Tyler  and  myself,  who  were  the  youngest 
members  from  Virginia,  and  said  we  must  go  to  Georgetown  to  Mr. 
Randolph.  We  asked  for  what ;  he  said  that  Mr.  Randolph  had  told 
him  that  he  was  determined  not  to  be  buried  as  beau  Dawson  had 
been,  at  the  public  expense,  and  he  had  selected  us  young  bloods  to 
come  to  him  and  take  charge  of  his  funeral.  We  went  over  imme- 
diately. When  we  entered  Mr.  Randolphs  apartments  he  was  in 
his  morning  gown.  He  rose  and  shook  us  by  the  hand.  On  our  in- 
quiries after  his  health,  he  said,  '  Dying  !  dying  !  dying  !  in  a  dread- 
ful state.'  He  inquired  what  was  going  on  in  Congress.  We  told 
him  that  the  galleries  were  filling  with  people  of  the  District,  and 


DYING,  SIR— DYING.  93 

that  there  was  considerable  excitement  on  the  re-chartering  of  the 
batch  of  banks  in  the  District.  He  then  broke  off  and  commenced 
upon  another  subject,  and  pronounced  a  glowing  eulogium  upon  the 
character  and  talents  of  Patrick  Henry.  After  sitting  for  some  time, 
and  nothing  being  said  on  the  business  on  which  we  had  been  sent  to 
him,  we  rose  and  took  our  leave.  When  we  got  to  the  door,  I  said, 
'  I  wish,  Mr.  Randolph,  you  could  be  in  the  House  to-day.'  He  shook 
his  head — '  Dying,  sir,  dying  !'  When  we  had  got  back  to  the  House 
of  Representatives,  Mr.  Lewis  came  in  and  asked  how  we  had  found 
Mr.  Randolph.  We  laughed  and  said  as  well  as  usual — that  we  had 
spent  a  very  pleasant  morning  with  him,  and  been  much  amused  by 
his  conversation.  Scarcely  a  moment  after,  Mr.  Lewis  exclaimed, 
'  There  he  is !'  and  there  to  be  sure  he  was.  He  had  entered  by 
another  door,  having  arrived  at  the  Capitol  almost  as  soon  as  we  did. 
In  a  few  moments  he  rose  and  commenced  a  speech,  the  first  sentence 
of  which  I  can  repeat  verbatim. — '  Mr.  Speaker,'  said  he,  '  this  is 
Shrove  Tuesday.  Many  a  gallant  cock  has  died  in  the  pit  on  this 
day,  and  I  have  come  to  die  in  the  pit  also.'  He  then  went  on  with 
his  speech,  and  after  a  short  time  turned  and  addressed  the  crowd  of 
'  hungry  expectants,'  as  he  called  them — tellers,  clerks,  and  porters  in 
the  gallery." 

Mr.  Randolph  left  Washington  the  day  after  Mr.  Monroe's  inau- 
guration. "  No  mitigation  of  my  cruel  symptoms  took  place  until 
the  third  day  of  my  journey,  when  I  threw  physic  to  the  dogs,  and 
instead  of  opium,  tincture  of  columbo,  hypercarbonate  of  soda,  &c., 
&c.,  I  drank,  in  defiance  of  my  physician's  prescription,  copiously  of 
cold  spring  water,  and  ate  plentifully  of  ice.  Since  that  change  of  re- 
gimen niy  strength  has  increased  astonishingly,  and  I  have  even 
gained  some  flesh,  or  rather,  skin.  The  first  day,  Wednesday  the  5th, 
I  could  travel  no  farther  than  Alexandria.  At  Dumfries,  where  I 
lay,  but  slept  not,  on  Thursday  night,  T  had  nearly  given  up  the  ghost. 
At  a  spring,  five  miles  on  this  side,  after  crossing  Chappawamsick,  I 
took,  upon  an  empty  and  sick  stomach,  upwards  of  a  pint  of  living 
water,  unmixed  with  Madeira,  which  I  have  not  tasted  since.  It  was 
the  first  thing  that  I  had  taken  into  my  stomach  since  the  first  of  Feb- 
ruary that  did  not  produce  nausea.  It  acted  like  a  charm,  and  enabled 
me  to  get  on  to  B.'s  that  night,  where  I  procured  ice.  I  also  devoured 
with  impunity  a  large  pippin  (forbidden  fruit  to  me).  Next  day  I 


94        f  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

got  to  the  Oaks,  forty-two  miles.  Here  I  was  more  unwell  than  the 
night  before.  On  Sunday  morning  I  reached  my  friends,  Messrs.  A. 
&  Co.,  to  breakfast,  at  half  past  eight." 

On  the  road  between  the  Boiling  Green  and  Fredericksburg, 
he  came  up  with  the  stage  with  Mr.  Roane  and  other  members  of 
Congress  on  their  homeward  journey.  As  he  drew  up  his  phaeton 
along  side  the  stage,  Mr.  Roane  called  out,  "  How  are  you,  Mr.  Ran- 
dolph?" "  Dying,  sir,  dying  !"  and  then  dashed  off  and  out  travelled 
the  stage. 

He  was,  indeed,  much  nearer  dying  than  his  friends  imagined. 
Shortly  after  his  arrival  in  Richmond  he  was  taken  very  ill,  and  lay 
for  many  weeks  utterly  prostrate  and  helpless  at  the  house  of  Mr. 
Cunningham,  in  that  city.  In  after  years  he  often  recumd  to  this 
period  as  the  time  of  his  greatest  prostration.  March  3d,  1824,  he 
says,  "  You  have  no  idea  how  very  feeble  I  am.  I  crawled  yesterday 
to  P.  Thompson's  bookseller's  shop,  butcould  not  get  back  afoot. 
The  vis  vitse  has  not  been  lower  with  me  since  the  spring  of  1817, 
How  well  I  recollect  this  very  day  of  that  year  !" 


CHAPTEE    IX. 

CONVERSION. 

FOR  a  long  time  the  state  of  Mr.  Randolph's  health  was  such  that  he 
confined  himself  entirely  at  home,  and  even  ceased  correspondence 
with  his  friends,  which  at  all  times  constituted  his  principal  source  of 
enjoyment.  His  first  attempt  was  the  following  letter  addressed  to 
his  friend  Key : 

ROANOKE,  Feb.  9, 1818. 

DEAR  FRANK  :  A  long  while  ago  I  wrote  to  you  in  reply  to  the 
only  letter  that  I  have  received  for  many,  many  months.  I  know 
that  you  have  something  better  to  do  than  to  be  scribbling  to  me ; 
but  I  beg  you  to  take  my  case  into  your  special  consideration.  I  am 
as  much  out  of  the  world  as  if  I  were  in  Kamtschatka  or  Juan  Fer- 
nandez— without  a  single  neighbor,  confined  by  my  infirmities  often 
to  the  house,  and  disabled  by  them  from  attending  to  my  affairs, 
which  might  give  me  amusement  and  employment  at  the  same  time. 


CONVERSION.  95 

The  state  of  manners  around  rne  cannot  be  paralleled,  I  believe,,  on 
the  face  of  the  earth — all  engaged  with  unremitting  devotion  in  the 
worship  of 

"  The  least  erected  spirit 
Tliat  fell  from  heaven." 

This  pursuit  I  know  to  be  general  throughout  the  land,  and,  indeed, 
I  fear  throughout  the  world ;  but  elsewhere  it  is  tempered  by  the 
spirit  of  society,  and  even  by  a  love  of  ostentation  or  of  pleasure. 
Here  it  reigns  undivided.  There  is  no  intercourse  but  of  business ; 
and  a  man  who  will  ride  more  miles  for  a  shilling  than  a  post-boy, 
will  hardly  go  one  to  visit  a  sick  neighbor.  *  *  *  *  I  am  afraid  you 
will  consider  the  foregoing  as  no  proof  of  what  I  am  about  to  add  ; 
but  let  me  assure  you  that  there  is  nothing  personal  between  these 
"  poor  rich  men"  and  me  :  on  the  contrary,  I  feel  toward  them  only 
pity  and  good  will,  and  let  no  occasion  pass  without  manifesting  the 
latter  disposition. 

I  think  that  the  state  of  solitude  and  dereliction  in  which  I  am 
placed,  has  not  been  without  some  good  effect  in  giving  me  better 
views  than  I  have  had  of  the  most  important  of  all  subjects ;  and  I 
would  not  exchange  it,  comfortless  as  it  is,  for  the  heartless  inter- 
course of  the  world.  I  know  that  "  if  a  man  says  he  loves  God,  and 
hates  his  brother,  he  is  a  liar;"  but  I  do  not  hate  my  brethren  of  the 
human  family.  I  fear,  howeve.r,  that  I  cannot  love  them  as  I  ought. 
But  God,  I  hope  and  trust,  will  in  his  good  time  put  better  disposi- 
tions into  my  heart.  There  are  few  of  them,  I  am  persuaded,  more 
undeserving  of  love  than  I  am. 

March  2.  Every  day  brings  with  it  new  evidences  of  my  weak- 
ness and  utter  inability,  of  myself,  to  do  any  good  thing,  or  even  to 
conceive  a  single  good  thought.  With  the  unhappy  father  in  the 
Gospel,  I  cry  out,  "Lord!  I  believe,  help  thou  mine  unbelief." 
When  I  think  of  the  goodness,  and  wisdom,  and  power  of  God,  I  seem, 
in  my  own  eyes,  a  devil  in  all  but  strength.  I  say  this  to  you,  who 
will  not  ascribe  it  to  affected  humility.  Sometimes  I  have  better 
views,-  but  again  I  am  weighed  down  to  the  very  earth,  or  lost  in  a 
labyrinth  of  doubts  and  perplexities.  The  hardness  of  my  own 
heart  grieves  and  astonishes  me.  Then,  again,  I  settle  down  in  a 
state  of  coldness  and  indifference,  which  is  worse  than  all.  But  the 
quivering  of  our  frail  flesh,  often  the  effect  of  physical  causes,  cannot 
detract  from  the  mercy  of  our  Creator,  and  to  him  I  commit  myself 
"  Thy  will  be  done  !" 

M does  not  "  give  me  all  the  news,"  nor,  indeed,  any  for  a 

long  time  past.  At  the  commencement  of  the  session  of  Congress,  he 
wrote  pretty  frequently,  and  through  him  I  heard  of  you.  It  would 
delight  me  very  much  to  spend  a  few  weeks  with  you.  I  would  even 
try  to  be  an  usher  in  your  school.  [Mr.  Key  was  teaching  his  own 


96  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

children.]  At  least,  I  could  teach  the  younger  children  to  read, 
Give  my  love  to  them  all,  and  to  their  mother.  I  had  a  sister  once, 
and  I  never  think  of  her  without  being  reminded  of  Mrs.  Key. 

•I  have  not  read  Cunningham's  poem.  Is  it  the  author  of  "  The 
Velvet  Cushion  ?"  I  have  lately  met  with  an  entertaining  work  from 
the  pen  of  an  English  Jacobin,  Hazlitt's  Character  of  Shakspeare ; 
and  have  tried  to  read  Coleridge's  Literary  Life.  There  are  fine  pas- 
sages, but  his  mysticism  is  too  deep  for  me.  I  have  seen,  too,  a  ro- 
mance, called  the  Life  of  Patrick  Henry — a  wretched  piece  of  fus- 
tian. 

I  have  not  turned  entirely  a  savage,  although  a  man  of  the 
woods,  and  almost  wild.  Bodily  motion  seems  to  be  some  relief  to 
mental  uneasiness,  and  I  was  delighted  yesterday  morning  to  hear 
that  the  snipes  are  come.  On  this  subject  of  mental  malady,  it  ap- 
pears that  madness  is  almost  epidemic  among  us.  Many  cases  have 
appeared  in  Petersburg  and  elsewhere.  In  this  county  we  had  a 
preacher  of  the  Methodist  sect  (not  itinerant),  a  man  of  excellent 
character  and  very  good  sense.  He  was  generally  esteemed,  and  al- 
though quite  poor,  by  the  aid  of  a  notable  wife  lived  neatly  and  com- 
fortably. Last  winter  the  clerk  of  our  county  died,  and  this  preacher, 
by  diligent  canvass,  got  the  place  by  one  vote,  in  a  court  of  more  than 
twenty  magistrates.  From  the  time  that  he  commenced  his  canvass 
his  manners  changed.  A  still  further  change  was  perceptible  after 
he  got  the  office ;  and  -a  few  weeks  ago  he  got  quite  insane.  His 
friends  set  off  with  him  on  a  journey  to  Georgia.  But  the  first  night 
he  gave  them  the  slip,  and  is  supposed  to  have  drowned  himself.  I 
heard  yesterday  that  a  party  were  out  seeking  for  him.  He  had  taken 
laudanum  for  the  purpose  of  suicide,  but  his  stomach  would  not  re- 
tain it.  Some  ascribe  his  malady  to  remorse,  others  to  the  effects  of 
sudden  prosperity.  This  county  seems  to  labor  under  a  judgment. 
It  has  been  conspicuous  for  the  order  and  morality  of  the  inhabit- 
ants ;  and  such  is  the  general  character,  I  hope,  yet.  But  within 
two  or  three  years  past  it  has  been  the  theatre  of  crimes  of  the 
deepest  atrocity.  Within  a  few  months  there  have  occurred  two  in- 
stances of  depravity,  the  most  shocking  that  can  be  conceived.  But 
I  am  giving  you  a  county  history,  instead  of  a  letter.  Farewell,  my 
dear  friend ;  while  I  have  life  I  am  yours. 

RICHMOND,  April  29,  1818. 

DEAR  FRANK — On  my  arrival  here  the  day  before  yesterday,  I 
found  the  picture  and  the  picture-frame  which  poor  L.  left  for  me. 

Wood  has  again  failed,  but  not  so  entirely  as  at  first.  It  is  you 
in  some  of  your  humors,  but  neither  your  serious  nor  more  cheerful 
face.  It  shall  hang,  however,  near  my  bed,  and  I  hope  will  prove  a 
benefit  as  well  as  a  pleasure  to  me.  My  love  to  Mrs.  Key.  I  hope 


CONVERSION.  97 

she  has  presented  you  with  a  better  likeness  of  yourself  than  any 
painter  can  draw.  If  I  could  envy  you,  I  should  covet  one  of  your 
boys,  and.  perhaps,  one  of  your  girls  too,  if  I  were  not  so  old. 

I  haye  "read  Manfred,"  and  was  overpowered  by  the  intense 
misery  of  the  writer.  Unless  he  shall  seek  refuge  above,  where  alone  it 
is  to  be  found,  it  is  to  be  feared  madness,  perhaps  suicide,  is  his  portion. 
It  created  in  me  the  strongest  interest  for  the  unhappy  author,  and  I 
actually  projected  writing  him  a  letter,  such  a  one  as  could  have  dis- 
pleased no  man,  and  might,  perhaps,  have  done  good.  The  air  of  pre- 
sumption which  such  a  step  might  carry  with  it  made  me  drop  the 
•:  notion." 


pies, 

suspect 

at  this  castigation  of  that  caricature  of  a  caricature,  Phillips.     He 

"  out-Currans"  Curran.  . 

I  do  not  take,  but  shall  order  the  Christian  Observer.     I  have 
seen  many  of  the  numbers,  and  found  them  admirable. 
"  Fare  thee  well,  and  if  for  ever, 
Still  for  ever  fare  thee  well." 

I  regret  the  stifling  of  your  poetical  bantling.  Can't  you  send  me 
some  of  the  "  disjecta  membra  ?"  There  is  no  need  of  a  bottle  of  spirits 
of  wine  to  preserve  them  in  apothecary  fashion.  On  reaching  this 
place,  I  found  my  poor  nephew,  who  has  been  a  tenant  of  the  man- 
sion that  inspired  your  muse.  Sir  P.  Francis  is  not  Junius,  the 
reviewer  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding. 

On  his  return  from  Richmond,  Mr.  Randolph  sank  down  into  the 
deepest  melancholy  ;  some  even  allege  that  it  amounted  to  an  aberra- 
tion of  mind — to  positive  delirium.  The  reader  is  aware  that  for  years 
previous  to  this  time,  the  deepest  gloom,  lasting  many  days  in  succes- 
sion, overshadowed  his  mind,  evincing  the  existence-of  some  corroding 
care,  for  which  he  neither  sought,  nor  would  receive,  any  sympathy. 

The  subject  of  religion  had  become  the  all-absorbing  theme 
of  his  meditations.  God7  freedom,  and  immortality  ;  sin,  death,  and 
the  grave  ;  Christ,  redemption,  and  free  grace,  are  "  high  matters," 
well  calculated,  at  any  time,  to  disturb  the  strongest  intellect. 

But  when  we  come  to  consider  the  solitude  in  which  he  lived, 
the  emaciated  condition  of  his  delicate  frame,  worn  down  by  long  and 
torturing  disease,  the  irritable  state  of  his  nervous  system — •'  he  was 
almost  like  a  man  without  a  skin" — the  constant  and  sleepless  excite- 
ment of  his  mental  faculties  and  of  his  brilliant  imagination  induced 
by  this  morbid  irritability ;  when  we  throw  ourselves  into  his  condi- 


98  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

tion,  and  conceive  of  the  crowd  of  burning  thoughts  that  pressed  upon 
his  inindj  pass  in  melancholy  review  the  many  friends  that  had  been 
torn  from  him  by  the  hand  of  death,  the  many  who  had  forgotten  him 
and  forsaken  him  as  a  fallen  man,  no  longer  serviceable  to  them ;  call  to 
remembrance  that  his  own  father's  house  was  desolate,  St.  George  in 
the  mad-house,  himself,  like  Logan,  alone  in  his  cabin,  without  a  drop 
of  his  father's  blood  save  that  which  coursed  in  his  own  well-nigh  ex- 
hausted veins ;  and,  above  all,  when  we  call  to  remembrance  his  first, 
his  youthful,  and  his  only  love,  which  is  said  to  have  greatly  revived 
in  his  mind  at  this  time  with  the  painful  yet  hallowed  associations 
that  clustered  around  its  cherished  memory,  who  can  wonder  that  a 
man,  with  the  temperament  of  John  Randolph,  under  these  circum- 
stances should  fling  away  all  restraint,  and  should  cry  aloud  in  the 
anguish  of  his  soul,  and  should  so  act  and  speak  as  to  excite  the 
astonishment  of  those  around,  and  induce  them  to  believe  that  he 
was  a  madman  !  In  a  similar  situation  David  was  a  madman  ;  Byron 
was  a  madman ;  Rousseau — all  high-souled,  deep-feeling  men  of 
genius,  in  the  eye  of  the  world  were  madmen. 

Dr.  Dudley  says,  that  for  many  weeks  his  conduct  towards  him- 
self, who  was  the  only  inmate  of  his  household,  had  been  marked  by 
contumelious  indignities,  which  required  almost  heroic  patience  to 
endure,  even  when  aided  by  a  warm  and  affectionate  devotion,  and  an 
anxious  wish  to  alleviate  the  agonies  of  such  a  mind.  All  hope  of 
attaining  this  end,  he  says,  finally  failed,  and  he  announced  to  Mr. 
Randolph  his  determination  no  longer  to  remain  with  him.  Mr. 
Randolph  then  addressed  him  the  following  letter,  so  full  of  affec- 
tion and  tenderness,  that  it  shows  his  best  friends  did  not  understand 
him,  and  that  in  his  dark  days  of  horror,  when  caprice  and  petulance 
marked  his  conduc4-,  they  did  him  a  cruel  injustice  by  supposing  that 
the  harsh  expression  or  extravagant  conduct,  forced  out  by  the  an- 
guish of  his  soul,  Avas  really  intended  as  a  premeditated  injury  to 
their  feelings. 

"  August,  1818. 

"  I  consider  myself  under  obligations  to  you  that  I  can  never  re- 
pay. I  have  considered  you  as  a  blessing  sent  to  me  by  Providence, 
in  my  old  age,  to  repay  the  desertion  of  my  other  friends  and  nearer 
connections.  It  is  in  your  power  (if  you  please)  to  repay  me  all  the 
debt  of  gratitude  that  you  insist  upon  being  due  to  me ;  although  I 
consider  myself,  in  a  pecuniary  point  of  view,  largely  a  gainer  by 


CONVERSION.  99 

our  connection.  But  if  you  are  unwilling  to  do  so,  I  must  be  content 
to  give  up  my  last  stay  upon  earth ;  for  I  shall,  in  that  case,  send  the 
boys  to  their  parents.  Without  you,  I  cannot  live  here  at  all,  and 
will  not.  What  it  is  that  has  changed  your  manner  towards  me,  I 
cannot  discover.  I  have  ascribed  it  to  the  disease  (hypochondriasis) 
by  which  you  are  afflicted,  and  which  affects  the  mind  and  temper,  as 
well  as  the  animal  faculties.  In  your  principles,  I  have  as  unbounded 
confidence  as  I  have  in  those  of  any  man  on  earth.  Your  disinterest- 
edness, integrity,  and  truth,  would  extort  my  esteem  and  respect,  even 
if  I  were  disposed  to  withhold  them.  I  love  you  as  my  own  son — would 
to  God  you  were !  I  see,  I  think,  into  your  heart — mine  is  open 
before  you,  if  you  will  look  into  it.  Nothing  could  ever  eradicate 
this  affection,  which  surpasses  that  of  any  other  person  (as  I  believe) 
on  earth.  Your  parents  have  other  children — I  have  only  you. 
But  I  see  you  wearing  out  your  time  and  wasting  away  in  this  desert, 
where  you  have  no  society  such  as  your  time  of  life,  habits,  and  taste 
require.  I  have  looked  at  you  often  engaged  in  contributing  to  my 
advantage  and  comfort,  with  tears  in  my  eyes,  and  thought  I  was  self- 
ish and  cruel  in  sacrificing  you  to  my  interest.  I  am  going  from 
home  ;  will  you  take  care  of  my  affairs  until  I  return  ?  I  ask  it  as  a 
fa.vor.  It  is  possible  that  we  may  not  meet  again  ;  but,  if  I  get  more 
seriously  sick  at  the  springs  than  I  am  now,  I  will  send  for  you,  un- 
less you  will  go  with  me  to  the  White  Sulphur  Springs.  Wherever 
I  am,  my  heart  will  love  you  as  long  as  it  beats.  From  your  boy- 
hood I  have  not  been  lavish  of  reproof  upon  you.  Recollect  my 
past  life." 

Mr.  Randolph  set  out  on  his  journey  to  the  Springs — spent  some 
days  in  Lynchburg — went  as  far  as  Bottetourt  County — ascended 
the  Peaks  of  Otter,  the  highest  point  of  the  Blue  Ridge  Mountains 
in  Virginia — and  then  returned  home  to  Roanoke.  There  seems  to 
have  been  a  total  change  in  his  mind  about  this  time.  From  the 
deepest  gloom  and  despondency,  he  seems  to  have  attained  clearness 
and  satisfaction  on  the  subject  of  religion.  He  said  they  wanted  him 
to  go  to  the  Springs,  but  he  had  found  a  spring  here,  on  this  hill  (Roa- 
noke), more  efficacious — a  well — a  fountain  of  living  waters.  He 
thus  writes  to  Mr.  Key : 

ROANOKE,  Sept.  7,  1818. 

Congratulate  me,  dear  Frank — wish  me  joy  you  need  not ;  give 
it  you  cannot — I  am  at  last  reconciled  to  my  God,  and  have  assur- 
ance of  his  pardon,  through  faith  in  Christ,  against  which  the  very 
gates  of  hell  cannot  prevail.  Fear  hath  been  driven  out  by  perfect 
love.  I  noiv  knoio  that  you  know  how  I  feel ;  and  within  a  month, 


100  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

for  the  first  time  I  understand  your  feelings  and  character,  and  that 
of  every  real  Christian.     Love  to  Mrs.  Key  and  your  brood. 

I  am  not  now  afraid  of  being  "  righteous  overmuch,"  or  ol 
"  Methodistical  notions." 

Thine,  in  Truth, 

J.  R.  OF  R. 

Let  Meade  know  the  glad  tidings,  and  let  him,  if  he  has  kept  it 
read  and  preserve  my  letter  to  him  from  Richmond  years  ago. 

He  thus  writes  to  Dr.  Brockenbrough : 

September  25. 

MY  GOOD  FRIEND, — I  am  sorry  that  Quashee  should  intrude 
npon  you  unreasonably.  The  old  man,  I  suppose,  knows  the  pleasure 
I  take  in  yo*ur  letters,  and  therefore  feels  anxious  to  procure  his  mas- 
ter the  gratification.  I  cannot,  however,  express  sorrow—  for  I  do 
not  feel  it — at  the  impression  which  you  tell  me  my  last  letter  made 
upon  you.  May  it  lead  to  the  same  happy  consequences  that  I  have 
experienced — which  I  now  feel — in  that  sunshine  of  the  heart, 
which  the  peace  of  God,  that  passeth  all  understanding,  alone  can 
bestow ! 

Your  imputing  such  sentiments  to  a  heated  imagination  does  not 
surprise  me,  who  have  been  bred  in  the  school  of  Hobbs  and  Bayle, 
and  Shaftesbury  and  Bolingbroke,  and  Hume  and  Voltaire  and  Gib- 
bon ;  who  have  cultivated  the  skeptical  philosophy  from  my  vain- 
glorious boyhood — I  might  almost  say  childhood — and  who  have  felt 
all  that  unutterable  disgust  which  hypocrisy  and  cant  and  fanaticism 
never  fail  to  excite  in  men  of  education  and  refinement,  superadded 
to  our  natural  repugnance  to  Christianity.  I  am  not,  even  now,  in- 
sensible to  this  impression  ;  but  as  the  excesses  of  her  friends  (real 
or  pretended)  can  never  alienate  the  votary  of  liberty  from  a  free 
form  of  government,  and  enlist  him  under  the  banners  of  despot- 
ism, so  neither  can  the  cant  of  fanaticism,  or  hypocrisy,  or  of  both 
(for  so  far  from  being  incompatible,  they  are  generally  found  united 
in  the  same  character — may  God  in  his  mercy  preserve  and  defend 
us  from  both)  disgust  the  pious  with  true  religion. 

Mine  has  been  no  sudden  change  of  opinion.  I  can  refer  to  a 
record,  showing,  on  my  part,  a  desire  of  more  than  nine  years'  standing, 
to  partake  of  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper ;  although,  for  two- 
and-twenty  years  preceding,  my  feet  had  never  crossed  the  threshold 
of  the  house  of  prayer.  This  desire  I  was  restrained  from  indulging, 
by  the  fear  of  eating  and  drinking  unrighteously.  And  although 
that  fear  hath  been  cast  out  by  perfect  love,  I  have  never  yet  gone  to 
the  altar,  neither  have  I  been  present  at  the  performance  of  divine  ser- 
vice, unless  indeed  I  may  so  call  my  reading  the  liturgy  of  our  church, 


CONVERSION.  101 

and  some  chapters  of  the  Bible  to  my  poor  negroes  on  Sundays.  Such 
passages  as  I  think  require  it,  and  which  -I  feel  competent  to  explain, 
I  comment  upon — enforcing  as  far  as  possible,  and  dwelling  upon, 
those  texts  especially  that  enjoin  the  indispensable  accompaniment 
of  a  good  life  as  the  touchstone  of  the  true  faith.  The  Sermon  from 
the  Mount,  and  the  Evangelists  generally ;  the  Epistle  of  Paul  to  the 
Ephesians,  chap.  vi. ;  the  General  Epistle  of  James,  and  the  First 
Epistle  of  John  :  these  are  my  chief  texts. 

The  consummation  of  my  conversion — I  use  the  word  in  its 
strictest  sense — is  owing  to  a  variety  of  causes,  but  chiefly  to  the  con- 
viction, unwillingly  forced  upon  me,  that  the  very  few  friends  which 
an  unprosperous  life  (the  fruit  of  an  ungovernable  temper)  had  left 
me  were  daily  losing  their  hold  upon  me,  in  a  firmer  grasp  of  am- 
bition, avarice,  or  sensuality.  I  am  not  sure  that,  to  complete  the 
anti-climax,  avarice  should  not  have  been  last ;  for  although,  in  some 
of  its  eifects,  debauchery  be  more  disgusting  than  avarice,  yet,  as  it 
regards  the  unhappy  victim,  this  last  is  more  to  be  dreaded.  Dissi- 
pation, as  well  as  power  or  prosperity,  hardens  the  heart ;  but  avarice 
deadens  it  to  every  feeling  but  the  thirst  for  riches.  Avarice  alone 
could  have  produced  the  slave-trade ;  avarice  alone  can  drive,  as  it 
does  drive,  this  infernal  traffic,  and  the  wretched  victims  of  it,  like  so 
many  post-horses,  whipped  to  death  in  a  mail-coach.  Ambition  has 
its  reward  in  the  pride,  pomp,  and  circumstance  of  glorious  war ;  but 
where  are  the  trophies  of  avarice  ? — the  handcuff,  the  manacle,  and 
the  blood-stained  cowhide  1  What  man  is  worse  received  in  society 

for  being  a  hard  master  ?  Every  day  brings  to  light  some  H e 

or  H ns  in  our  own  boasted  land  of  liberty !  Who  denies  the 

hand  of  a  sister  or  daughter  to  such  monsters  ?  Nay,  they  have  even 
appeared  in  "the  abused  shape  of  the  vilest  of  women."  I  say 
nothing  of  India,  or  Amboyna,  of  Cortez  or  Pizarro. 

When  I  was  last  in  your  town  I  was  inexpressibly  shocked  (and 
perhaps  I  am  partly  indebted  to  the  circumstance  for  accelerating  my 
emancipation)  to  hear,  on  the  threshold  of  the  temple  of  the  least 
erect  of  all  the  spirits  that  fell  from  heaven,  these  words  spoken,  by 
a  man  second  to  none  in  this  nation  in  learning  or  abilities ;  one,  too, 
whom  I  had,  not  long  before,  seen  at  the  table  of  our  Lord  and 
Saviour  :  "  I  do  not  want  the  Holy  Ghost  (I  shudder  while  I  write), 
or  any  other  spirit  in  me.  If  these  doctrines  are  true  (St..Paul's), 
there  was  no  need  for  Wesley  and  Whitfield  to  have  separated  from 
the  church.  The  Methodists  are  right,  and  the  church  wrong.  I 
^ant  to  see  the  old  church,"  &c.  &c. :  that  is,  such  as  this  diocese  was 
under  Bishop  Terrick,  when  wine-bibbing  and  buck-parsons  were  sent 
out  to  preach  ';  a  dry  clatter  of  morality,"  and  not  the  word  of  God, 
for  1 6,000  Ibs.  of  tobacco.  When  I  speak  of  morality  it  is  not  as 
condemning  it ;  religion  includes  it,  but  much  more.  Day  is  now 


102  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

breaking  and  I  shall  extinguish  my  candles,  which  are  better  than  no 
light ;  or  if  I  do  not.  in  the  presence  of  the  powerful  king  of  day 
they  will  be  noticed  only  by  the  dirt  and  ill  savor  that  betray  all 
human  contrivances,  the  taint  of  humanity.  Morality  is  to  the  Gospel 
not  even  as  a  farthing  rushlight  to  the  blessed  sun. 

By  the  way.  this  term  Methodist  in  religion  is  of  vast  compass 
and  effect,  like  tory  in  politics,  or  arigtocrate  in  Paris,  u  with  the 
lamp-post  for  its  second,"  some  five  or  six-and-twenty  years  ago. 

Dr.  Hage  ?  "  a  Methodist  parson."  Frank  Key  ?  "  a  fanatic,"  (I 
heard  him  called  so  not  ten  days  ago,)  "a  Methodistical,  whining,  &c., 
&c."  Wilberforce?  "a  Methodist."  Mrs.  Hannah  More?  "ditto." 
It  ought  never  to  be  forgotten,  that  real  converts  to  Christianity  on 
opposite  sides  of  the  globe  agree  at  the  same  moment  to  the  same 
facts.  Thus  Dr.  Hoge  and  Mr.  Key,  although  strangers,  understand 
perfectly  what  each  other  feels  and  believes. 

If  I  were  to  show  a  MS.  in  some  unknown  tongue  to  half  a  dozen 
persons,  strangers  to  each  other  and  natives  of  different  countries, 
and  they  should  all  give  me  the  same  translation,  could  I  doubt  their 
acquaintance  with  the  strange  language  ?  On  the  contrary,  can  I, 
who  am  but  a  smatterer  in  Greek,  believe  an  interpreter  who  pretends 
to  a  knowledge  of  that  tongue,  and  yet  cannot  tell  the  meaning  of 

TVUTOJ  1 

I  now  read  with  relish  and  understand  St.  Paul's  epistles,  which 
not  long  since  I  could  not  comprehend,  even  with  the  help  of  Mr. 
Locke's  paraphrase.  Taking  up,  a  few  days  ago,  at  an  "  ordinary," 
the  life  of  John  Banyan,  which  I  had  never  before  read,  I  find  an 
exact  coincidence  in  our  feelings  and  opinions  on  this  head,  as  well 
as  others. 

Yery  early  in  life  I  imbibed  an  absurd  prejudice  in  favor  of 
Mahomedanism  and  its  votaries.  The  crescent  had  a  talismanic 
effect  on  my  imagination,  and  I  rejoiced  in  all  its  triumphs  over  the 
cross  (which  I  despised)  as  I  mourned  over  its  defeats ;  and  Mahomet 
II.  himself  did  not  more  exult  than  I  did,  when  the  crescent  was 
planted  on  the  dome  of  St.  Sophia,  and  the  cathedral  of  the  Con- 
stantines  was  converted  into  a  Turkish  mosque.  To  this  very  day  I 
feel  the  effects  of  Peter  Randolph's  Zanga  on  a  temper  naturally  im- 
patient of  injury,  but  insatiably  vindictive  under  insult. 

On  the  night  that  I  wrote  last  to  you  I  scribbled  a  pack  of  non- 
sense to  Rootes,  which  serves  only  to  show  the  lightness  of  my  heart. 
About  the  same  time,  in  reply  to  a  question  from  a  friend,  I  made  the 
following  remarks,  which,  as  I  was  weak  from  long  vigilance,  I  re- 
quested him  to  write  down,  that  I  might,  when  at  leisure,  copy  it  into 
my  diary,  From  it  you  will  gather  pretty  accurately  the  state  of  my 
mind. 

I  Lav:)  been  up  long  before  day,  and  write  with  pain,  from  a  sense 


CONVERSION.  103 

of  duty  to  }rou  and  Mrs.  B.,  in  whose  welfare  I  take  the  most  earnest 
concern.     You  have  my  prayers :  give  me  yours}  I  pray  you. 
Adieu ! 

JOHN  RANDOLPH  OF  ROANOKE. 

I  was  on  the  top  of  the  pinnacle  of  Otter  this  day  fortnight :  a 
little  above  the  earth,  but  how  far  beneath  heaven  ! 

"  NOTE. — It  is  my  business  to  avoid  giving  offence  to  the  world, 
especially  in  all  matters  merely  indifferent.  I  shall  therefore  stick 
to  my  old  uniform,  blue  and  buff,  unless  God  sees  fit  to  change  it  for 
black.  I  must  be  as  attentive  to  my  dress,  and  to  household  affairs, 
as  far  as  cleanliness  and  comfort  are  concerned,  as  ever,  and  indeed 
more  so.  Let  us  take  care  to  drive  none  away  from  God  by  dress- 
ing religion  in  the  garb  of  fanaticism.  Let  us  exhibit  her  as  she  is, 
equally  removed  from  superstition  and  lukewarmness.  But  we  must 
take  care,  that  while  we  avoid  one  extreme  we  fall  not  into  the  other ; 
no  matter  which.  I  was  born  and  baptized  in  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land. If  I  attend  the  Convention  at  Charlottesville,  which  I  rather 
doubt,  I  shall  oppose  myself  then  and  always  to  every  attempt  at 
encroachment  on  the  part  of  the  church,  the  clergy  especially,  on  the 
rights  of  conscience.  I  attribute,  in  a  very  great  degree,  my  long 
estrangement  from  God  to  my  abhorrence  of  prelatical  pride  and 
puritanical  preciseness ;  to  ecclesiastical  tyranny,  whether  Roman 
Catholic  or  Protestant ;  whether  of  Henry  V.  or  Henry  VIII ;  of 
Mary  or  Elizabeth ;  of  John  Knox  or  Archbishop  Laud ;  of  the 
Cameronians  of  Scotland,  the  Jacobins  of  France,  or  the  Protestants 
of  Ireland.  Should  I  fail  to  attend,  it  will  arise  from  a  repugnance 
co  submit  the  religion,  or  church,  any  more  than  the  liberty  of  my 
country,  to  foreign  influence.  When  I  speak  of  my  country,  I  mean 
the  Commonwealth  of  Virginia.  I  was  born  in  allegiance  to  George 
III.;  the  Bishop  of  London  ( Terrick !)  was  my  diocesan.  My  an- 
cestors threw  off  the  oppressive  yoke  of  the  mother  country,  but  they 
never  made  me  subject  to  Neio  England  in  matters  spiritual  or  tem- 
poral ;  neither  do  I  mean  to  become  so,  voluntarily." 

Mr.  Key,  on  getting  the  news  of  his  friend's  conversion,  responded 
in  this  wise : — 

"I  do,  indeed,  my  dear  friend,  rejoice  with  you — I  have  long 
wished,  and  often  believed  with  confidence,  that  you  would  experience 
what  God  has  now  blessed  you  with.  I  need  not  tell  you  (if  I  could) 
of  its  value,  for  I  trust  you  feel  it  to  be  '  unspeakable.'  May  the 
grace  that  has  brought  you  from  '  darkness  to  light,'  from  *  death  to 
life,'  keep  you  forever  ! 

"  Nor  do  I  rejoice  merely  on  your  own  account  or  mine.     The 


104  LMV  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

wonders  that  God  is  every  where  doing  show  us  that  these  are  no  or« 
dinary  times,  and  justify  us  in  hoping  and  expecting  for  greater  mani- 
festations of  his  power  and  goodness.  You  stand  on  an  eminence— 
'•  let  your  light  shine'  brightly  >  that  all  may  see  it — steadily,  that  they 
may  know  whence  it  comes,  and  '  glorify  your  Father  which  is  in 
heaven.' 

"  Write  to  me  often  and  particularly ;  *  out  of  the  abundance  of  the 
heart  the  mouth  speaketh ;'  and  may  I  always  hear  that  you  are  fol- 
lowing the  guidance  of  that  blessed  Spirit  that  will  '  lead  you  into  all 
truth,'  leaning  on  that  Almighty  arm  that  has  been  extended  to  deliver 
you,  trusting  only  in  the  only  Saviour,  and  *  going  on'  in  your  way  to 
him  '  rejoicing.' 


CHAPTEE  X. 

IDIOSYSTCRACIES. 

A  QUICK,  intuitive  understanding,  a  vivid  imagination,  an  irritable 
temper,  superadded  to  an  extremely  delicate  and  diseased  constitu- 
tion, produced  a  complicated  character  in  John  Randolph,  that  ren- 
dered him  remarkably  sensitive  to  outward  influences.  He  was. 
indeed,  a  creature  of  impulse,  influenced  for  the  time  being  by  the  cir- 
cumstances by  which  he  was  surrounded.  Things  that  could  produce 
no  impression  on  men  of  less  delicate  sensibility,  would  affect  him 
most  seriously.  An  east  wind,  that  could  produce  no  impression  on 
the  cold,  phlegmatic  temperament  of  Dr.  Johnson,  operated  on  the 
nerves  of  John  Randolph  like  a  sirocco  of  the  desert.  He  was  gen- 
erally disposed  to  look  on  the  dark  side  of  the  picture,  to  imagine  the 
worst,  and  suffer  intensely  from  an  anticipation  of  what  might  never 
happen 

So  long  as  he  lived  in  solitude,  unaffected  by  the  influences  of  the 
busy  world,  his  mind  dwelt  for  the  most  part  on  religious  subjects ; 
but  when  again  thrown  into  the  excited  arena  of  political  strife,  he  per- 
ceived so  clearly,  by  a  sort  of  intuition  as  it  were,  the  lowest  intrigues 
of  party  politicians,  felt  so  intensely  the  meanness  and  baseness  of 
their  trafficking  purposes,  that  he  was  often  betrayed  into  a  harshness 
of  expression  and  an  extravagance  of  behavior,  that  might  lead  one 
unacquainted  with  his  peculiar  temperament  to  suppose  that  he  was 


IDIOSYNCRACIES.  1Q5 

a  man  of  a  vindictive  and  unfeeling  temper  that  delighted  in  the  tor- 
ture of  others,  while  he  was  himself  uninfluenced  by  a  moral  sr  reli- 
gious restraint  of  any  kind.  No  man  was  more  conscious  than  he 
of  this  peculiarity  of  his  nature,  or  more  deeply  deplored  its  conse- 
quences. The  reader  will  perceive,  through  all  his  correspondence, 
that  he  did  not  conceal  from  his  friends  these  deformities  of  charac- 
ter, and  that  he  never  relaxed  in  earnest  efforts — however  useless 
they  may  have  proved — to  overcome  and  to  correct  the  unfortunate 
deficiencies  of  his  nature. 

During  the  present  year  (1819)  there  was  a  general  pecuniary  em- 
barrassment and  distress  in  the  country.  Mr.  Randolph  lost  a  large 
sum  of  money  deposited  in  the  hands  of  a  mercantile  firm  in  Rich- 
mond. He  is  said  to  have  been  deeply  affected  by  this  occurrence, 
and,  as  might  have  been  expected,  spoke  in  harsh  terms  of  the  delin- 
quent merchants. 

Frequent  allusion  is  made  to  the  subject  in  the  following  corres- 
pondence, though  religion  is  the  principal  theme. 

RICHMOND,  May  3,  1819.— Sunday. 

DEAR  FRANK  : — It  is  so  long  since  I  heard  from  you  that  I  almost 
begin  to  think  that  you  have  struck  me  out  of  your  books.  I  had, 
however,  the  gratification  to  hear  of  you  through  Mr.  Meade,  whom 
I  had  not  the  good  fortune  to  see  as  he  passed  through  this  town, 
having  left  it  on  the  day  of  his  arrival.  You  have  no  conception 
of  the  gloom  and  distress  that  pervade  this  place.  There  has  been 
nothing  like  it  since  1785,  when,  from  the  same  causes  (paper  money 
and  a  general  peace)  there  was  a  general  depression  of  every  thing. 
It  seems  to  me,  my  dear  friend,  that  in  the  present  instance  we  are 
punished  in  the  offending  member,  if  I  may  so  express  myself.  We 
have  been  the  devoted  worshippers  of  mammon,  and  in  our  darling 
wealth  we  are  made  to  suffer.  May  it  be  the  means  of  opening  our 
eyes  to  the  folly  and  sinfulness  of  our  past  conduct,  and  of  inducing 
us  to  lay  up  treasure  where  moth  corrupteth  not  and  thieves  do  not 
break  in  and  steal. 

Yery  contrary  to  my  judgment,  and  yet  more  against  my  feelings, 
I  am  again  a  public  man.  The  application  was  made  in  a  way  that  I 
could  not  with  propriety  resist.  I  was  called  upon  (among  other  con- 
siderations) to  ';  redeem  a  pledge  "  and  to  prevent  a  contest  for  the 
Representation  of  the  District.  My  views  upon  the  subject  of  pub- 
lic affairs,  as  well  as  other  matters,  are  far  other  than  they  have  been. 
I  now  .see  in  its  full  deformity  the  wickedness  of  Party  Spirit,  of 


106  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

which  1  was  so  long  a  votary,  and  I  look  forward  to  the  next  winter 
with  no  other  pleasant  anticipation  but  that  of  seeing  you. 

Poor  H n  !     He  is  gone,  I  see,  to  his  account.     I  heard  with 

much  gratification  that  he  had  been  long  engaged  in  serious  prepara- 
tion for  this  awful  change.  How  poor  and  pitiful  now  seem  all  the 
angry  and  malevolent  feelings  of  which  he  was  the  author  or  the 
object !  My  dear  Frank,  what  is  there  in  this  world  to  satisfy  the 
cravings  of  an  immortal  nature  ?  I  declare  to  you  that  the  business 
and  pleasures  of  it  seem  to  me  as  of  no  more  consequence  than  the 
game  of  push-pin  that  occupies  the  little  negroes  at  the  corner  of  the 
street. 

Do  not  misunderstand  rne,  my  dear  friend.  My  life  (I  am 
ashamed  to  confess  it)  does  not  correspond  with  my  belief.  I  have 
made  a  vile  return  for  the  goodness  which  has  been  manifested  to- 
wards me — but  I  still  cling  to  the  cross  of  my  Redeemer,  and  with 
God's  aid  firmly  resolve  to  lead  a  life  less  unworthy  of  one  who  calls 
himself  the  humble  follower  of  Jesus  Christ.  I  am  here  on  a  busi- 
ness of  much  consequence  to  me.  It  is  to  draw,  if  I  can,  a  sum  of 
money  from  the  hands  of  a  merchant  which  has  been  appropriated  to 
an  object  which  I  have  long  had  at  heart.  I  have  some  fears  of 
losing  it ;  but  if  Ldo,  I  have  the  fullest  confidence  that  I  ought ;  and 
must  devise  some  other  provision  against  the  daily  nightmare  that 
has  so  long  oppressed  me.  You  will  be  at  no  loss  to  conjecture  the 
subject. 

Since  I  saw  you,  I  have  become  more  infirm  and  more  indolent 
than  ever.  This  last  is  my  besetting  sin.  My  spirits  often  desert 
me,  and  indeed  it  is  no  matter  of  wonder ;  for  a  more  forlorn  and  des- 
titute creature  can  hardly  be  found.  I  have  outlived  my  relations 
and  friends,  except  a  few  who  are  far  away. 

On  the  subject  of  his  return  to  Congress,  Key  replies  : — 

"  You  know  my  opinion  about  public  life — that  a  man  has  no  more 
right  to  decline  it  than  to  seek  it.  I  do  not  know,  perhaps,  all  its  dangers, 
but  I  have  no  doubt  they  are  great.  But  whatever  they  be,  the  grace 
of  God  is  sufficient  for  them,  and  he  who  enters  upon  them  with  a 
sole  view  to  his  glory,  and  depends  entirely  on  his  grace,  will  find 
'  crooked  things  made  straight,'  and  the  mountains  made  plains  be- 
fore him.  Certainly  in  such  a  state,  a  man  who  lives  '  by  faith  and 
not  by  sight'  can  evidently  serve  the  cause  of  religion,  and  I  trust 
and  pray  that  thus  your  light  may  shine. 

"  You  will  indeed  be  set '  on  a  hill.'  Innumerable  eyes  will  be 
fastened  on  you.  The  men  of  the  world  will  look  for  something  with 
which  they  may  reproach  you,  and  your  faith  ;  while  c  the  blessed  com 
pany  of  all  faithful  people  ;  will  look  to  see  if  they  may '  take  know- 
ledge of  you.  that  you  have  been  with  Christ ' — may  they,  have  to 
thank  God  always  for  you  !' 


1DIOSYNCRACIES.  107 

'"  You  have  no  idea  what  an  interest  is  excited  in  your  behalf  among 
religious  persons.  I  believe  that  many  a  fervent  prayer  is  offered 
up  for  you  by  people  who  never  saw  your  face." 

To  whom  thus  Randolph  : — 

'"'Your  letter  has  produced  a  strange  and  indescribable  feeling. 
That  I,  who  have  long  been  an  object  of  malevolence  or  indifference  to 
most  of  them  that  know  me,  should  receive  the  prayers  of  strangers  ! 
May  God  bless  all  such  charitable  souls.  Perhaps  if  we  were  to- 
gether I  could  explain  the  state  of  my  feelings — on  paper  I  find  it 
out  of  my  power  to  do  so.  When  I  think  on  Mr.  Hoge,  our  friend 
Meade  and  some  others,  I  am  almost  driven  to  despair.  To  divest 
ourselves  of  our  human  feelings,  is,  I  know,  impossible — neither  ha-se 
I  ever  supposed  it  otherwise.  But  there  are  times  when  they  quite 
overcome  me,  and  when  the  chaos  of  my  mind  can  be  compared  with 
nothing  but  the  state  that  poor  Cowper  was  in  before  he  found  peace, 
or  rather  after  the  death  of  Mrs.  Erwin.  But  at  my  gloomiest  mo- 
ments,when  I  think  how  much  less  I  suffer  than  I  have  deserved — when 
I  remember  that  '  he  who  bore  in  heaven  the  second  name  had  not 
on  earth  whereon  to  lay  his  head,'  and  that  he  died  the  death  of  the 
Cross — when  I  think  how  far  my  ingratitude  to  God  transcends  all 
other  human  ingratitude — the  treachery  and  unthankfulness  of  man- 
kind vanish  before  these  considerations,  and  I  cry  out,  '  not  my  will 
but  thy  will  be  done.'  But  although  I  can  suffer,  I  cannot  do  ;  and 
my  life  is  running  off  in  indolent  speculations  upon  my  duty,  instead 
of  being  devote^  to  its  performance.  Amidst  all  these  lamentable 
failures,  however,  I  hold  fast  my  resolution,  with  his  gracious  assist- 
ance, to  put  my  whole  trust  in  God,  to  pour  out  my  whole  soul  in 
fervent  prayer  ;  and  in  his  good  time  he  may  increase  my  strength 
to  wrestle  with  the  temptations  that  beset  me.  By  the  late  bank- 
ruptcies I  am  reduced  from  ease  and  independence  to  debt  and 
straitened  circumstances.  I  have  endavored  in  vain  to  sell  a  part  of 
my  property  at  a  reduced  price,  to  meet  my  engagements. 

"  I  had  not  heard  of  M 's  death.  May  our  latter  end  be  like 

Vs.  Indeed  I  am  here  entirely  removed  from  the  converse  of  my 
species.  I  know  not  what  is  doing  in  the  world  ;  but  even  in  this 
retreat  the  groans  of  the  children  of  mammon  sometimes  break  upon 
my  ear.  If  I  cannot  arrange  my  affairs  I  fear  I  must  resign  my  seat. 
I  say  '•  I  fear,"  because  I  would  avoid  all  appearance  of  fickleness  and 
caprice.  What  you  tell  me  ought  to  nerve  my  resolution.  Alas  !  it 
is  in  the  persons  of  her  friends  and  from  their  hands  that  religion 
receives  her  deadliest  wounds.  God  grant  that  I  may  always  bear 
this  in  mind,  and  that  this  consideration  may  deter  me  from  much 
evil,  and  spur  me  on  to  do  good." 

Aug-tist  &h.  1819. — '^  You  have  formed  too  favorable  an  opinion  of 
28 


108  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

my  state,  which  too  often  reminds  me  of  the  seed  that '  fell  upon  stony 
places.'  This  is  not  said  out  of  any  affected  humility,  far  worse  than 
the  highest  presumption,  but  from  a  comparison  of  the  fruit  with  what 
the  tree  ought  to  bear. 

"  Can  there  be  faith  even  as  a  grain  of  mustard  seed  when  such  is 
the  life  ?  It  has  pleased  God  to  visit  us  with  the  most  destructive 
drought  in  the  memory  of  any  living  man.  Great  apprehensions  are 
entertained  of  famine,  but  I  trust  that  he  who  feedeth  the  young 
ravens  will  not  suffer  us  to  starve.  Indeed,  so  far  from  being  over- 
careful  and  troubled  about  the  things  of  this  world,  I  am  culpably 
remiss  respecting  them,  and  this  indolent  supineness  had  led  to  more 
than  one  evil  consequence.  I  am  worn  out,  body  and  mind,  and  the 
least  exertion,  corporeal  or  intellectual,  exhausts  me  entirely.  Even 
the  writing  of  this  letter  will  be  sensibly  felt.  Whilst  you  and  others 
of  my  friends  are  bearing  the  heat  and  burthen  of  the  day.  I  am 
languishing  in  inglorious  indolence. 

"  I  am  more  than  satiated  with  the  world.  It  is  to  me  a  fearful 
prison-house  of  guilt  and  misery.  I  fear  that  my  feelings  towards  it 
are  not  always  sufficiently  charitable  ;  but  an  eternity  here  would  be 
punishment  enough  for  the  worst  offenders.  Towards  the  meeting  of 
Congress  I  look  forward  with  no  agreeable  anticipations.  I  am  sen- 
sible of  a  great  decline  of  my  faculties,  not  the  less  injurious  from 
being  premature.  In  short.  I  have  lost  all  hope  of  public  service, 
and  whithersoever  I  direct  my  eyes  a  dark  cloud  seems  to  impend. 
This  gloom  is  not  constitutional.  It  is  the  result  of  sad  experience 
of  myself  as  well  as  others.  I  would  not  have  you  think  that  it  is 
accompanied  by  a  spirit  of  repining  ;  far  from  it.  I  adore  the  good- 
ness and  the  wisdom  of  God,  and  submit  myself  to  his  mercy  most 
implicitly,  acknowledging  that  if  he  were  to  deal  with  me  according 
to  my  deserts  1 1  could  not  abide  it.'  My  own  short-comings  are  the 
sources  of  my  regrets,  l  and  why  call  ye  me  Lord,  Lord,  and  do  not 
the  things  that  I  say?'  This,  my  dear  friend,  troubles  me  by  day 
and  by  night.  'Tis  not  what  others  do,  but  what  I  do,  or  omit,  that 
annoys  me. 

<;  Cases  of  insanity  and  suicide  (although  not  so  numerous  as  might 
have  been  expected,  judging  from  the  effects  of  the  South  Sea  and 
Mississippi  bubbles)  have  not  been  unfrequent  in  this  quarter.  As 
many  as  three  ministers  of  the  gospel,  and  several  other  devout 
professors,  have  ended  their  lives  by  their  own  hands.  I  wish  you 
had  been  a  little  more  explicit  on  the  Baltimore  matters.  There  are 
many  individuals  there  that  I  personally  wish  well  to,  and  would 
be  glad  to  hear  that  they  had  escaped  the  general  contamination." 

"  I  am  sorry,"  says  Key  in  response,  "  to  observe  your  despond- 
ing feelings ;  you  must  fight  your  way  through  them.  •  Heaviness 
may  endure  for  a  night,  but  joy  comcth  in  .the  morning.'  The  Chris- 


IDIOSYNCRACIES.  109 

tian  must  always  lament  his  remaining  corruptions;  and  that  the 
fruits  of  his  faith  correspond  so  little  with  what  he  intends  and  de~ 
sires.  But  that  he  brings  forth  any  fruit  is  matter  of  rejoicing,  for 
it  is  the  work  of  grace  ;  and  he  has  cause  to  be  thankful  for  this  very 
desire  to  do  better — and  he  has  the  consolation  of  a  clear  promise 
from  God  that  he  will  not  leave  his  work  undone,  but  that  this  grace 
shall  make  him  '  abound  more  and  more  in  every  good  word  and 
work.' 

'•  In  the  seasons  of  despondency  which  I  have  felt,  great  relief  has 
been  afforded  to  my  mind  by  the  Psalms.  I  often  come  to  passages 
that  seem  to  be  spoken  right  at  me,  and  joy  and  peace  were  '  shed 
abroad  in  my  heart.'  I  think  they  would  be  blessed  in  the  same  way 
to  you.  Have  you  read  Miss  Taylor's  Poems  ?  You  may  see  them 
reviewed  in  the  Christian  Observer.  I  send  you  a  Magazine  that  is 
published  here,  which  I  hope  will  be  faithfully  conducted. 

"  I  would  tell  you  more  of  these  Baltimore  troubles  and  abomi- 
nations, but  I  really  know  very  little  about  them.  I  understand  the 
grand  jury,  at  their  late  court,  have  found  indictments  against  many 
of  them." 

To  which  Randolph  replied,  August  22d : 

"  Your  letter  of  the  16th  has  just  arrived  to  cheer  my  solitude. 
Acceptable  as  it  is,  it  would  not  have  been  so  promptly  acknowledged 
but  for  what  you  say  about  the  Psalms.  Once,  of  all  the  books  of 
Holy  Writ,  they  were  my  especial  aversion  ;  but,  thanks  be  to  God  ! 
they  have  long  constituted  a  favorite  portion  of  that  treasure  of  wis- 
dom. As  you  say,  many  passages  seem  written  ( right  at  me.'  It 
is  there  that  I  find  my  sin  and  sorrows  depicted  by  a  fellow-sinner 
and  fellow-sufferer  ;  and  there  too  I  find  consolation.  I  chiefly  read 
the  version  in  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer,  and  mine  is  scored  and 
marked  from  one  end  to  the  other.  '  Why  art  thou  so  heavy,  0  my 
soul  ?  and  why  art  thou  so  disquieted  within  me  ?  0  put  thy  trust 
in  God.  for  I  will  yet  give  him  thanks,  which  is  the  help  of  my  coun- 
tenance and  my  God.  " 

After  making  inquiries  about  many  of  his  old  friends,  some  of 
whom,  he  feared,  had  gone  by  the  board  in  the  general  wreck,  he  thus 
continues : 

"  I  do  assure  you  that  I  sometimes  look  back  upon  old  times  until 
it  seems  a  dream ;  but  it  is  a  dream  that  often  draws  tears  in  my 
eyes. 

"  Miss  Key  (your  uncle  Philip's  daughter)  is,  I  presume,  unmar- 
ried ;  for  there  was  nobody  in  the  district  deserving  of  her,  when  I 
knew  it,  and  she  has  too  much  good  sense  to  throw  herself  away  on 
flimsy  members  of  Congress  or  diplomatic  adventurers.  I  often  think 


LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH 

of  the  pain  I  suffered  at  her  father's,  more  than  eleven  years  ago; 
of  the  kindness  and  attention  I  then  received.  Cripple  as  I  then 
thought  myself,  I  had  no  forecast  that  in  so  short  a  time  I  should  be 
almost  superannuated.  My  sight  is  nearly  gone,  and  my  memory  of 
recent  events  no  better.  When  you  see  or  hear  from  Mr.  Meade, 
mention  me  in  the  warmest  terms  of  regard  and  respect.  *  *  *  *  In 
your  next  I  expect  a  dish  of  chit-chat.  P.  S.  I  wish  the  first  leisure 
half  hour  you  light  upon  you  would  take  up  your  pen  and  tell  me  all 
about  it.  '  About  what?'  Why,  every  thing  and  every  body.  There's 
that  fine  fellow,  D.  M — y,  whom  you  have  not  once  named ;  nor  J. 

C n,  whom,  for  the  life  of  me,  I  can  hear  nothing  about — whether 

he  has  gone  to  pieces  in  the  general  wreck  1  I  speak  of  his  fortune, 
for 'my  confidence  in  his  principles  is  unshaken.  Then  there  is  your 
friend  Mr.  T. 

"  You  see,  Frank,  that  I  am,  indeed,  growing  old,  and,  like  other 
dotards,  delight  in  garrulity  and  gossip.  To  tell  you  the  truth,  I 
stay  here,  and  look  at  the  trees  until  I  almost  conceit  myself  a  dryad  ; 
at  least  you  perceive  I  am  no  grammarian." 

To  Dr.  Brockenbrough  he  speaks  more  unreservedly  on  all  sub- 
jects than  to  any  other  man.  Take  the  following  letters,  written 
about  the  same  time  as  those  addressed  to  Mr.  Key : 

"  I  was  very  glad  to  learn  from  Quashee  that  you  were  well  enough 
to  walk  the  streets  when  he  was  in  Richmond.  I  make  it  almost  a 
matter  of  conscience,  notwithstanding,  to  bore  you  with  my  letters  ; 
but  I  must  beg  you  to  take  into  consideration  that  I  am  cut  off  from 
all  intercourse  with  the  rest  of  the  world,  and  unable  to  obtain  the 
slightest  information  of  what  is  passing  in  it.  It  would  be  a  charity 
to  drop  me  a  line  now  and  then.  I  have  hardly  seen  a  white  face 
since  I  got  home,  until  last  evening,  when  Colonel  C.  showed  me  a 
letter  from  T.  asking  a  discharge  from  him  and  his  brother  and  son- 
in-law.  If  I  had  had  any  expectations  from  that  quarter,  this  let- 
ter would  have  put  an  end  to  them.  T.  and  M.  will  receive  no  release 
from  me.  I  will  not  persecute  them :  but  their  conduct  deserves 
no  indulgence.  I  had  intended  to  have  been  in  Richmond  ten  days 
ago,  but  my  health  is  so  deplorably  bad  that  I  cannot  .venture  to  leave 
my  own  house  even  for  a  day ;  and  it  is  well  for  me.  Here,  then,  I 
must  live,  and  here  I  must  die,  '  a  lone  and  banished  man  ;'  and  what 
banishment  can  be  worse  than  his  who  is  ashamed  to  show  his  face  to 
society  ?  I  nerve  myself  up  to  bear  it  as  I  would  to  undergo  a  sur- 
gical operation ;  but  the  cases  are  widely  different.  The  one  must 
soon  end  in  a  cure,  or  in  death ;  but  every  succeeding  day  brings  no 
relief,  but  utter  aggravation  of  wretchedness,  to  the  other.  These 
days,  however,  God  be  praised  !  must  have  an  end. 

"  An  Enquirer  fell  into  my  hands  yesterday.     What  a  contrast  be- 


IDIOSYNCRACIES.  1U 

tween  the  universal  cry  of  the  country  and  the  teartimouy  of  our  gra- • 
cious  sovereign  to  our  great  and  increasing  prosperity  !  You  have 
them  in  the  same  columns.  It  will  make  a  figure  in  Europe.  Bal- 
timore seems  to  have  suffered  not  less  than  Richmond.  Pray  let  me 
know  if  S.  and  B.  have  failed ;  and,  if  you  can,  the  cause  of  J.  S, 
leaving  the  Bank  of  Baltimore. 

"  My  best  respects  to  Mrs.  B.  These  glaring  long  days  make  me 
think  of  her.  I  lie  in  bed  as  long  as  I  can  to  shorten  them,  and 
keep  my  room  darkened.  Perhaps  a  strait  waistcoat  would  not  be 
amiss.  Have  E.  and  A.  stopped  ?  Farewell.  If  we  ever  meet  again, 
it  must  be  here.  Should  I  ever  get  in  reach  of  a  ship  bound  to  any 
foreign  land,  I  will  endeavor  to  lose  sight  of  this  for  ever." 

To  the  same : 

•l  I  have  long  been  indebted  to  you  for  your  letter  by  Mr.  Wat- 
kins,  which  reminded  me  of  those  which  I  used  to  receive  from  you 
some  years  ago,  when  I  was  not  so  entirely  unable  as  I  am  now  to 
make  a  suitable  return  to  my  correspondents.  I  feel  most  seriously 
this  incapacity  and  deplore  it,  but  for  the  life  of  me  I  cannot  rouse 
myself  to  take  an  interest  in  the  affairs  of  this  '  trumpery  world '  as 
'  the  antiquary '  calls  it,  and  with  a  curious  felicity  of  expression ; 
for  it  is  upon  a  larger  scale  what  a  strolling  play-house  is  upon  a 
smaller,  all  outside  show  and  tinsel,  and  frippery,  and  wretchedness. 
There  are  to  be  sure  a  few,  a  very  few,  who  are  what  they  seem  to  be. 
But  this  ought  to  concern  me  personally  as  little  as  any  one ;  for 
I  have  no  intercourse  with  those  around  me.  I  often  mount  my 
horse  and  sit  upon  him  ten  or  fifteen  minutes,  wishing  to  go  some- 
where but  not  knowing  where  to  ride,  for  I  would  escape  any  where 
from  the  incubus  that  weighs  me  down,  body  and  soul ;  but  the  fiend 
follows  me  '  ex  croupa.'  You  can  have  no  conception  of  the  intense- 
ness  of  this  wretchedness,  which  in  its  effect  on  my  mind  I  can  com- 
pare to  nothing  but  that  of  a  lump  of  ice  on  the  pulse  of  the  wrist, 
which  I  have  tried  when  a  boy.  And  why  do  I  obtrude  all  this  upon 
you?  Because  from  the  fulness  of  the  heart  the  mouth  speaketh.  I 
can  be  and  am  silent  for  days  and  weeks  together,  except  on  indiffe- 
rent subjects ;  but  if  I  address  myself  to  a  friend,  the  misery  that 
preys  upon  me  will  not  be  suppressed.  The  strongest  considerations 
of  duty  are  barely  sufficient  to  prevent  me  from  absconding  to  some 
distant  country,  where  I  might  live  and  die  unknown.  There  is  a 
selfishness  in  our  occupations  and  pursuits,  after  the  first  gloss  of 
youth  has  worn  off,  that  hardens  us  against  our  fellow-men.  This  I 
now  know  to  be  the  necessary  consequence  of  our  nature,  but  it  is 
not  therefore  the  less  revolting  I  had  hoped  to  divert  the  gloom  that 
overhangs  me  by  writing  this  letter  at  the  instigation  of  old  Quashee, 
but  I  struggle  against  it  in  vain.  Is  it  not  Dr.  Johnson  who  saya 
that  to  attempt  '  to  think  it  down  is  madness  ? ' 


112  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

K  Your  brother  "William  and  myself  hit  upon  the  same  4th  of  July 
toast  with  some  variation :  mine  was  '  State  Rights,  de  mortuis  nil 
nisi  bonum}  It  will  hardly  appear  in  the  newspapers.  I  agree  with 
you  on  the  subject  of  the  Bankrupt  Law,  with  some  shades  of  differ- 
ence. I  would  not  have  the  General  Government  touch  the  subject 
at  all.  But  some  mode  I  think  ought  to  be  devised  for  setting  aside 
the  present  shameful  practices :  robbing  one  man  to  pay  another,  &c. 

After  a  good  deal  about  the  pecuniary  embarrassment  of  the 
times,  and  many  friends  who  were  involved  in  the  catastrophe,  the 
letter  thus  concludes : 

"  My  best  regards  to  Mrs.  B.  Tell  her  I  hive  read  nothing  for 
six  weeks,  being  'high  gravel  blind,'  and  having  nothing  to  .-cad 
but  old  standard  authors,  who  are  too  solid  for  my  weak  stomach 
and  this  hot  weather.  Adieu ! 

Yours  truly, 

J.    R.    OF    ROANOKE. 

A  worn-out  man  and  pen. 


CHAPTEK    XI. 

CONG-KESS  —  POLITICAL  PARTIES. 

AFTER  Mr.  Randolph  had  been  in  Washington  some  two  or  three 
weeks,  he  thus  gives  the  result  of  his  observations  to  a  friend,  under 
date  of  the  21st  of  December,  1819.—  "  Here  I  find  myself  isole,  al- 
most as  entirely  as  at  Roanoke,  for  the  quiet  of  which  (although  I 
left  it  without  a  desire  ever  to  see  it  again)  I  have  sometimes  panted  ; 
or  rather,  to  escape  from  the  scenes  around  me.  Once  the  object  of 
proscription,  I  am  become  one  of  indifference  to  all  around  me  ;  and 
in  this  respect  I  am  in  no  wise  worse  off  than  the  rest ;  for,  from 
all  that  I  can  see  and  learn,  there  are  no  two  persons  here  that  care 
a  single  straw  for  one  another.  My  reception  is  best  by  the  old  ja- 
cobins enrages;  next,  by  the  federalists,  who  have  abjured  their 
heresies  and  reconciled  themselves  to  the  true  Catholic  Church;  worst 
of  all,  by  the  old  minority  men,  white  washed  into  courtiers." 

When  Mr.  Randolph  returned  to  Congress  in  1819,  the  relation 
of  political  parties  had  been  entirely  changed.     The  restoration  of 


POLITICAL  PARTIES. 

peace  put  an  end  to  all  the  questions  which  had  hitherto  divided 
them.  With  the  exception  of  the  bank — whose  chartered  existence 
commenced  in  1791,  and  closed  in  1811 — all  the  great  subjects  dis- 
cussed in  the  halls  of  legislation  and  by  the  press,  grew  out  of 
our  relations  with  foreign  countries.  Washington  had  scarcely  taken 
in  hand  the  reins  of  government  when  the  French  revolution  burst 
forth,  and  disturbed  the  repose  of  Europe.  The  Republican  ten- 
dencies of  the  French  people,  notwithstanding  their  bloody  extrav- 
agancies, found  at  all  times  in  the  United- States  a  strong  and  sym- 
pathizing party.  On  the  other  hand,  there  was  a  powerful  party 
that  deprecated  French  influence,  and  sympathized  with  England  in 
her  efforts  to  repress  those  revolutionary  tendencies.  All  those  who 
were  opposed  to  a  strong  centralizing  government,  and  favored  the 
independence  of  the  States  so  far  as  consisted  with  the  strict  limita- 
tions of  the  Constitution,  leaned  to  the  French  side  of  the  question. 
Those  of  the  contrary  opinions  took  the  opposite.  As  the  destructive 
war  between  those  great  belligerent  powers  waxed  hotter  and  hotter, 
its  exciting  and  maddening  influences  were  more  deeply  felt  by  the 
sympathizing  parties  here.  Each  accused  the  other  of  wishing  to  in- 
volve the  country  in  the  war  on  the  side  of  their  respective  friends. 
Anglomania,  Gallomania,  raged  like  an  epidemic  through  the  land, 
and  every  subject  discussed  partook  of  its  influence — the  Indian 
Wars,  Whisky  Insurrection,  Gennet's  reception,  Jay's  treaty,  and 
the  depredations  on  our  commerce. 

As  those  who  were  opposed  to  French  influence  were  in  the  as- 
cendent, they  pushed  their  measures  to  an  open  rupture  with  France, 
and,  as  a  means  of  repressing  the  further  progress  of  her  revolution- 
ary doctrines,  enacted  those  harsh  and  unconstitutional  remedies 
called  the  Alien  and  Sedition  Laws,  which  were  the  immediate  cause 
of  their  overthrow. 

The  resolutions  of  the  legislatures  of  Virginia  and  of  Kentucky, 
growing  out  of  the  above  laws,  and  the  exposition  of  those  resolutions 
by  Mr.  Madison,  in  his  report  to  the  Virginia  legislature  ill  1800, 
constitute  the  doctrine  and  political  faith,  so  far  as  they  go,  of  the 
republican  party  that  came  into  power  under  the  auspices  of  Mr. 
Jefferson. 

But  no  sooner  was  Mr.  Jefferson  installed  in  office,  than  he  was 
called  on  to  encounter  the  same  difficulties  which  had  so  much  em- 


114  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

barrassed  his  predecessors  in  their  intercourse  with  foreign  powers 
The  federal  party,  now  in  the  minority,  and  much  weakened  by 
their  late  overthrow,  opposed  all  his  measures,  and  wielded  his  own 
arguments  against  him.  They  had  contended  that  the  Constitution 
justified  any  measure  that  tended  to  promote  "  the  public  good  and 
general  welfare."  This  broad  doctrine  was  denied  by  the  republican 
party,  and  was  totally  annihilated  by  Mr.  Madison's  report.  But  the 
first  important  measure  of  Mr.  Jefferson  involved  a  contradiction  of  his 
doctrines.  We  were  in  danger  of  a  rupture  with  Spain  and  France, 
on  account  of  the  navigation  of  the  Mississippi.  To  put  an  end  to 
these  difficulties,  Louisiana  was  purchased.  Mr.  Jefferson  said  there 
was  no  constitutional  authority  for  the  act,  that  it  could  only  be  jus- 
tified from  the  necessity  of  the  case,  and  that  the  people  must  sanction 
it  by  an  express  provision  in  the  Constitution.  Then  followed  the  em- 
bargo law,  which  the  federalists  in  like  manner  opposed  on  the  ground 
of  its  unconstitutionally.  They  contended  that  it  was  the  result  of 
"  the  public  good  and  general  welfare"  construction,  so  much  and  so 
successfully  condemned  by  the  party  now  in  power.  Then  followed 
other  restrictive  measures,  and  finally  the  war  with  Great  Britain,  all 
of  which  were  opposed,  as  we  already  know,  by  the  federalists,  as 
parts  of  the  same  erroneous  and  destructive  and  unconstitutional 
policy.  These  divisions  and  difficulties,  growing  out  of  our  foreign 
relations,  were  finally  healed  and  put  to  rest  by  the  termination  of 
the  war.  Former  asperities  were  smothered  down,  old  animosities 
forgotten,  and  the  exciting  cause  of  party  heats  was  burnt  out  and  ex- 
tinguished in  the  general  pacification  of  the  world.  New  questions, 
arising  for  the  first  time  since  the  organization  of  the  government, 
had  now  to  be  discussed  and  solved.  The  functions  of  the  gov- 
ernment, as  restrained  and  directed  by  the  limitations  of  the  Consti- 
tution, had  to  be  exercised  on  a  class  of  cases  entirely  different  from 
those  which  had  hitherto  tested  their  capacity. 

Under  the  monopolizing  influence  of  the  embargo,  non-intercourse, 
and  war  measures  of  the  last  eight  or  nine  years,  a  great  manufactur- 
ing interest  had  been  stimulated  into  being.  During  this  long  period 
of  stagnation  to  commerce  and  agriculture,  much  capital  was  with- 
drawn from  them  and  vested  in  manufactures.  This  great  interest 
was  likely  to  be  seriously  affected  by  the  restoration  of  peace  and  of 
reciprocal  commerce  with  other  manufacturing  nations. 


POLITICAL  PARTIES.  115 

During  the  long  continental  wars,  when  the  omnipotent  British 
fleet  drove  the  commerce  of  all  the  belligerent  powers  from  the 
ocean,  our  merchantmen,  under  the  protection  of  the  neutral  flag  of 
their  country,  gathered  a  rich  harvest  in  the  carrying  trade.  They 
had  now  to  be  reduced  to  the  bounds  of  a  legitimate  commerce,  and 
subjected  to  the  eager  rivalry  of  other  more  powerful  and  commercial 
States. 

Bv  the  acquisition  of  Louisiana,  a  vast  dominion  had  been  added 
to  our  territories,  and  our  population  was  rapidly  spreading  over  that 
immense  and  fertile  region.  The  means  of  internal  communication 
became  questions  of  serious  consideration.  The  resources  of  ihe 
country  lay  dormant  in  their  primeval  state,  like  a  vast  weltering 
chaos,  waiting  for  some  brooding  spirit  to  breathe  life  and  fora:  into 
its  teeming  elements.  The  South  American  provinces  catching  the 
spirit  of  freedom  from  our  example,  had  thrown  off  the  yoke  of  the 
mother  country,  and  were  looking  to  us  for  countenance,  and  stretch- 
ing forth  the  hand  for  aid  in  their  arduous  struggle  for  independence. 

These  were  the  great  themes  that  filled  the  public  mind  at  the 
coming  in  of  Mr.  Monroe's  administration  and  during  its  continuance. 
It  was  called  the  period  of  good  feeling.  The  Federal  party  entirely 
disappeared,  and  its  members  were  received  into  the  ranks  of  their 
old  opponents.  But  many  respectable  men  among  them,  not  disposed 
to  abandon  principles  which  they  had  honestly  adopted,  retired  to 
private  life.  The  rhetorical  phrase  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  in  his  inaugural 
address,  was  made  to  have  a  practical  meaning.  The  popular  word 
was,  "  We  are  all  Federalists,  all  Republicans."  The  existence  of  a 
distinct  Federal  party,  or  a  distinct  Republican  party,  was  denied, 
and  the  leading  politicians  cultivated  with  great  assiduity,  the  favor 
and  support  of  all  men,  without  regard  to  former  distinctions,  count- 
ing them  as  brothers  of  the  same  republican  family. 

This  new  state  of  things  was  made  the  theme  of  congratulation 
Lo  the  country  by  the  newspaper  writers  and  the  fourth  of  July 
orators  of  the  time.  "  I  come  not  here  to  burn  the  torch  of  Alecto," 
says  one  of  the  latter ;  "  to  me  there  is  no  lustre  in  its  fires,  nor 
cheering  warmth  in  its  blaze.  Let  us  rather  offer  and  mingle  our 
congratulations,  that  those  unhappy  differences  which  alienated  one 
portion  of  our  community  from  the  rest,  are  at  an  end  ;  and  that 
a  vast  fund  of  the  genius  and  worth  of  our  country  has  been  restored 


116  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

to  its  service,  to  give  nc\v  vigor  to  its  career  of  power  and  prosperity 
To  this  blessed  consummation  the  administration  of  our  venerable 
Monroe  has  been  a  powerful  auxiliary.  The  delusions  of  past  years 
have  rolled  away,  and  the  mists  that  once  hovered  over  forms  of  now 
unshaded  brightness,  are  dissipated  for  ever.  We  can  now  all  meet 
and  exchange  our  admiration  and  love  in  generous  confraternity  of 
feeling,  whether  we  speak  of  our  Jefferson  or  our  Adams,  our  Madi- 
son or  our  Hamilton,  our  Pinckney  or  our  Monroe ;  the  associations 
of  patriotism  are  awakened,  and  we  forget  the  distance  in  the  politi- 
cal zodiac  which  once  separated  these  illustrious  luminaries,  in  the 
full  tide  of  glory  they  are  pouring  on  the  brightest  pages  of  our 
history." 

This  amalgamation  of  all  parties  was  a  dangerous  experiment  on 
the  health  and  soundness  of  the  Republic.  Over  action  was  the  ne- 
cessary consequence  of  the  destruction  of  all  the  countervailing  influ 
ences  of  the  system ;  and  the  generation  of  some  latent  chronic 
disease,  which  in  after  time  must  seriously  affect  the  constitution  of 
the  body  politic.  The  French  government,  the  laborious  work  of  a 
thousand  years,  was  destroyed  in  a  single  night,  by  the  sacrifice  of  all 
the  orders  of  their  distinctive  privileges  and  opposing  influences  on 
what  they  fondly  deemed  to  be  the  altar  of  patriotism.  The  flood- 
gates were  now  opened  ;  and  from  this  single  blunder  there  followed 
a  series  of  frightful  consequences,  which  history  in  the  course  of  half  a 
century  has  not  been  able  to  understand  nor  to  portray. 

It  is  lamentable  to  see  a  country  cut  up  into  factions,  following 
this  or  that  great  leader  with  a  blind,  undoubting  hero-worship ;  it  is 
contemptible  to  see  it  divided  into  parties,  whose  sole  end  is  the  spoils 
of  victory ;  such  an  one  is  nigh  its  end  :  but,  on  the  other  hand,  it  is 
equally  true,  that  no  government  can  be  conducted  by  the  people  and 
for  the  benefit  of  the  people,  without  a  rigid  adherence  to  certain  fixed 
principles,  which  must  be  the  test  of  parties,  and  of  men  and  of  their 
measures.  These  principles  once  determined,  they  must  be  inexora- 
ble in  their  application,  and  compel  all  men  either  to  come  up  to 
their  standard,  or  to  declare  against  it ;  their  criterion  of  political 
faith  must  be  the  same  as  that  of  Christian  faith  laid  down  by  Christ 
himself — they  iclio  are  not  for  us  arc  against  us.  Men  may  betray, 
principles  never  can.  Oppression  is  the  invariable  consequence  of 


POLITICAL  PARTIES.  117 

misplaced  confidence  in  treacherous  man ;  never  is  it  the  result  of 
the  working  of  a  sound,  just,  and  well-tried  principle. 

If  the  proposition  be  true,  that  ours  is  a  government  peculiar  in 
its  nature,  unknown  in  former  times,  or  to  other  nations,  then  the 
political  doctrines  arising  from  a  contemplation  of  its  structure  and 
the  principles  by  which  it  is  to  be  conducted,  should  be  peculiar  also : 
the  analogies  of  history,  and  the  examples  of  other  states,  should 
serve  rather  as  beacons  of  warning  than  as  precedents  to  be  followed. 
If  it  be,  true,  that  ours  is  a  government  of  delegated  authority,  arising 
out  of  the  constitutional  compact  of  sovereign  '  and  independent 
States,  which  delegated  powers  are  specified  and  strictly  limited, 
while  all  others  are  reserved  to  the  States,  or  to  the  people  of  the 
States ;  then  there  must  grow  out  of  this  peculiar  and  jealous  rela- 
tion of  the  States  and  the  people  of  the  States  to  each  ether  and  to 
the  government  they  have  mutually  drawn  over  them  for  their  com- 
mon protection,  certain  political  principles  as  essential  for  the  sound 
and  healthy  action  of  the  complicated  system  as  vital  air  is  to  the 
human  body. 

The  same  wise  abstinence  that  influenced  the  structure  should 
control  the  action  of  this  governmental  machinery.  It  would  seem 
that  the  first  inquiry  a  prudent  statesman  should  propound  to  him- 
self would  be  this — is  the  power  delegated  ?  Does  the  charter  specify 
the  grant  ?  If  not,  is  it  a  necessary  inference  as  the  means  of  carry- 
ing into  effect  a  power  granted  ?  If  it  be  neither  the  one  nor  the  other, 
but  is  in  itself  a  distinct  and  substantive  power,  he  should  say  to 
himself,  this  power  ought  not  to  be  exercised,  however  expedient  or 
necessary  it  may  seem  to  me  at  this  time  ;  to  place  it  among  the 
delegated  powers  by  construction,  is  to  construe  away  the  Constitu- 
tion— my  example  will  be  made  a  precedent  for  still  bolder  construc- 
tion, until  there  shall  be  nothing  left  to  the  States  or  to  the  people  ; 
and  this  well-balanced  republic  of  confederated  States  shall  sink  down 
into  a  consolidated  and  despotic  empire.  These  reflections  seem  not 
to  have  influenced  the  statesmen  of  Mr.  Monroe's  administration. 
The  new  and  brilliant  career  that  lay  before  them  kindled  their 
imaginations ;  and  each,  like  an  Olympian  courser,  eagerly  pressed 
forward  to  take  the  lead  in  every  enterprise.  In  projecting  schemes 
to  develope  and  to  direct  the  resources  and  the  domestic  concerns  of 
the  people,  they  seemed  to  vie  with  each  other  in  giving  to  the  limita* 


118  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

tions  of  the  Constitution  the  utmost  latitude  of  interpretation.  Nor 
is  it  at  all  surprising,  when  we  consider  the  materials  of  which  the 
government  was  composed.  The  minority  men  of  embargo  times 
had  been  ^vh^tewashcd  into  courtiers,  with  their  old  leader  (Monroe) 
at  the  head  of  the  government,  who,  to  obtain  that  station,  was 
accused  of  sacrificing  every  principle  he  ever  professed.  The  Fede- 
ralists (latitudinarians  in  principle),  who  had  abjured  their  Jieresies,  and 
reconciled  themselves  to  the  true  catholic  church,  constituted  the  body 
of  voters  in  the  two  Houses  of  Congress ;  while  their  parliamentary 
leaders  were  the  same  intrepid  young  men,  who  entering  into  public 
life  in  times  of  war,  when  boldness  was  the  first  requisite  in  a  states- 
man, kept  up  the  same  ardent  career  in  peace,  and  mounted  first 
the  one  and  then  the  other  hobby,  on  which  they  hoped  to  ride 
into  popular  favor.  The  only  men  left  behind  in  this  wild  race, 
were  the  few  Jacobins  of  the  Adams  and  Jefferson  times,  who 
looked  with  astonishment  and  rage  (enrages)  on  the  adroit  and  unex- 
pected manner  in  which  the  reins  of  government  had  been  slipped 
from  the  hands  of  the  true  Republicans. 

"  The  spirit  of  profession  and  devotion  to  the  court  has  increased 
beyond  my  most  sanguine  anticipations,"  says  John  Randolph  in  a 
letter  to  Dr.  Brockenbrough,  dated  December  30th,  1819.  "The 
die  is  cast.  The  Emperor  is  master  of  the  Senate,  and  through  that 
body  commands  the  life  and  property  of  every  man  in  the  Republic! 
The  person  who  fills  the  office  seems  to  be  almost  without  a  friend. 
Not  so  the  office  itself." 


CHAPTER   XII. 

MISSOURI     QUESTION. 

THE  great  subject  not  only  of  discussion,  but  of  deep  and  fearful 
agitation  in  Congress  to  its  close,  on  the  3d  of  March,  1821,  and 
among  the  people,  was  the  Missouri  Question,  or  the  question  of 
slavery  in  its  political  influence  on  the  legislation  of  the  country. 
This  subject,  together  with  the  question  of  right  to  the  waste  lands 


MISSOURI  QUESTION.  119 

lying  within  the  jurisdiction  of  some  of  the  larger  States,  constituted 
the  chief  obstacle  in  the  way  of  a  cordial  and  harmonious  union  of 
the  States,  even  in  the  time  of  their  utmost  peril,  when  they  were 
contending  for  their  independence.  When  the  States  were  called 
upon  to  contribute  their  portion  of  men  and  money  to  conduct  the 
war  on  the  issue  of  which  depended  their  existence,  the  question  was, 
In  what  ratio  shall  they  contribute?  After  trying  the  valuation  of 
landed  property,  with  its  improvements,  they  abandoned  it,  and 
adopted  the  ratio  of  population  as  the  best  evidence  of  ability  to  con- 
tribute, and  as  the  most  practicable  plan  ;  and  it  was  agreed  that  in 
determining  the  amount  of  population  in  each  State,  five  slaves 
should  be  counted  as  equal  to  three  free  men.  Thus  the  slavery  ques- 
tion was  settled  for  the  time. 

When  the  Articles  of  Confederation  were  proposed  to  the  States 
for  adoption,  some  of  them,  enough  to  defeat  the  measure,  refused  to 
come  into  the  Confederation,  unless  the  waste  lands  were  admitted  and 
received  as  common  property  ;  especially  after  the  treaty  of  peace  in 
1783,  and  the  boundaries  of  the  United  States  were  denned,  they  con- 
tended that  all  the  waste,  or  lack  lands  within  those  boundaries, 
having  been  bought  with  the  common  blood  and  treasure  of-  all,  was 
the  joint  property  of  all  the  States.  It  was  maintained  by  the 
States  on  the  other  hand,  that  the  land  lay  within  their  chartered 
limits,  and  rightfully  belonged  to  them.  This  subject  was  a  serious 
obstacle  in  the  way  of  a  more  permanent  union..  At  length  it  was  agreed 
to  propose  to  the  States  to  grant,  in  a  spirit  of  harmony  and  conces- 
sion, all  their  rights  to  the  Confederation.  New- York  set  the  exam- 
pie,  and  made  a  concession  of  all  her  rights  west  of  her  present  bound- 
ary ;  though  her  title  was  regarded  as  of  no  value.  South  Carolina 
followed  next ;  she  also  had  little  or  nothing  to  concede.  Then  came 
Virginia :  her  title  to  lands  lying  northwest  of  the  Ohio,  and  extend- 
ing to  the  Lakes  and  the  Mississippi,  was  for  a  long  time  disputed, 
but  after  a  jealous  and  thorough  investigation,  it  was  finally  given 
up  and  conceded  that  her  title  was  valid.  On  the  1st  of  March,  1784, 
a  deed  was  executed  by  Virginia,  granting  this  immense  domain  to 
the  Confederation — on  the  condition  that  the  territory  so  ceded  shall 
be  laid  out  and  formed  into  States,  and  that  the  States  so  formed  shall 
be  distinct  republican  States,  and  admitted  members  of  the  Federal 


120  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

Union,  having  the  same  rights  of  sovereignty,  freedom,  and  indepen- 
dence, as  the  other  States. 

Immediately  on  the  reception  of  this  grant,  Congress,  on  the  23d 
of  April,  1784,  passed  a  resolution  extending  its  jurisdiction  over  the 
newly  acquired  territory,  and  projected  a  plan  of  government  for  the 
new  States  that  might  grow  up  therein,  according  to  the  conditions  of 
the  grant.  It  was  admitted  that  Congress  had  no  authority  under 
Articles  of  Confederation  for  the  measures  adopted  ;  the  plea  of  ne» 
cessity  alone  was  urged  in  their  justification.  Congress  resolved  that 
the  settlers  shall,  either  on  their  own  petition  or  on  the  order  of  Con- 
gress, receive  authority  from  them,  for  their  free  males  of  full  age, 
to  meet  together,  for  the  purpose  of  establishing  a  temporary  govern- 
ment, to  adopt  the  constitution  and  laws  of  any  one  of  the  original 
States,  subject  to  alteration  by  their  ordinary  legislature;  and  to 
erect  counties  or  other  divisions,  for  the  election  of  members  of  their 
legislature.  They  further  resolved,  that  when  any  such  State  shall 
have  acquired  twenty  thousand  free  inhabitants,  on  giving  due  proof 
thereof  to  Congress,  they  shall  receive  from  them  authority  to  call 
a  convention  of  representatives  to  establish  a  permanent  constitution 
and  government  for  themselves.  Provided,  that  both  the  temporary 
and  permanent  governments  be  established  on  the  principle  that  they 
shall  for  ever  remain  a  part  of  the  Confederacy  of  the  United  States 
of  America,  and  be  subject  to  the  articles  of  confederation. 

These  articles,  together  with  others,  prescribing  the  mode  of  self- 
government  to  be  pursued  by  the  new  States,  as  they  shall  from  time 
to  time  be  carved  out  of  the  recently  acquired  territory,  Congress 
resolved  shall  be  formed  into  a  charter  of  compact ;  and  shall  stand 
as  fundamental  constitutions  between  the  thirteen  original  States, 
and  each  of  the  several  States  now  newly  described,  unalterable  from 
and  after  the  sale  of  any  part  of  the  territory  of  such  State  but  by 
the  joint  consent  of  the  United  States  in  Congress  assembled,  and 
of  the  particular  State  within  which  such  alteration  is  proposed  to  be 
made.  Notwithstanding  the  unalterable  nature  of  this  charter  of 
compact,  Congress  did,  by  an  Ordinance  of  the  13th  of  July,  1787, 
materially  modify  the  same,  and  introduced  a  new  article,  by  which 
it  was  ordained  that  "  there  shall  be  neither  slavery  nor  involuntary 
servitude  in  the  territory,  otherwise  than  in  the  punishment  of  crimes, 
whereof  the  party  shall  have  been  duly  convicted."  Thus  we  per 


MISSOURI  QUESTION.  121 

ceive  that,  prior  to  the  adoption  of  the  present  Constitution,  which 
was  some  months  after  the  above  ordinance,  the  whole  of  the  North- 
western Territory  had  been  provided  with  a  government. 

No  other  lands  were  ceded  to  the  Confederation,  or  were  expected 
to  be.  The  jurisdiction  of  Virginia  extended  over  the  District  of 
Kentucky  to  the  borders  of  the  Mississippi.  So  did  the  jurisdiction 
of  North  Carolina  extend  over  Tennessee,  and  of  Georgia  over  the 
whole  country  now  embraced  within  the  limits  of  Alabama  and  Mis- 
sissippi. Massachusetts  did  not  surrender  her  jurisdiction  over  the 
District  of  Maine ;  Vermont  was  a  sovereign  State,  though  not  in  the 
Confederation,  disputing  her  independence  with  New-York  on  the 
one  hand,  and  New  Hampshire  on  the  other. 

Thus  it  appears  that  at  the  time  of  the  adoption  of  the  present 
Constitution,  every  foot  of  land  embraced  within  the  borders  of  the 
United  States  under  the  treaty  of  independence  in  1783,  was  em- 
braced within  the  jurisdiction  of  some  one  of  the  States,  or  the  Con- 
gress of  the  United  States  under  the  charter  of  compact  of  the  23d 
April,  1784;  amended  and  enlarged  by  the  Ordinance  of  the  13th 
July,  1 787.  The  framers  of  the  Constitution,  therefore,  in  contem- 
plation of  the  facts  before  them,  had  only  to  introduce  an  article 
binding  the  new  government  to  fulfil  the  contracts  of  the  old  one, 
and  an  article  authorizing  Congress  to  dispose  of,  and  make  all  need- 
ful rules  and  regulations,  respecting  the  territory  or  other  property 
belonging  to  the  United  States.  Such  articles  were  introduced,  and 
they  were  sufficient  for  the  purpose. 

A  proposition  was  made  in  the  Convention  to  authorize  Congress 
"  to  institute  temporary  governments  for  the  new  States "  arising 
within  tlie  unappropriated  lands  of  the  United  States.  But  this 
was  unnecessary,  because  the  object  contemplated  had  already  been 
accomplished  by  the  charter  of  compact  and  the  ordinance,  and  the 
article  in  the  Constitution  requiring  a  fulfilment  of  those  contracts. 
As  to  lands  within  tnc  jurisdiction  of  the  States  ;  Georgia  for  exam- 
ple, however  much  Congress  might  claim  the  right  to  them  as  com- 
mon property,  they  never  disputed  the  jurisdiction  of  the  State. 
Those  wise  men,  therefore,  declined  acting  on  the  proposition,  they 
never  granted  an  unnecessary  power. 

The  slave-question  was  equally  well  and  wisely  settled  by  the  pro- 
visions of  the  Constitution.  The  same  rule  which  had  been  adopted 


122  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

under  the  Confederation  as  the  ratio  of  contribution,  was  made  the 
basis  of  representation  and  taxation.  Representatives  and  direct 
taxes  were  apportioned  among  the  several  States  according  to  their 
respective  numbers  ;  and  to  determine  the  number,  Jive  slaves  were 
to  be  counted  as  equal  to  three  free  men.  The  Slave-States,  by  this 
rule,  lost  in  representation,  but  they  gained  whenever  the  government 
resorted  to  direct  taxation ;  that  being  very  seldom,  the  general  re- 
sult has  been  a  loss  to  the  slave-holding  States.  But  they  cannot 
complain,  it  was  a  rule  insisted  on  by  themselves  when,  under  the 
Confederation,  it  was  only  the  basis  of  contribution  of  men  and  mo 
ney.  They  said  that  tivo-fifths  of  the  slaves,  the  old  and  the  young, 
were  a  burthen  to  their  owners  and  ought  not  to  be  taxed ;  this  was 
considered  reasonable,  and  they  were  exempted. 

By  an  article  in  the  Constitution,  the  importation  of  slaves  was 
permitted  for  twenty  years:  that  is,  the  slave-trade  was  tolerated  for 
that  length  of  time ;  and  by  another  provision,  owners  of  slaves  were 
protected  in  their  rights  whenever  they  escaped  into  States  where 
involuntary  servitude  was  not  allowed  by  law.  It  is  obvious,  that 
every  other  question  which  could  arise  touching  the  subject  of  slavery 
was  of  a  local  and  domestic  nature,  and  was  reserved  to  the  States 
or  to  the  people. 

Thus  did  the  framers  of  our  Constitution,  clearly  perceiving  and 
appreciating  the  delicacy  of  the  subject,  wisely  provide  for  the  diffi- 
culties which  had  so  much  embarrassed  the  States  and  the  Confede- 
ration in  regard  to  the  public  lands  and  the  subject  of  slavery.  Their 
measures  were  complete  and  exhaustive  of  the  subject,  so  far  as  the 
existing  limits  of  the  United  States  were  concerned.  They  did  not 
contemplate  an  extension  of  the  Union  beyond  its  present  bounda- 
ries. The  serious  difficulties  that  now  so  much  threaten  the  integ- 
rity of  the  republic,  have  grown  out  of  the  purchase  and  acquisition 
of  foreign  territory.  It  is  true  the  Constitution  provides  for  the  ad- 
mission of  new  States ;  but  the  States  contemplated  were  those  ex- 
pected to  grow  up  within  the  existing  borders  of  the  Union — Maine, 
Vermont,  the  North  "Western  States,  Kentucky,  Tennessee,  Missis- 
sippi, and  Alabama.  None  others  were  anticipated.  That  the  vast 
dominions  of  the  King  of  Spain,  extending  from  the  borders  of  the 
Mississippi  to  the  Pacific  Ocean,  would  ever  become  a  portion  of  the 
territories  of 'the  United  States,  was  a  thing  our  forefathers  never 


MISSOURI  QUESTION.  123 

dreamed  of;  much  less  provided  for  in  that  Constitution  they  had  so 
cautiously  limited  and  guarded  in  all  its  parts,  as  a  fit  government 
for  their  posterity. 

The  acquisition  of  Louisiana  was  without  constitutional  authority. 
Mr.  Jefferson,  who  made  the  purchase,  admitted  it  to  be  so.  He 
wished  a  ratification  of  the  act  by  the  people ;  but  that  was  never 
done.  It  would  be  dangerous  to  take  their  silent  acquiescence  as 
evidence  of  approval.  The  amendment  of  the  Constitution,  which 
Mr.  Jefferson  desired,  by  the  insertion  of  an  ex  post  facto  clause,  par- 
doning its  infraction  under  the  pressure  of  an  imperious  necessity, 
was  never  attempted.  The  deed  stands  now  as  it  did  then — a  naked 
usurpation  of  power,  sanctioned  only  by  the  silent  acquiescence  of  the 
people.  We  do  not  wish  to  be  understood  as  condemning  it.  The 
evils  which  must  necessarily  have  flowed  from  the  continuance  of 
Louisiana  in  the  hands  of  a  foreign  and  hostile  power,  are  much 
greater,  as  we  conceive,  than  those  which  ought  to  result  as  a.neces- 
sary  consequence  of  its  annexation  to  the  Union.  But  this  does  not 
alter  the  fact  in  regard  to  it — that  it  was  acquired  without  autho- 
rity, and  that  there  has  been  no  amendment  of  the  Constitution  rati- 
fying the  deed. 

It  is  said,  however,  that  under  the  war  and  treaty-making  power, 
Congress  may  acquire  foreign  territory ;  under  the  same  authority  by 
which  it  is  obtained,  it  may  be  held  and  governed — conquered  by 
the  sword,  it  may  be  held  and  governed  by  the  sword.  This  doc- 
trine, whether  derived  from  the  war  or  treaty-making  power,  leads  to 
the  consequence  that  Congress  may  acquire  foreign  territory,  and  hold 
it  and  govern  it  as  a  province — as  England  governed  the  old  thirteen 
provinces,  as  she  now  governs  Canada  and  the  East  Indies  !  This  is 
a  startling  conclusion  ;  but  it  is  the  inevitable  consequence  of  the 
premises ;  grant  the  one,  and  you  are  forced  to  admit  the  other.  But 
Congress,  having  acquired  the  territory,  must  govern  it  in  the  spirit 
of  the  Constitution.  This  is  a  total  surrender  of  the  doctrine  of 
strict  construction,  which  -requires  a  distinct  grant  for  the  exercise 
of  every  substantive  power  by  Congress,  as  the  governing  of  a  terri- 
tory, making  and  unmaking  laws  for  it,  must  be  admitted  to  be.  In 
the  spirit  of  the  Constitution !  "What  that  may  be  is  a  matter  of 
opinion.  A  States-rights  man  holds  one  opinion  on  that  subject ; 
a  Consolidationist  or  Federalist  holds  another ;  and  it  is  left  to  a 
29 


124  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

majority  of  Congress  for  the  time  being  to  say  what  is  legislation  in 
the  spirit  of  the  Constitution.  These  are  the  absurd  and  dangerous 
conclusions  of  a  false  doctrine,  and  we  are  now  reaping  the  conse- 
quences. Better  admit  honestly  and  candidly  with  Mr.  Jefferson, 
that  the  first  acquisition  was  without  constitutional  authority,  and, 
of  consequence,  that  all  the  subsequent  acts  in  regard  to  it  must 
partake  of  the  same  character.  The  truth  is,  that  nearly  all  the  legis- 
lation of  Congress  for  the  last  half  century,  on  the  subject  of  territo- 
ries, can  be  sustained  by  their  own  examples  and  precedents  alone, 
and  not  by  any  grant  of  power  in  the  Constitution. 

When  Missouri  presented  herself  for  admission  into  the  Union, 
a  proposition  was  made  in  Congress  to  amend  her  constitution,  by 
inserting  the  clause,  that  "  all  children  of  slaves,  born  within  the  said 
State  after  the  admission  thereof  into  the  Union,  shall  be  free,  but 
may  be  held  to  service  until  the  age  of  twenty-five  years ;  and  the 
further  introduction  of  slavery,  or  involuntary  servitude,  is  prohibited, 
except  for  the  punishment  of  crimes,  whereof  the  party  shall  have 
been  duly  convicted."  This  proposition  came  too  late.  Missouri  was 
now  an  independent  State,  made  so  by  the  permission  and  by  the 
authority  of  Congress ;  she  could  not  be  thrown  back  by  the  will  of 
Congress  into  the  colonial  state.  Her  internal  and  domestic  affairs 
were  under  her  absolute  control  ;  and  the  only  inquiry  left  to  Con- 
gress was,  to  determine  whether  her  Constitution  was  republican,  and 
whether,  as  a  new  State,  she  shall  be  admitted  into  the  Union.  The 
attempted  restriction  on  her  domestic  policy  was  a  monstrous  propo- 
sition that  no  other  Congress,  save  such  an  one  as  we  have  described 
in  the  preceding  chapter,  could  have  entertained.  Men  having  a  just 
conception  of  the  limitations  of  the  Constitution  and  of  the  rights  of 
the  States,  would  have  perceived  that  the  internal  affairs  of  a  State 
were  wholly  beyond  the  jurisdiction  of  a  government,  whose  powers 
were  specially  and  strictly  limited  to  a  few  general  subjects  common 
to  all  States. 

But  as  it  regards  the  Territory  beyond  the  limits  of  the  State  of 
Missouri,  wholly  a  different  question  was  presented — here  was  a  fair 
subject  of  compromise.  Congress  had  no  right  to  legislate,  we  are 
told,  on  the  subject  of  slavery  in  that  Territory — what  right  had  they 
to  legislate  on  any  subject  ?  "What  right  had  they  in  the  first  in- 
stance to  acquire  possession  of  foreign  territory  ?  Under  the  treaty- 


MISSOURI  QUESTION.  125 

making  power,  it  is  answered.  Then  under  the  treaty-making  power 
it  must  be  governed  as  a  necessary  inference,  or  implication.  The 
proposition  to  confer  on  Congress  the  power  to  make  a  temporary 
government  for  territories  was  distinctly  rejected  by  the  framers  of 
the  Constitution.  Any  specific  grant  to  that  effect  is  not  pretended. 
Congress  has  the  right  to  make  treaties — this  confers  on  them  the 
p»wer  to  purchase  by  treaty  and  to  take  possession  of  foreign  terri- 
tory— having  a  right  to  acquire  by  treaty,  the  necessary  inference  is 
that  they  have  the  right  to  make  laws  and  to  govern  the  territory  cr  the 
province  acquired — this  is  the  line  of  argument.  Now  all  implied 
powers  have  no  other  limitation  on  them,  but  the  will  of  those  who 
make  the  implication — let  the  Protective  Tariff,  the  system  of  In- 
ternal Improvements  by  the  General  G-overnment,  and  the  Bank, 
serve  as  examples  and  illustrations  of  this  truth.  When  you  go  be- 
yond the  specific  grants  and  resort  to  implication  for  such  a  distinct, 
substantive  and  important  power  as  the  one  under  consideration,  then 
all  the  limitations  in  the  Constitution  are  of  no  avail.  Take  either 
alternative,  therefore,  that  Congress  had  no  constitutional  authority 
either  to  purchase  or  to  govern  foreign  territory — or  that,  under  the 
treaty-making  power,  they  had  the  right  to  acquire  and  to  govern, 
then  there  is  no  limitation  on  the  exercise  of  the  power,  usurped  o? 
implied,  save  that  imposed  by  themselves.  The  examples  and  prece- 
dents set  by  their  predecessors  constitute  their  only  guide.  The 
spirit  of  the  Constitution  as  manifested  in  these  authorities  must  be 
their  only  rule  of  action.  It  was  precisely  in  accordance  with  the 
history  of  past  legislation  that  the  Missouri  compromise  was  accom- 
plished. It  seems  to  have  grown  up  as  a  tacit,  though  well  under- 
stood agreement,  that  North  of  a  certain  line  involuntary  servitude 
should  not  exist,  and  South  of  it  slavery  should  be  tolerated.  The 
compromise  ordinance  of  1787  originated  in  this  feeling. 

Repeated  attempts  at  an  early  day  were  made  in  Indiana  and  Il- 
linois to  suspend  the  article  of  the  Ordinance  prohibiting  slavery  be- 
yond the  Ohio — but  they  were  always  opposed  and  defeated  by  South 
ern  men.  On  the  contrary,  when  the  provisions  of  the  Ordinance 
were  extended  to  Southern  territory,  the  article  on  the  subject  of 
slavery  was  striken  out.  Thus  there  grew  up  from  the  nature  of  the 
case,  and  under  the  force  of  circumstances,  a  sort  of  common  law  un- 
derstanding, that  all  North  of  a  certain  line,  restrictions  on  the  sub- 


126  L-^E  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

ject  of  slavery  should  be  enforced,  and  South  of  it,  they  should  be 
removed.  When,  therefore,  the  question  was  raised  in  regard  to 
newly  acquired  foreign  territory,  the  same  rule  was  enforced..  It  was 
imposed  by  a  combined  northern  majority  on  the  South  who,  without 
a  dissenting  voice,  steadily  opposed  it.  This  geographical  majority 
ingrafted  on  the  Missouri  bill  a  provision — "  that  in  all  that  territory 
teded  by  France  to  the  United  States,  under  the  name  of  Louisiana, 
which  lies  north  of  thirty-six  degrees  and  thirty  minutes  north  lati- 
tude, not  included  within  the  limits  of  the  State  contemplated  by  this 
act,  slavery  and  involuntary  servitude,  otherwise  than  in  the  punish- 
ment of  crimes,  whereof  the  parties  shall  have  been  duly  convicted, 
shall  be  and  is  hereby  for  ever  prohibited."  Thus  we  see  that  the  line 
was  extended  and  definitely  laid  down  by  northern  men.  The  whole 
South  voted  against  it  under  the  impression  that  Congress  had  no 
right  to  legislate  on  the  subject ;  but  we  have  seen  their  error  in  sup- 
posing that  there  were  any  constitutional  provisions  on  the  subject  at 
all — and  that,  whether  as  usurped  or  implied  power,  there  was  no 
other  limitation  on  it,  save  that  of  precedent  and  authority.  And  it 
was  precisely  in  accordance  with  precedent  and  authority,  and  the 
common  sentiment  silently  grown  up  among  the  States,  that  this  line 
was  laid  down  and  extended.  The  northern  men  took  on  themselves 
the  fearful  responsibility  of  acting  alone  in  this  business.  They  dic- 
tated the  line  and  said  by  that  we  will  stand.  All  subsequent  legis 
lation  has  been  based  on  the  faith  of  this  pledge.  Iowa  has  been  ad- 
mitted as  a  State  into  the  Union — Minnesota  and  Oregon  organized 
as  Territories  on  its  faith.  And  can  any  reasonable  man  see  why 
this  line  should  not  as  well  extend  to  the  Pacific  ocean,  as  to  the 
Rocky  Mountains?  to  the  territories  recently  acquired  of  Mexico,  as 
well  as  to  those  which  in  1803  were  purchased  of  France?  There  is 
no  constitutional  authority  for  the  acquisition  or  the  government  of 
either  as  territory  or  a  province — the  necessity  of  the  case  in  the 
first  instance,  and  the  subsequent  practice  of  the  government,  can 
alone  be  adduced  as  justification  and  authority. 

The  same  rules,  precedents,  and  examples,  apply  as  well  in  the 
one  case  as  in  the  other.  And  above  all,  that  overwhelming  senti- 
ment of  justice,  that  spirit  of  concession  and  compromise,  which  pre- 
sided over  the  birth  and  infancy  of  the  Constitution,  and  preserved  it 
from  destruction  when  well-nigh  torn  asunder  by  the  Missouri  con- 


COMPROMISE  BILL.  127 

vulsion,  urge  on  us  now  with  tenfold  force,  at  a  moment  when  all  the 
nations  of  the  earth  are  torn  up  from  their  deep  foundations — and 
this  blessed  Constitution  stands  as  the  only  sheltering  rock  in  whose 
broad  shadow,  far  stretching  over  the  dark  waters,  their  scattered 
fragments  may  come  together  and  be  re-formed.  If  the  sentiment  of 
brotherly  forbearance,  if  a  generous  pride  in  the  glory  and  prosperity 
of  our  common  country  do  not  prevail  at  this  crisis,  we  shall  then 
hang  our  heads  in  sorrow,  mourn  over  the  departed  spirit  of  our  fa- 
thers, and  look  with  fearful  forebodings  on  that  dark  demon,  that  has 
come  to  usurp  its  place — the  mad  spirit  of  fanaticism,  engendered  in 
ambition  and  fostered  by  the  lust  of  plunder  and  dominion. 


CHAPTER   XIII. 

COMPROMISE   BILL   SMUGGLED   THROUGH  THE   HOUSE. 

MR.  RANDOLPH'S  opposition  to  the  Missouri  Bill,  with  the  obnoxious 
clause  in  it  prohibiting  slavery  beyond  a  certain  line,  was  very  de- 
cided. In  common  with  the  southern  members,  he  regarded  the 
whole  proceeding  as  unconstitutional — destructive  of  the  vital  in- 
terests of  the  South — a  dangerous  precedent,  that  might  be  used  for 
still  greater  encroachments  hereafter — and  would  listen  to  no  com- 
promise on  the  subject.  One  night,  when  the  House  was  engaged  in 
debating  the  great  question,  and  there  seemed  but  a  faint  prospect 
of  its  adjustment,  Mr.  Randolph,  it  is  said,  accosted  Mr.  Clay,  the 
Speaker  of  the  House,  who,  for  a  moment,  was  absent  from  the  chair, 
and  said  to  him,  «  Mr.  Speaker.  I  wish  you  would  quit  the  chair,  and 
leave  the  House  ;  I  will  follow  you  to  Kentucky,  or  any  where  else." 
Mr.  Randolph  was  told,  in  reply,  that  his  proposition  was  a  very  seri- 
ous one  -;  and  that  if  he  would  meet  Mr.  Clay  the  next  morning,  in 
the  Speaker's  room,  the  latter  would  converse  with  him  fully  on  the 
whole  subject.  The  interview  accordingly  took  place,  and  the  parties 
had  a  long  conversation,  relating,  principally,  to  the  propriety  of  a 
compromise.  Mr.  Randolph  was  decidedly  opposed  to  any  compro- 
mise, a^d  Mr.  Clay  was  in  favor  of  acceding  to  one,  if  it  could  be 


128  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

done  without  any  sacrifice  of  principle  After  the  termination  of  thia 
interview,  they  never  exchanged  salutations,  or  spoke  to  each  other 
again,  during  the  session.  We  do  not  vouch  for  the  truth  of  this 
statement ;  but  it  is  very  certain,  that  Mr.  Randolph  spoke  in  no 
measured  terms  of  the  course  of  the  Speaker  of  the  House  (Mr.  Clay) 
on  the  subject  of  the  compromise,  and  charged  him  with  taking  ad- 
vantage of  his  office,  and  conniving,  if  not  actually  aiding,  in  smug- 
gling the  bill  through  the  House,  contrary  to  the  rules  of  proceeding, 
thereby  depriving  him  and  other  members  of  their  constitutional 
right  to  a  final  vote,  on  a  motion  for  reconsideration,  which  the 
Speaker  knew  Mr.  Randolph  was  about  to  make. 

His  own  account  of  that  transaction  is  so  graphic,  so  character- 
istic of  the  man,  that  we  here  give  it  to  the  reader  entire. 

"  On  the  night  that  that  bill  had  its  last  vote  in  the  House,  my 
colleague,  W.  S.  Archer,  was  a  new  member.  I  declared,  publicly 
and  openly,  that  in  case  that  bill  should  pass,  with  the  amendment 
then  proposed,  unless  another  amendment  should  succeed — which 
did  not  succeed — I  declared,  conditionally,  that  I  should  move  for 
a  reconsideration  of  the  vote.  Myself  and  my  colleague,  who,  with 
another  gentleman,  whom  I  shall  not  refer  to,  though  near  me 
(Mr.  Macon),  were  the  only  persons  whom  I  have  heard  of,  1>C 
longing  to  the  Southern  interest,  who  determined  to  have  no  com- 
promise at  all  on  this  subject.  They  determined  to  cavil  on  the  nine- 
tieth part  of  a  hair,  in  a  matter  of  sheer  right,  touching  the  dearest 
interests,  the  life-blood  of  the  Southern  States.  The  House  was  ex- 
hausted ;  a  gentleman  fainted  in  front  of  the  chair,  and  tumbled  on 
the  ground.  In  this  state  of  things,  my  colleague  asked  whether  it 
would  not  do  as  well  to  put  off  the  motion  till  to-morrow  (for  he  was 
in  ill  health  and  much  fatigued)  ?  I  said  I  could  not  agree  to  that, 
till  I  had  taken  the  opinion  of  the  court,  in  the  last  resort.  After 
that  question  had  eventuated,  as  I  foresaw  it  might,  I  rose  in  my 
place,  and  asked  of  the  Speaker  whether  it  was  in  order  to  move  a  recon- 
sideration of  the  vote.  He  said  that  it  was.  Sir,  I  am  stating  facts 
of  more  importance  to  the  civil  history  of  this  country  than  the  battle 
which  took  place  not  far  from  this.  He  said  it  was.  I  then  asked 
him  (to  relieve  my  colleague,  who  had  just  taken  his  seat  for  the  first 
time  that  session),  whether  it  would  be  in  order  to  move  the  recon- 
sideration of  the  vote-,  on  the  next  day  1  He  said  something  to  this 
effect :  Surely  the  gentleman  knows  the  rules  of  the  House  too  well 
not  to  know  that  it  will  be  in  order  at  any  time  during  the  sitting,  to- 
morrow or  the  next  day.  I  replied,  I  thought  I  did  ;  but  I  wanted 
to  make  assurance  doubly  sure,  to  have  the  opinion  of  the  tribunal 


COMPROMISE  BILL.  129 

in  the  last  rosort.  I  then  agreed — to  accommodate  my  colleague,  in 
the  state  of  exhaustion  in  which  the  House  then  was — I  agreed  to 
suspend  my  motion  for  a  reconsideration,  and  we  adjourned.  The 
next  morning,  before  either  House  met,  I  learned — no  matter  how — 
no  matter  from  whom,  or  for  what  consideration — that  it  was  in  contem- 
plation that  this  clock  (Senate  chamber),  which  is  hardly  ever  in  order, 
and  the  clock  in  the  other  House,  which  is  not  in  a  better  condition, 
should  somehow  disagree ;  that  the  Speaker  should  not  take  his  seat 
in  the  House  till  the  President  had  taken  his  seat  nere ;  and  then, 
that  when  I  went  into  the  House  to  make  my  motion.  I  was  to  be 
toH  that  the  Chair  regretted  very  much  that  the  clerk  had  gone  ofi 
with  the  bill ;  that  it  was  not  in  their  possession,  and  the  case  was 
irreparable ;  and  yet  I  recollect  very  well,  when  we  applied  to  the 
Secretary  o£  State  for  a  parchment  roll  of  an  act  which  had  not  been 
duly  enrolled,  two  sections  were  left  out  by  the  carelessness  of  the 
clerks  and  of  the  committee  of  enrollment.  That  act  was,  by  the 
House  of  Representatives,  in  which  it  originated,  procured  from  the 
archives  of  the  Department  of  State,  and  put  on  the  statute  books,  as 
it  passed — not  as  it  was  on  the  roll — and  enrolled  anew.  It  was  the 
act  for  the  relief  of  the  captors  of  the  Mirboha  and  Missonda.  As 
soon  as  I  understood  this,  sir,  I  went  to  the  Speaker  myself,  and 
told  him  that  I  must  have  my  vote  for  reconsideration  that  day. 

"  I  can  only  say  that  I  inferred — not  from  what  he  told  me — that 
my  information  was  correct.  I  came  oiF  immediately  to  this  House 
(Senate.)  It  wanted  about  twenty  minutes  of  the  time  when  the  Sen- 
ate was  to  meet.  I  saw  that  most  respectable  man  whom  we  have 
just  lost,  and  begged  to  speak  with  him  in  private.  "We  retired  to  a 
committee  room,  and  to  prevent  intrusion  we  locked  the  door.  I  told 
him  of  the  conspiracy  laid  to  defeat  me  of  my  constitutional  right  to 
move  a  reconsideration,  (though  I  think  it  a  dangerous  rule,  and 
always  voted  against  its  being  put  on  the  rules  at  all,  believing  that, 
to  prevent  tampering  and  collusion,  the  vote  to  reconsider  ought  to 
be  taken  instantly,  yet,  sir,  as  it  was  then,  I  had  a  right  to  make  the 
motion.)  I  told  this  gentleman  that  he  might,  by  taking  the  chair 
of  the  Senate  sooner  than  the  true  time,  lend  himself  unconsciously 
to  this  conspiracy  against  my  constitutional  rights  as  a  member  of 
the  other  House  from  the  State  of  Virginia.  1  spoke,  sir,  to  a  man 
of  honor  and  a  gentleman,  and  it  is  unnecessary  to  say  that  he  did 
not  take  the  chair  till  the  proper  hour  arrived.  As  soon  as  that  hour 
arrived,  we  left  the  committee  room  together.  I  went  on  to  the 
House  of  Representatives,  and  found  them  in  session,  and  the  clerk 
reading  the  journal,  meanwhile  there  had  been  runners  through  the 
long  passage,  which  was  then  made  of  plank,  I  think,  between  the 
two  Houses,  hunting  for  Mr.  Gaillard.  Where  is  he  ?  He  is  not  to 
be  found.  The  House  of  Representatives  having  organized  itself, 


130  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH 

when  I  came  in  from  the  door  of  the  Senate,  I  found  the  clerk  read 
ing  the  journal ;  the  moment  after  he  had  finished  it  I  made  the  mo- 
tion, and  was  seconded  by  my  colleague,  Mr.  Archer,  to  whom  I  could 
appeal — not  that  my  testimony  wants  evidence.  I  should  like  to  see 
the  man  who  would  question  it  on  a  matter  of  fact.  This  fact  is  well 
remembered  5  a  lady  would  as  soon  forget  her  wedding  day  as  I  forget 
this.  The  motion  to  reconsider  was  opposed ;  it  was  a  debateable 
question,  and  the  Speaker  stated  something  this  way — '  that  it  was 
not  for  him  to  give  any  orders  ;  the  Clerk  knew  his  duty.'  The  Clerk 
went  more  than  once — my  impression  is,  that  he  went  more  than 
twice.  I  could  take  my  oath,  and  so,  I  believe,  could  Mr.  Archer, 
that  he  made  two  efforts,  and  came  back  under  my  eye,  like  a  mouse 
under  the  eye  of  a  cat,  with  the  engrossed  bill  in  his  hand.  His 
bread  was  at  stake.  At  last  he,  with  that  pace,  and  countenance,  and 
manner,  which  only  conscious  guilt  can  inspire,  went  off,  his  poverty, 
not  his  will  consenting  ;  and  before  the  debate  was  finished,  back  he 
comes  with  the  bill,  from  the  Senate,  which  had  then  become  a  law. 
before  it  was  decided  whether  they  would  reconsider  it  at  my  mo- 
tion or  not,  which  motion  nailed  the  bill  to  the  table  until  it  should 
have  been  disposed  of.  Notorious  as  these  facts  are,  so  anxious  was 
one  side  of  that  House  to  cover  up  their  defection ;  such  was  the  anx- 
iety of  the  other  to  get  Missouri  in  on  any  conditions,  that  this  thing 
was  hushed  up,  just  as  the  suspension  of  the  Habeas  Corpus  was 
hushed  up. 

"  The  bill  was  passed  through  the  forms  of  law.  Missouri  was  ad- 
mitted into  the  Union  contrary  to  the  Constitution,  as  much  so  as  if 
I  had  voted  the  other  way  in  the  first  instance,  and  the  Speaker  had 
ordered  the  Clerk  to  put  my  name  with  the  ayes  in  the  journal  when 
I  had  voted  no — because,  sir,  agreeably  to  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States  every  member  has  a  right  to  his  vote,  under  the  forms 
of  the  House,  whether  these  forms  are  wise  or  foolish ;  and  my  col- 
league and  myself  were  ousted  out  of  our  right  to  reconsider,  for 
which  I  would  not  have  taken  all  the  land  within  the  State  of  Mis- 


Mr.  Randolph  was  greatly  excited  during  the  agitation  of  the 
Missouri  question;  he  did  not  sleep  of  nights;  and  his  energetic, 
quick  temper,  exasperated  by  the  scenes  around  him,  inflamed  by 
long  watching  and  anxiety,  gave  a  peculiar  force  and  piquancy  to  all 
he  said.  His  indignation  was  particularly  levelled  at  Mr.  Clay,  not 
that  he  had  any  personal  dislike  to  that  gentleman,  apart  from  his 
political  course,  but  as  he  was  the  leader  of  the  spurious  Republican 
party  then  in  the  ascendent,  Mr.  Randolph  thought  him  entitled  to 
the  animadversions  that  were  aimed  at  the  party  itself,  particularly 


COMPROMISE  BILL.  131 

as  he  was  not  only  their  leader,  but  their  chief  spokesman,  setting 
forth  on  all'occasions,  and  embellishing  their  doctrines  by  his  copious 
and  ornate  style  of  oratory. 

Old  minority  men,  turned  courtiers,  and  whitewashed  Federalists, 
composed  the  self-styled  Republican  party,  when  in  truth  they  did 
not  possess  the  first  principle — the  doctrine  of  State  rights,  that 
should  characterize  a  party  bearing  that  title.  Mr.  Clay's  course  on 
the  bank  in  1811,  and  again  in  1816,  his  course  on  internal  improve- 
ments, and  his  conduct  in  regard  to  "  the  compromise,"  as  it  was  un- 
derstood by  all  strict  constructionists,  eminently  fitted  him  for  the 
leadership  of  such  a  mongrel  party ;  and  surely  he  was  not  spared  in 
the  animadversions  of  those  who  perceived  the  old  leaven  of  Federal- 
ism penetrating  the  whole  mass  under  the  shallow  disguise  of  a  new 
name. 

In  the  following  strictures  Mr.  Randolph  is  particularly  pointed 
and  severe. 

"  The  anniversary  of  Washington's  birth-day  (says  he,  in  a  letter 
to  Dr.  Brockenbrough,  Feb.  23d,  1820)  will  be  a  memorable  day  in  the 
history  of  my  life,  if  indeed  any  history  shall  be  attached  to  it.  Yes- 
terday, I  spoke  four  hours  and  a  half  to  as  attentive  an  audience  as 
ever  listened  to  a  public  speaker.  Every  eye  was  riveted  upon  me, 
save  one,  and  that  was  sedulously  and  affectedly  turned  away.  The 
ears,  however,  were  drinking  up  the  words  as  those  of  the  royal  Dane 
imbibed  "  the  juice  of  cursed  heberon,"  though  not,  like  his,  uncon- 
scious of  the  leprous  distilment ;  as  I  could  plainly  perceive  by  the 
play  of  the  muscles  of  the  face,  and  the  coming  and  going  of  the 
color,  and  the  petty  agitation  of  the  whole  man,  like  the  affected  fidget 
and  flirt  of  the  fan  whereby  a  veteran  coquette  endeavors  to  hide  her 
chagrin  from  the  spectators  of  her  mortification. 

"  This  person  was  no  other  than  Mr.  Speaker  himself,  the  only 
man  in  the  House  to  whose  attention  I  had  a  right.  He  left  the  chair, 
called  Cobb  to  it,  paced  the  lobby  at  the  back  of  it  in  great  agitation, 
resumed,  read  MSS.,  newspapers,  printed  documents  on  the  table 
(i.  e.  affected  to  read  them),  beckoned  the  attendants,  took  snuff, 
looked  at  his  shoe-buckles,  at  his  ruffles,  towards  the  other  side  of  the 
House — every  where  but  at  me.  I  had  mentioned  to  him  as  deli- 
cately as  I  could,  that  being  unable  to  catch  his  eye,  I  had  been 
obliged  (against  my  will,  and  what  I  thought  the  rule  of  order  and 
decorum  in  debate)  to  look  elsewhere  for  support.  This  apology  I 
expected  would  call  him  to  a  sense  of  what  was  due  to  himself  and 
his  station,  as  well  as  to  me  ;  but  it  had  none  effect.  At  last,  when 
you  might  have  heard  a  pin  drop  upon  the  carpet,  he  beckoned  one 


132  LJFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

of  the  attendants  and  began  whispering  to  the  lad  (I  believe  to  fetch 
his  snuff-box).  '  Fooled  to  the  top  of  my  bent,'  I  l  checked  in  mid 
volley,'  and  said  :  '  The  rules  of  this  House,  sir,  require,  and  properly 
require,  every  member  when  he  speaks  to  address  himself  respectfully 
to  Mr.  Speaker ;  to  that  rule,  which  would  seem  to  imply  a  correla- 
tive duty  of  respectful  attention  on  the  part  of  the  Chair,  I  always 
adhere ;  never  seeking  for  attention  in  the  countenances  of  the  mem- 
bers, much  less  of  the  spectators  and  auditors  in  the  lobby  or  the  gal- 
lery :  as,  however,  I  find  the  Chair  resolutely  bent  on  not  attending 
to  me,  I  shall  take  my  seat :'  which  I  did  accordingly.  The  chas- 
tisement was  so  deserved,  so  studiously  provoked,  that  it  was  not  in 
my  nature  to  forego  inflicting  it.  Like  '  Worcester's  rebellion,  it  Ic^y 
in  my  ivay  and  I  found  it? 

"  He  replied  in  a  subdued  tone  of  voice,  and  with  a  manner  quite 
changed  from  his  usual  petulance  and  arrogance  (for  it  is  generally 
one  or  t'other,  sometimes  both), l  that  he  had  paid  all  possible  atten- 
tion,' &c.3  which  was  not  true,  in  fact :  for  from  the  time  that  I  en- 
tered upon  the  subject  of  his  conduct  in  relation  to  the  bank  in  1811 
(renewal  of  old  charter),  and  in  1816  (the  new  bank),  and  on  inter- 
nal improvements,  &c.  (quoting  his  words  in  his  last  speech,  that 
'  this  was  a  limited,  cautiously  restricted  government'),  and  held  up 
the  '  Compromise'  in  its  true  colors,  he  never  once  glanced  his  eye 
upon  me  but  to  withdraw  it,  as  if  he  had  seen  a  basilisk. 

"  Some  of  the  pretenders  to  the  throne,  if  not  the  present  incum- 
bent, will  hold  me  from  that  day  forth  in  cherished  remembrance.  I 
have  not  yet  done,  however,  with  the  pope  or  the  pretenders,  their 
name  is  legion. 

"  My  dear  friend,  I  have  been  up  since  three  o'clock ;  as  soon  as 
I  could  see  to  write  I  began  this  letter,  if  it  deserve  the  name  of  one. 
I  have  received  my  death-wound  on  Tuesday,  the  1st,  and  Wednes- 
day, the  2d  of  February.  Had  I  not  spoken  on  the  last  of  these 
days,  I  might  have  weathered  this  point  and  clawed  off  of  death's  lee 
shore.  My  disease  is  assuming  a  hectic  type.  I  believe  the  lungs 
are  affected  symptomatically,  through  sympathy  with  the  liver,  at 
least  I  hope  so.  Yet  why  hope  when  the  vulture  daily  whets  his 
beak  for  a  repast  upon  my  ever-growing  liver,  and  his  talons  are  fixed 
in  my  very  vitals?  I  am  done  with  public  life,  as  soon  as  the  business 
of  Congress  will  permit  me  to  leave  it;  at  any  rate,  immediately  after 
the  adjournment  I  shall  travel — perhaps  take  a  sea  voyage,  not  to 
get  rid  of  duns  (although  the  wolf  will  be  at  my  door  in  the  shape 
of  the  man  I  bought  that  land  of),  but  to  take  the  only  chance  of 
prolonging  a  life,  that  I  trust  is  now  not  altogether  useless. 

"  Remember  me  kindly  to  all  friends ;  respectfully  to  Mr.  Roane. 
Tell  him  that  I  have  fulfilled  his  injunction,  and  I  trust  proved 
myself  '  a  zealous,  and  consistent,  and  (I  wish  I  could  add)  able 


COMPROMISE  BILL.  133 

defender  of  State  Rights.'     I  have  yet  to  settle  with  the  Supreme 
Court 


c: . 


I  am  hurt — a  plague  of  both  tJie  Houses — I  am  sped  !  'Tis  not 
so  deep  as  a  well,  nor  so  wide  as  a  church  door,  but  'twill  serve :  ask 
for  me  to-morrow,  and  you  shall  find  me  a  grave  man.' "  ' 

The  foregoing,  and  other  letters  that  followed  close  upon  it  in 
quick  succession,  show  the  diseased  condition  of  body,  and  the  excited 
and  feverish  state  of  mind  under  which  Mr.  Randolph  was  laboring 

at  this  time. 

Thursday  morning,  5  o'clock,  Feb.  24,  1820. 

(:  I  have  been  up  since  half  past  three.  My  sensations  are  indes- 
cribable. The  night  before  last  I  had  a  return  of  the  spasms.  At 
present  I  am  free  from  pain  ;  but  what  I  feel  is  worse  than  pain,  un- 
less in  its  most  acute  form,  and  even  then  I  think  I  cculd  better  bear 
it.  Whatever  it  be,  something  is  passing  in  the  nobler  viscera  of  no 
ordinary  character.  They  have  got  a  Missouri  question  there,  that 
threatens  a  divulsion  of  soul  from  body.  Nausea  in  its  worst  form 
(sea  sickness)  is  not  equal  to  what  I  feel.  I  have  it  slightly,  accom- 
panied with  a  sinking  of  the  spirits,  a  soul-sickness,  a  sensation 
as  if  I  should  swoon  away  instantly  ;  meantime,  diarrhoea  is  not  idle, 
from  twenty  to  fifty  calls  in  the  four  and  twenty  hours.  Every  thing 
I  eat  (only  milk  and  crackers,  heated  over  again  in  the  oven)  passes 
unchanged.  So  did  gruel  when  I  took  some  well  boiled  and  gelatinous. 

"  You  will  not  see  my  name  on  the  yeas  and  nays  yesterday  on  the 
Senate's  bill.  I  could  not  remain  in  the  house,  the  air  of  which  is 
unchanged  for  weeks.  It  smells  like  a  badly  kept  comodite,  (shouldn't 
there  be  two  m's  in  that  word  ?)  and  even  worse,  for  you  have  in  ad- 
dition to  ordure  and  urine  all  the  exhalations  that  overpowered  Matt. 
Bramble  at  a  fashionable  squeeze,  and  stale  tobacco  smoke  into  the 
bargain  ;  cigars  are  smoked  in  the  ante-room.  The  avenues  to  our 
hall  are  narrow,  mean,  dark  and  dangerous,  and  when  you  pass  the 
first  portal,  you  are  assailed  by  a  compound  of  villanous  smells,  which 
is  only  a  little  more  diluted  when  you  emerge  into  light,  or  rather 
darkness  visible  through  cross  lights  that  torture  the  eye. 

-  My  faithful  Juba  is  sick,  very  sick,  and  four  nights  ago  I  heard 
him  in  his  sleep  cry  out  '  I  wish  I  and  master  was  at  home.'  These 
Yankees  have  almost  reconciled  me  to  negro  slavery.  They  have 
produced  a  revulsion  even  on  my  mind,  what  then  must  the  efiect  be 
on  those  who  had  no  scruples  on  the  subject.  I  am  persuaded  that 
the  cause  of  humanity  to  these  unfortunates  has  been  put  back  a 
century,  certainly  a  generation,  by  the  unprincipled  conduct  of  am- 
bitious men,  availing  themselves  of  a  good  as  well  as  of  a  fanatical 
spirit  in  the  nation. 

"  Tell  Mrs.  Brockeubrough  that  Mr.  Meade  makes  anxious  inqui- 


134  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

ries  about  the  stato  of  her  mind  on  the  subject  of  religious  opinions. 
He  and  Frank  Key  are  with  us  on  the  question.  Frank  has  just  re- 
turned from  Frederick,  where  he  was  summoned  a  fortnight  ago  ta 
attend  a  (supposed)  dying  father.  The  old  gentleman  is  recovering 
slowly.  What  must  it  have  been  to  have  his  bedside  attended  by 
such  a  son  !  He  is  indeed  as  near  perfection  as  our  poor  nature  can 
go,  although  he  would  be  shocked  to  hear  it  said.  Severe  to  him- 
self, considerate  and  indulgent  to  others,  speaking  ill  of  none.  Day 
is  breaking ;  good  morning." 

"  J.  R.  of  R.  to  J.  B.,  a  letter,  like  Mrs.  Howe's,  from  the  dead 
to  the  living. 

Saturday,  Ft<b.  26,  1820. 

"  Hear  all  ye  nations  !  Last  evening  the  late  J.  R.  of  R.  who  is 
'stone  dead  (the  major)  precisely',  went  to  Mrs.  F h's  '•con- 
sort'— said  dead  man  being  like  any  other  great  personage  deceased, 
tired  of  *  toujours  perdrix.'  (N.  B.  :  the  plural  of  this  French  noun- 
substantive  is  perdros,  according  to  Mr.  Speaker  Clay,  who  has  been 
to  Paris,  aye.  and  to  Ghent  too ;  and  ought  surely  to  know.)  Why 
shouldn't  dead  men  enjoy  a  little  variety  as  well  as  folks  that  talk  in 
their  sleep  in  Congress  ? — and  there  were  '  lots  of  them '  there  — 
(see  Tom  Crib).  The  French  lady  proved  to  be  a  noun-adjective, 
as  old  Lilly  hath  it,  she  'could  not  stand  by  herself  (or  would  not) 
for  after  some  execrable  airs,  at  the  beginning  of  the  third  (not  the 
third  by  at  least  thirty — it  is  Dogberry  who,  after  '  sixthly  and  lastly' 
brings  in  '  thirdly')  she  enacted  something  like  a  fit,  and  threw  her- 
self into  the  arms  of  a  gentleman  (not  a  false  concord  I  hope — I 
trust  it  was  her  husband),  whereupon  the  '  dead  man'  not  the  'mas- 
ter of  the  rolls '  (he  deals  only  in  crackers)  '  opened  wide  his  mouth ' 
and  called  a  coach  and  threw  himself  into  it  and  drove  home,  not 
sham-sick.  I  was  heartily  glad  of  our  early  dismission,  and  after  an 
almost  sleepless  night,  me  void,  at  my  daily  occupation,  by  day- 
break, boring  you. 

"  I  learn  from  a  very  direct  source,  that  this  lady  was  an  obscure 

girl,  whom  Mrs.  B 11  '  patronized  '  and  placed  at  Mad.  Rivaldi's 

boarding-school  ;  where  the  protegee  was  shown  off  to  the   glory  of 

the  patroness,  and  sung  at  Mad.  R 's  concerts  and  married  one 

of  the  teachers,  and  in  short,  has  been  used  to  exhibition  and  dis- 
play from  the  egg-shell.  I  felt  very  much  ashamed  of  being  there, 
not  because  the  room  was  mean  and  badly  lighted,  and  dirty,  and  the 
company  ill  dressed,  but  because  I  saw,  for  the  first  time,  an  Ameri- 
can woman  singing  for  hire.  I  would  import  our  actors,  singers, 
tumblers  and  jack-puddings,  if  we  must  have  such  cattle,  from  Eu- 
rope. Hyde  de  Neuville,  a  Frenchman,  agreed  with  me,  'that  although 
the  lady  was  universally  admitted  to  be  very  amiable,  it  was  a  danger- 
ous exampb.'  At  first  (on  tfi?}  she  was  unaffected  and  sang  natu- 


COMPROMISE  BILL.  135 

rally,  and,  I  am  told,  agreeably  enough,  but  now  she  is  a  bundle  of 
'  affectations '  (as  Sir  Hugh  hath  it),  and  reminds  me  of  the  little 
screech  '  owels '  as  they  say  on  '  the  south  side?  Her  voice  is  not  bad, 
but  she  is  utterly  destitute  of  a  single  particle  of  taste  or  judgment. 
Were  she  a  lady  and  I  in  her  company,  my  politeness  should  never 
induce  me  to  punish  myself  by  asking  her  to  sing. 

';A  member  from  Virginia,  whose  avoirdupois  entitles  him  to 
weight,  as  well  as  his  being  a  sort  of  commis  to  the  P.,  told  me  yes- 
terday, '  that  the  tale  in  circulation  of  the  P.  having  written  a  let- 
ter to  Mr.  Roane,  declaring  his  disapprobation  of  the  compromise, 
was  an  idle  scandal,  for  that  he  had  seen  the  letter  (or  rather  that  it 
had* been  read  to  him)  and  there  was  no  such  sentiment  expressed  in 
it.'  Hem  !  Pretty  good  !  Don't  you  think  so  ? 

''•  When  Mrs.  F.  was  '  screeching,'  I  was  strongly  ^eminded  of  two 
lines  of  a  mock  Methodist  hymn,  that  poor  John  HoLingsworth  used 
to  sing,  when  we  were  graceless  youths  at  college — 

"  '  O !  that  I,  like  Madame  French, 

Could  raise  my  '  vice'  on  high, 
Thy  name  should  last  like  oaken  bench. 
To  parpctui-ty .' 

"  The  same  '  two  single  gentlemen  rolled  into  one,'  told  me  that 

M e  expressed  a  desire  to  maintain  the  relations  of  peace  and 

amity  and  social  intercourse,  with  me ;  that  he  did  not  stand  upon 
etiquette ;  did  not  require  any  gentleman  to  pay  him  the  respect  of  a 
call  in  the  first  instance ;  gave  examples  to  that  effect,  some  of  which 
I  know  to  be  true  (N.  B.  election  coming  on),  and  that  he  should  have 
sent  his  invitations  to  me  as  well  as  to  the  rest,  but  that  he  thought 
they  would  not  be  acceptable — that  I  had  repelled,  &c.,  &c.,  &c. 

•'  Whereupon  I  said  that  I  had  not  seen  said  great  man  but  once 
(Friday,  the  Hth,  riding  by,  after  Mr.  King's  speech  in  the  Senate) 
since  the  Georgetown  sheep-shearing,  in  the  spring  of  1812.  That  I 
had  called  more  than  once  that  spring,  on  him  and  Madame,  and  not 
at  home  was  the  invariable  reply ;  that  he  had  invited  Garnett,  as  it 
were  out  of  my  own  apartment  that  year,  to  dine  with  General  Mo- 
reau,  Lewis  and  Stanford,  the  only  M.  C.'s  that  lodged  there  besides 
myself,  and  omitted  to  ask  me,  who  had  a  great  desire  to  see  Moreau ; 
that  I  lacqueyed  the  heels  of  no  great  man ;  that  I  had  a  very  good 
dinner  at  home,  which  I  could  not  eat,  although  served  at  an  hour 
that  I  was  used  to  ;  and  that  I  was  very  well,  as  I  was,  &c.  Hodijah 
Mcade  writes  Archer  that  I  am  becoming  popular,  even  in  Amelia. 
Perhaps  the  great  man  has  heard  something  to  this  effect. 

':  Write  me  volumes — all  your  news,  chat,  &c.  Yesterday  we 
'  settled  the  chat.'  not  by  the  rules  of '  the  Finish'  (see  Tom  Crib),  but 
of  the  House  of  Commons,  actually  coughing,  and  scraping,  and  '  ques- 
tion' questioning  some  brave  fellows  that  made  a  stout  resistance  to 


136  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

be  heard,  but  were  outnumbered.  I  was  not  party  to  the  outrage—- 
did not  cough  nor  cry,  but  I  heard  the  speaker's  voice  above  the  rest. 
G-.  T.  spoke  the  last — promised  us  novelty  at  least,  borrowed  largely 
from  Pinkney,  P.  Barbour,  and  your  humble  servant,  during  three 
quarters  of  an  hour  that  I  listened  to  him,  when  I  left  him,  I  believe, 

without  a  single  auditor  except  Mr.   Chairman  C b !  as  very  a 

Johnny  Raw'  as  ever  entered  a  ring.     See  again  my  standard  au 
thority,  Tom  Crib.': 


CHAPTER    XIV. 

"I  NOW 

IMMEDIATELY  on  the  settlement  of  that  exciting  subject — the  Missouri 
question — followed  the  death  of  Commodore  Decatur,  who  fell  in  a 
duel  the  20th  March,  1820,  with  Commodore  Barron.  This  sad 
event  produced  a  shock  throughout  the  community.  The  gallant 
seaman  lived  in  the  hearts  of  his  countrymen.  His  untimely  end 
shrouded  the  country  in  mourning.  The  occasion,  the  manner,  and 
the  place — not  on  the  proud  deck,  in  face  of  the  enemies  of  his  coun- 
try, added  poignancy  to  their  grief.  None  felt  more  deeply  on  the 
occasion  than  John  Randolph.  They  were  friends,  and  they  were  kin- 
dred spirits.  To  lose  so  noble  a  soul  from  among  the  few  whose  love 
he  cherished,  under  such  painful  circumstances,  and  at  a  time  when  the 
country  could  illy  spare  so  gallant  a  heart,  was  more  than  his  weak 
frame  could  endure.  Worn  out  with  excessive  watching  and  anx- 
iety on  the  momentous  question  which  had  well  nigh  torn  the  Union 
asunder,  emaciated  with  disease  bodily  and  mental,  that  for  years  had 
known  no  intermission,  with  the  keen  sensibility  of  a  woman,  delicate 
as  a  sensitive  plant,  this  last  calamity  proved  too  rude  an  assault  on 
the  nicely  balanced,  mysteriously  wrought  machinery  of  mind,  which 
went  .whirling  and  dashing  in  mad  disorder,  and  defying  for  a  time 
the  controlling  influence  of  the  master's  will. 

His  conduct  on  the  occasion  of  the  funeral  of  Commodore  Decatur 
is  said  to  have  been  very  extravagant.  The  cold  and  heartless  world, 
that  is  unconscious  of  any  thing  else  but  a  selfish  motive,  and  the  igno- 


MADNESS. 

rant  multitude  that  followed  the  funeral  pageant,  with  gaping  mouth, 
agreed  on  a  common  explanation  of 'his  extravagance  by  proclaiming 
"  the  man  is  mad  /" 

That  he  might  have  been  greatly  excited  in  manner  and  conver 
sation,  and  that  he  was  wholly  indifferent  as  to  what  other  people 
might  say  or  think  of  him,  is  highly  probable.  All  his  friends  agree  that 
his  mind,  from  the  cause  above  alluded  to,  had  been  wrought  up  to 
the  highest  pitch  of  fervor,  and  that,  like  a  highly-charged  electric 
battery,  it  threw  off  brilliant  and  fiery  sparks  that  scorched  and  burnt 
the  uncautious  person  who  had  the  temerity  to  approach  too  near. 

This  highly  charged  electric  state  cf  mind — it  can  be  likened  to 
nothing  else — lasted  through  the  spring.  Mr.  Anderson,  the  Cashier 
of  the  United  States  Branch  Bank,  in  Kichmond,  says  that  about  the 
20th  of  April,  1820,  Mr.  Randolph  came  into  the  Bank  and  asked  for 
writing  materials  to  write  a  check.  He  dipped  his  pen  in  the  ink, 
and  finding  that  it  was  black,  asked  for  red  ink,  saying,  "  I  now  go  for 
blood."  He  filled  the  check  up,  and  asked  Mr.  Anderson  to  write  his 
name  to  it.  Mr.  Anderson  refused  to  write  his  name ;  and  after  im- 
portuning that  gentleman  for  some  time,  he  called  for  black  ink,  and 
signed  John  Randolph,  of  Roanoke,  X  his  mark.  He  then  called 
for  the  porter,  and  sent  the  check  to  Mr.  Taylor's,  to  pay  an  account. 
-  One  day  I  was  passing  along  the  street,"  says  Mr.  Anderson,  "  when 
Mr.  Randolph  hailed  me  in  a  louder  voice  than  usual.  The  first 
question  he  asked  me  was,  whether  I  knew  of  a  good  ship  in  the 
James  River,  in  which  he  could  get  a  passage  for  England.  He  said 
he  had  been  sick  of  a  remittent  and  intermittent  fever  for  forty  days, 
and  his  physician  said  he  must  go  to  England.  I  told  him  there 
were  no  ships  here  fit  for  his  accommodation,  and  that  he  had  better 
go  to  New-York,  and  sail  from  that  port.  '  Do  you  think,'  said  he, 
'  I  would  give  my  money  to  those  who  are  ready  to  make  my  negroes 
cut  my  throat  ? — if  I  cannot  go  to  England  from  a  Southern  port  I 
will  not  go  at  all.'  I  then  endeavored  to  think  of  the  best  course  for 
him  to  take,  and  told  him  there  was  a  ship  in  the  river.  He  asked 
the  name  of  the  ship.  I  told  him  it  was  the  '  Henry  Clay.'  He 
threw  up  his  arms  and  exclaimed  '  Henry  Clay  !  no.  sir  !  I  will  never 
step  on  the  planks  of  a  ship  of  that  name.'  He  then  appointed  to 
meet  me  at  the  bank  at  9  o'clock.  He  came  at  the  hour,  drew  sev- 
eral checks,  exhausted  his  funds  in  the  bank,  arid  asked  me  for  a  set- 


138  L]FE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

tlement  of  his  account,  saying  he  had  no  longer  any  confidence  in  the 
State  banks,  and  not  much  in  the  Bank  of  the  United  States ;  and 
that  he  would  draw  all  his  funds  out  of  the  bank,  and  put  them  in 
English  guineas — that  there  was  no  danger  of  them." 

Mr.  Randolph  spent  the  summer,  as  usual,  in  retirement  at  Roan 
oke — his  excitement  gradually  wore  away,  and  on  the  return  of  au- 
tumn he  was  himself  again.  "  I  saw  him  in  the  autumn  of  the  same 
year,  1820,  says  a  friend — he  was  then  as  perfectly  in  possession  of 
his  understanding  as  I  ever  saw  him  or  any  other  man."  He  return- 
ed to  Washington  about  the  latter  part  of  November,  and  thus  writes 
to  his  friend  Brockenbrough : 

WASHINGTON,  Nov.  26,  1620. 

Pr.  Dudley  informs  me  that  you  have  been  sick  of  the  prevailing 
Catarrh.  If  it  has  treated  you  as  roughly  as  it  has  me,  you  have 
found  it  to  be  no  trifling  complaint.  By  this  time,  I  trust  you  are  as 
free  from  it  as  I  have  always  found  you  to  be  from  other  undue  in- 
fluences. My  infirmities  of  body  and  mind,  have  nearly  obliged  me 
to  lay  aside  the  use  of  the  pen.  I  cannot  see  to  make  or  mend  one, 
and  am  wholly  at  the  mercy  of  our  stationers,  whose  pens,  like  Peter 
Pindar's  razors,  are  "  made  to  sell,"  and  whose  interest  it  is  that  fifty 
bad  pens  should  supply  the  place  of  one  good  one.  Indeed  I  have 
little  use  for  the  instrument — the  receipt  of  a  letter  being  a  rare 
event  in  my  annals.  I  ought,  perhaps,  to  take  somewhat  unkindly, 
the  withdrawal  of  my  old  correspondents  from  an  intercourse  so  bene- 
ficial on  my  side,  but  I  do  not.  A  commerce  in  which  the  advanta- 
ges are  all  on  one  side  will  never  be  prosecuted  long — what  then  must 
be  the  case  with  a  trade  in  which  (as  at  present  throughout  the  com- 
mercial world),  both  parties  are  losers. 

The  situation  of  public  affairs,  and  of  my  own  more  especially, 
disturb  my  daily  and  nightly  thoughts.  I  believe  I  must  even  make 
up  my  mind  to  "  overdraw,"  or  to  be  "  an  unfortunate  man."  Can 
you  put  me  in  no  way  to  become  a  successful  rogue  to  an  amount  that 
may  throw  an  air  of  dignity  over  the  transaction,  and  divert  the  at- 
tention of  the  gaping  spectators  from  the  enormity  of  the  offence,  to 
that  of  the  sum  1 

As  to  affairs  here,  I  know  nothing  of  them.  They  are  carried  on 
by  a  correspondence  between  Heads  of  Houses — I  do  not  mean  in 
the  University  sense  of  the  term — but  boarding-houses,  who  have  an 
understanding  with  some  Patron  in  the  Ministry,  to  whom  they  "  re- 
port themselves."  and  from  whom  they  "  receive  orders  "  from  time  to 
time. 

I  dined  yesterday  with  the  S.  of  the  T..  and.  although  as  far  as  I 
was  concerned,  the  party  was  a  very  pleasant  one,  I  can  conceive  of 


MISSOURI  QUESTION— ACT  THE  SECOND  139 

nothing,  in  the  general,  more  insipid  than  these  Ministerial  dinners. 
You  are  invited  at  five.  The  usage  is  to  be  there  15  or  20  minutes 
after  the  time.  Dinner  never  served  until  six ;  and  a  little  after 
seven  coffee  closes  the  entertainment,  without  the  least  opportunity  for 

conversation.    Quant  a  moi,  I  was  placed  at  his  S ship's  left  hand, 

and  he  did  me  the  honor  to  address  his  conversation  almost  exclu- 
sively to  me.  Now  you  know  that  as  *  attentions '  constitute  the 
great  charm  of  manners,  so  are  they  more  peculiarly  acceptable  to 
them  that  are  least  accustomed  to  them — such  as  antiquated  belles, 
discarded  statesmen,  and  bankrupts  of  all  sorts — whether  in  person 
or  in  character. 

"  Nothing  can  be  more  dreary  than  the  life  we  lead  here.  'Tis 
something  like  being  on  board  ship,  but  not  so  various.  "We  stupidly 
doze  over  our  sea-coal  fires  in  our  respective  messes,  and  may  truly 
be  said  to  hibernate  at  Washington." 


CHAPTEE    XV. 

MISSOUEI  QUESTION". — ACT  THE   SECOND. 

SHORTLY  after  the  opening  of  the  session,  this  exciting  subject  again 
came  up  in  a  most  unexpected  form.  Missouri  under  the  "  com- 
promise act"  of  March  the  6th,  1820,  had  adopted  a  constitution  with 
a  clause  declaring  that/rce  negroes  and  mulattoes  should  not  emigrate 
into  the  State.  It  was  contended  that  free  negroes  and  mulattoes 
were  citizens  of  the  State  of  their  residence  ;  and  as  such,  under  the 
Constitution,  had  a  right  to  remove  to  Missouri  or  any  other  State 
in  the  Union,  and  there  enjoy  all  the  privileges  and  immunities  of 
other  citizens  of  the  United  States  emigrating  to  the  same  place ; 
and,  therefore,  that  the  clause  in  the  constitution  of  Missouri,  above 
alluded  to,  was  repugnant  to  the  constitution  of  the  United  States, 
and  she  ought  not  to  be  admitted  into  the  Union.  On  the  other  hand 
it  was  maintained  that  the  African  race,  whether  bond  or  free,  were 
not  parties  to  our  political  institutions  ;  that  therefore,  free  negroes 
and  mulattoes  were  not  citizens,  within  the  meaning  of  the  constitu- 
tion of  the  United  States ;  and  that  even  if  the  constitution  of  Mis- 
souri were  repugnant  to  that  of  the  United  States,  the  latter  was  par- 
SO 


140  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

amount,  and  would  overrule   the  conflicting  provision  of  the  power 
without  the  interference  of  Congress. 

Notwithstanding  the  reasonableness  of  this  view  of  the  subject, 
a  stern  and  inflexible  majority,  the  same  as  at  the  last  session,  re- 
pelled every  proposition,  in  every  form,  which  aimed  at  the  reception 
of  the  offending  State.  Scarcely  a  day  elapsed  that  did  not  bring  up 
the  question  in  some  shape  or  other.  The  presidential  election  had 
taken  place  in  November  preceding ;  it  became  the  duty  of  the  Pre- 
sident of  the  Senate,  in  presence  of  the  other  House,  to  count  the 
votes  of  the  States.  The  Senate  being  present,  and  their  President 
having  counted  the  votes  of  all  the  other  States,  opened  the  package 
containing  the  vote  of  the  State  of  Missouri,  and  handed  it  to  the 
tellers  to  be  counted.  Mr.  Livermore,  of  New  Hampshire,  objected, 
because  Missouri  was  not  a  State  of  this  Union.  The  Senate  then 
withdrew.  In  the  House  the  following  resolution  was  then  submitted : 
•:  Resolved — That  Missouri  is  one  of  the  States  of  this  Union,  and 
her  vote  ought  to  be  received  and  counted."  An  animated  debate 
ensued,  in  which  Mr.  Randolph  largely  participated.  We  shall  only 
bring  together  here,  under  one  view,  what  he  said  on  the  constitu- 
tional question  involved  in  the  controversy.  No  man  had  a  clearer 
perception  of  the  meaning  and  spirit  of  that  sacred  instrument,  more 
highly  valued  it  as  a  government  when  properly  administered,  *or  did 
more,  as  the  reader  will  see  in  the  sequel,  to  restore  it  to  its  proper 
interpretation. 

Mr.  Randolph  said — "  He  could  not  recognize  in  this  House,  or 
the  other,  singly  or  conjointly,  the  power  to  decide  on  the  votes  of 
any  State.  Suppose  you  strike  out  Missouri  and  insert  South  Caro- 
lina, which  has  also  a  provision  in  its  Constitution  repugnant  to  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States;  or  Virginia,  or  Massachusetts, 
which  had  a  test,  he  believed,  in  its  Constitution ;  was  there  any  less 
power  to  decide  on  their  votes  than  on  those  of  Missouri  1  He  main- 
tained that  the  electoral  college  was  as  independent  of  Congress  as 
Congress  was  of  them ;  and  we  have  no  right  to  judge  of  their  pro- 
ceedings. He  would  rather  see  an  interregnum,  or  have  no  votes 
counted,  than  see  a  principle  adopted  which  went  to  the  very  founda- 
tion on  which  the  presidential  office  rested.  Suppose  a  case  in  which 
Rome  gentlemen  of  one  House  or  the  other  should  choose  to  object  to 
the  vote  of  some  State,  and  say  that  if  it  be  thus,  such  a  person  is 
elected ;  if  it  be  otherwise,  another  person  is  elected ;  did  any  body 
ever  see  the  absurdity  of  such  a  proposition  ?  He  deemed  the  course 


MISSOURI  QUESTION— ACT  THE  SECOND.  14 \ 

pursued  erroneous,  and  in  a  vital  part,  on  the  ascertainment  of  the 
person  who  had  been  elected  by  the  people  Chief  Magistrate  of  the 
United  States,  the  most  important  office  under  the  Constitution. 
*  *  *  *  She  has  now  presented  herself  (Missouri)  for  the  first  time 
in  a  visible  and  tangible  shape;  she  comes  into  this  House,  not  in 
forma  pauperis,  but  claiming  to  be  one  of  the  co-sovereignty  of  this 
confederated  government,  and  presents  to  you  her  vote,  by  receiving  or 
rejecting  which  the  election  of  your  Chief  Magistrate  will  be  lawful 
or  unlawful.  He  did  not  mean  by  the  vote  of  Missouri,  but  by  the 
votes  of  all  the  States. 

'•  Now  comes  the  question,  whether  we  will  not  merely  repel  her, 
but  repel  her  with  scorn  and  contumely.  Cui  5ono  ?  she  might  add, 
quo  ivarranto  ?  He  should  like  to  hear  from  the  gentleman  from 
New  Hampshire  (Mr.  Livermore)  where  this  House  gets  its  authority. 
He  should  like  to  hear  some  of  the  learned  (or  unlearned)  sages  of 
the  land,  with  which  this  House,  as  well  as  all  our  legislative  bodies, 
abounds,  show  their  authority  for  refusing  to  receive  the  votes  of 
the  State  ol  Missouri.  He  went  back  to  first  principles.  The  elec- 
toral colleges  are  as  independent  of  this  House  as  we  are  of  them. 
They  had  as  good  a  right  to  pronounce  on  their  qualifications  as  this 
House  has  of  its  members.  Your  office  in  regard  to  the  electoral  votes, 
is  merely  ministerial — to  count  the  votes — and  you  undertake  to  re- 
ject votes !  To  what  will  this  lead  ?  *  *  *  *  The  wisest  men  may 
make  Constitutions  on  paper,  as  they  please.  What  was  the  theory 
of  this  Constitution  ?  It  13  that  this  House,  except  upon  a  certain 
contingency,  has  nothing  to  do  with  the  appointment  of  President  and 
Yice-President  of  the  United  States,  and  by  States  only  can  it  act  on 
this  subject,  unless  it  transcend  the  limits  of  the  Constitution.  What 
was  to  be  the  practice  of  the  Constitution  as  now  proposed  ?  That 
an  informal  meeting  of  this  and  the  other  House  is  to  usurp  the  ini- 
tiative, the  nominative  power,  with  regard  to  the  two  first  officers  of 
the  government ;  that  they  are  to  wrest  from  the  people  their  inde- 
feasible right  of  telling  us  whom  they  wish  to  exercise  the  functions 
of  government,  in  despite  and  contempt  of  their  decision.  Is  there 
to  be  no  limit  to  the  power  of  Congress  ?  no  mound  or  barrier  to  stay 
their  usurpation?  Why  were  the  electoral  bodies  established?  The 
Constitution  has  wisely  provided  that  they  shall  assemble,  each  by 
itself,  and  not  by  one  great  assembly.  By  this  means,  assuredly,  that 
system  of  intrigue  which  was  matured  into  a  science,  or  rather  into 
an  art  here,  was  guarded  against.  But  he  ventured  to  say,  the  electo- 
ral college  of  this  much  despised  Missouri,  acting  conformably 
to  law  and  to  the  genius  and  nature  of  our  institutions,  if  it  were 
composed,  of  but  one  man,  was  as  independent  of  this  House  aa 
the  House  was  of  it.  *****  Let  me  tell  my  friend  before 
me  (Mr.  Archer),  we  have  not  the  power  which  he  thinks  we  po» 


14:2  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

sess ,  and  if  there  be  a  casus  omissus  in  the  Constitution,  I  want 
to  know  where  we  are  to  supply  the  defect.  You  may  keep  Missouri 
out  of  the  Union  by  violence,  but  here  the  issue  is  joined,  and 
she  comes  forward  in  the  persons  of  her  electors,  instead  of  repre- 
sentative, and  she  was  thus  presented  in  a  shape  as  unquestion- 
able as  that  of  New-York  or  Pennsylvania,  or  the  proudest  and 
oldest  State  in  the  Union.  Will  you  deny  them  admission?  Will 
you  thrust  her  electors,  and  hers  only,  from  this  hall  ?  I  made  no 
objection  to  the  vote  of  New  Hampshire  ;  I  had  as  good  a  right  to 
object  to  the  vote  of  New  Hampshire,  as  the  gentleman  from  New 
Hampshire  had  to  object  to  the  vote  of  Missouri.  The  electors  of 
Missouri  were  as  much  the  hominus  probi  et  legales  as  those  of  New 
Hampshire.  This  was  no  skirmish,  as  the  gentleman  from  Virginia 
had  called  it.  This  was  the  battle  where  Greek  meets  Greek.  Let 
us  Buckle  on  our  armor,  let  us  put  aside  all  this  flummery,  these 
metaphysical  distinctions,  these  unprofitable  drawings  of  distinc- 
tions without  differences  ;  let  us  say  now,  as  we  have  on  another  oc- 
casion (the  election  of  Jefferson  and  Burr  in  1801),  'we  will  assert, 
maintain,  and  vindicate  our  rights,  or  put  to  every  hazard,  what  you 
pretend  to  hold  in  such  high  estimation.'  " 

These  arguments,  which  clearly  prove  the  false  and  absurd  and 
dangerous  position  assumed  by  the  House  on  the  Missouri  question, 
were  of  none  avail.  And  yet  a  simple  truism — a  mere  nullity  in  fact, 
in  the  shape  of  a  compromise  resolution,  had  the  effect  of  magic  in  heal- 
ing all  the  differences  that  had  arisen  between  the  respective  parties. 
Another  sad  example  of  the  blindness  and  obstinacy  of  men,  when 
passion  assumes  sway  of  their  cooler  judgment. 

Mr.  Randolph  participated  in  the  debate  on  other  subjects  during 
this  session  of  Congress. 

';  Yesterday,"  says,  he  in  a  letter  dated  January  5th,  1821,  "we 
had  a  triumph  over  the  'veteran  Swiss  of  State '  and  the  S.  of  W.  on 
the  appropriation  to  cover  Indian  arrearages.  He  (C n)  is  po- 
litically dead.  L s,  towards  the  close  of  the  debate,  '  put  in '  and 

imputed  want  of  economy  to  the  Committee  of  Ways  and  Means 
when  I  was  a  member.  This  gave  me  an  opportunity  to  contrast  the 
military  expenditure  of  1803-4-5  of  800.000—800,000,  and  700,000, 
respectively  with  the  modern  practice.  In  1804  we  took  possession 
of  New  Orleans  (an  event  utterly  unlocked  for)  without  incurring 

one  farthing  of  additional  expense.  Mr.  L s  looked  very  foolish, 

and  uglier  than  usual.  Mr.  M.  of  S.  C.  (the  successor  of  Mr. 

C n's  man  Friday)  made  several  attempts,  I  was  told,  to  get 

the  floor,  in  his  patron's  defence,  but  his  timidity  prevented  success. 

*  *  You  will  see  a  most  villainous  report  of  yesterday's  proceed- 


MISSOURI  QUESTION- ACT  THE  SECOND.  143 

ings,  in  the  court  paper.     The  r 1  pretends  he   can't   hear   me. 

There  was  not  a  man  in.  the  House  that  did  not  hear  me.  It  is  a 
usual  massacre.  Pray  ask  Ritchie  not  to  publish  it.  I  will  correct 
it  for  his  paper,  and  send  it  on,  that  the  people  of  Virginia  at  least 
may  be  undeceived.  I  am  made  to  talk  nonsense,  such  as  '  kissing 
of  hands'  for  'imposition  of  hands.'  There  is  a  studied  and  de- 
signed suppression  of  what  passed." 

Besides  Mr.  Randolph,  Nathaniel  Macon,  of  North  Carolina,  and 
Spencer  Roane,  Chief  Justice  of  Virginia,  were  the  most  conspicu- 
ous State-rights  men  in  that  time  of  amalgamation  and  confusion  of 
all  parties.  They  were  ever  consistent  and  uniform  in  their  adher- 
ence to  the  principles  of  the  strict  construction  school,  and  always 
urgent  for  those  measures  of  economy  and  that  course  of  "  wise  and 
masterly  inactivity,"  which  must  ever  characterize  a  party  based  on 
such  principles.  Of  the  former  of  those  gentlemen  Mr.  Randolph 
was  the  mess-mate  while  in  Congress,  and  on  terms  of  unreserved 
daily  intercourse ;  with  Judge  Roane  he  did  not  pretend  to  stand  on 
a  footing  of  intimacy ;  but  he  respected  his  virtues,  his  talents,  his 
long  services,  and  had  begun  to  look  to  him  as  a  fit  person  to  be  se- 
lected by  '•'  all  the  honest  men"  as  a  candidate  for  the  presidency. 

"  With  the  exception  of  my  old  friend,  Mr.  Macon,"  says  he  to 
Dr.  Brockenbrough,  "  you  are  the  only  person  with  whom  I  hold  any 
intercourse,  except  of  that  heartless  sort  which  prevails  in  what  is 
called  the  world.  Your  letters,  therefore,  are  as  much  missed  by  me 
as  would  be  an  only  member  of  one's  family  who  should  disappear  at 
breakfast  and  leave  one  to  a  solitary  and  cheerless  meal.  So  much 

of  your  penultimate  as  relates  to  Mr.  M I  shall  take  the  liberty 

to  communicate  to  one  of  the  N.  C.  delegation.  I  am  truly  concerned 
at  your  anticipations  respecting  Mr.  Roane's  health.  I  earnestly 
hope  that  your  presage  may  prove  fallacious,  although,  when  I  reflect 
on  your  skill  and  intimate  knowledge  of  the  man,  I  feel  very  appre- 
hensive of  its  truth. 

"  I  began  Fabricius,  but  ,was  obliged  to  drop  it.  He  sets  out 
with  a  string  of  truisms  conveyed  in  the  style  of  a  schoolboy's  theme. 
Mercy  upon  us  !  What  has  become  of  the  intellect  and  taste  of  our 
country  ?  Your  secret  is  as  safe  with  me  as  in  your  own  breast ;  but 
rely  upon  it.  if  either  of  the  personages  you  mention  should  present 
any  thing  fit  to  be  offered  to  the  H.  of  D.  it  will  be  ascribed  to  some 
other  hand,  and,  if  it  smack  of  the  old  school,  to  the  pen  of  Mr. 
Roane.  I  differ  from  you  about  i  his  being  a  Virginian  ;'  not  that  I 
doubt  the  fact.  But  take  my  word  for  it,  he  is  becoming  every  day 
more  and  more  known  out  of  the  State,  and  occupies  a  large  space 


144  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

in  the  public  eye.     I  think  he  can  be  elected  easily  against  any  one 
yet  talked  of." 

"  I  read  Mr.  Roane's  letter,"  says  he  on  another  occasion,  "  with 
the  attention  that  it  deserves.  Every  thing  from  his  pen  on  the  sub- 
ject of  our  laws  and  institutions  excites  a  profound  interest.  I  was 
highly  gratified  at  the  manner  in  which  it  was  spoken  of  in  my  hear- 
ing by  one  of  the  best  and  ablest  men  in  our  House.  It  is  indeed  high 
time  that  the  hucksters  and  money-changers  should  be  cast  out  of  the 
Temple  of  justice.  The  tone  of  this  communication  belongs  to  ano- 
ther age  ;  but  for  the  date,  who  could  suppose  it  to  have  been  written 
in  this  our  day  of  almost  universal  political  corruption  ?  I  did  not 
road  the  report  on  the  lottery  case.  The  print  of  the  Enquirer  is  too 
much  for  my  eyes  ;  and,  besides,  I  want  no  argument  to  satisfy  me 
that  the  powers  which  Congress  may  exercise,  where  they  possess  ex- 
clusive jurisdiction,  may  not  be  extended  to  places  where  they  pos- 
sess solely  a  limited  and  concurrent  jurisdiction.  The  very  statement 
of  the  question  settles  it,  and  every  additional  word  is  but  an  incum- 
brance  of  help." 

In  the  same  letter  he  says : 

"  If  I  possessed  a  talent  that  I  once  thought  I  had,  I  would  try 
to  give  you  a  picture  of  Washington.  The  state  of  things  is  the 
strangest  imaginable ;  but  I  am  like  a  speechless  person  who  has  the 
clearest  conception  of  what  he  would  say,  but  whose  organs  refuse  to 
perform  their  office.  There  is  one  striking  fact  that  one  can't  help 
seeing  at  the  first  glance — that  there  is  no  faith  among  men  ;  the 
state  of  political  confidence  may  be  compared  to  that  of  the  commer- 
cial world  within  the  last  two  or  three  years.  *****  Our  State 
politics,  like  those  of  the  General  Government,  are  a  conundrum  to 
me,  and  I  leave  the  unriddling  of  them  to  the  ingenious  writers  who 
construct  and  solve  enigmas  and  charades  for  the  magazines.  *  *  *  * 

"  I  have  been  trying  to  read  Southey's  Life  of  \Vesley  for  some 
days.  Upon  the  whole,  I  find  it  a  heavy  work,  although  there  are 
some  very  striking  passages,  and  it  abounds  in  curious  information. 
From  279  to  285  inclusive  of  volume  the  second  is  very  fine.  Yes- 
terday I  was  to  have  dined  with  Frank  Key,  but  was  not  well  enough 
to  go.  He  called  here  the  day  before,  and  we  had  much  talk  toge- 
ther. He  perseveres  in  pressing  on  towards  the  goal,  and  his  whole 
life  is  spent  in  endeavoring  to  do  good  for  his  unhappy  fellow-men. 
The  result  is,  that  he  enjoys  a  tranquillity  of  mind,  a  sunshine  of  the 
soul,  that  all  the  Alexanders  of  the  earth  can  neither  confer  nor  take 
away.  This  is  a  state  to  which  I  can  never  attain.  I  have  made  up 
my  mind  to  suffer  like  a  man  condemned  to  the  wheel  or  the  stake. 
Strange  as  you  may  think  it,  I  could  submit  without  a  murmur  to 
pass  the  rest  of  my  life  l  on  some  high  lonely  tower,  where  I  might 
outwatch  the  bear  with  thrice  great  Hermes,'  and  exchange  the  enjoy- 


HIS  WILL.  145 

rnents  of  society  for  an  exemption  from  the  plagues  of  life.  These 
press  me  down  to  the  very  earth  ;  and  to  rid  myself  of  them,  I  would 
gladly  purchase  an  annuity  and  crawl  into  some  hole,  where  I  might 
commune  with  myself  and  be  still." 

"THURSDAY,  March  1,  1821. 

"  I  am  in  luck  this  morning.  Johnny  has  brought  me  a  letter  from 
you  instead  of  returning  from  the  Post-office  empty  handed  as  usual. 
It  gives  me  great  satisfaction  to  find  that  the  good  people  of  my  dis- 
trict are  not  dissatisfied  with  my  course  this  winter. 

i:  Last  night  there  was,  as  I  am  informed  by  the  gentlemen  of  our 
club,  a  most  disgraceful  scene  in  the  II.  of  R.  on  the  Bankrupt  bill, 
which,  by  virtue  of  the  previous  question,  will  be  forced  through  the 
House  without  being  committed,  or  even  once  read !  except  by  its 
title — a  bill  of  65  sections  ! 

"  The  bankrupt  land  speculators  and  broken  merchants  are,  like 
•  the  sons  of  Zeruiah,  too  strong  for  us.'  So  you  see  our  coronation 
will  be  graced  by  a  general  jail  delivery.  • 

'•  Mrs.  Brockenbrough's  rheumatism,  which  is  an  opprobrium  of 
medicine,  gives  me  real  concern.  I  sympathize  with  her  in  the  liter- 
al sense  of  the  term. 

"  My  pains  are  aggravated  by  having  neither  society  nor  books  to 
relieve  my  ennui. 

'•' You  mention  whatever  comes  into  your  head'— To  be  sure  you 
ought.  It  is  the  charm  of  a  letter. 

"The  gentlemen  you  mention  are  right  in  their  'attentions' to 
Miss .  I  consider  the  society  of  such  a  woman  as  the  best  possi- 
ble school  for  a  young  man,  and  solace  for  an  old  one. 

I  have  not  read  Col.  Taylor's  book,  but  I  heartily  igree  with  Mr. 
Jefferson  that  'the  Judiciary  gravitates  towards  consolidation.' 
I  consider  this  district  to  be  the  TTOUCTTO)  and  the  Supreme  Court  to  be 
the  lever  of  the  political  Archimedes.  I  do  not  know  whether  you 
can  make  out  my  Greek  character. 

<:  I  give  you  joy  that  this  is  the  last  epistle  that  you  will  be  plagued 
with  from  me  from  this  place." 


CHAPTEK    XYI. 

"BE  NOT  SOLITARY;    BE  NOT  IDLE."      HIS  WILL — SLAVES. 

MB..  RANDOLPH'S  solitary  residence  at  Roanoke  had  become  more 
and  more  intolerable  to  him.  "  The  boys"  were  off  at  school.  Dr. 
Dudley,  at  his  solicitation,  had  moved  to  Richmond,  and  he  was  like 


146  LurE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

the  "  Ancient   Mariner"  on  the  wide  sea — "  alone — alone— all — all 
alone !" 

"You  do  not  overrate  the  solitariness,"  says  he.  "  of  the  life.  I  lead 
here.  It  is  dreary  beyond  conception,  except  by  the  actual  sufferer, 
I  can  only  acquiesce  in  it,  as  the  lot  in  which  I  have  been  cast  by 
the  good  providence  of  God,  and  endeavor  to  bear  it,  and  the  daily 
increasing  infirmities,  which  threaten  total  helplessness,  as  well  as  I 
may.  '  Many  long  weeks  have  passed  since  you  heard  from  me' — and 
why  should  1  write  ?  To  say  that  I  have  made  another  notch  in  my 
tally  ?  or  to  enter  upon  the  monstrous  list  of  grievances,  mental  ana 
bodily,  which  egotism  itself  could  scarcely  bear  to  relate,  and  none  oth- 
er to  listen  to.  You  say  truly :  c  there  is  no  substitute'  for  what  you 
name, '  that  can  fill  the  heart.'  The  better  conviction  has  long  ago  rush- 
ed upon  my  own,  and  arrested  its  functions.  Not  that  it  is  without  its 
paroxysms,  which,  I  thank  heaven,  itself  alone  is  conscious  of.  Perhaps 
I  am. wrong  to  indulge  in  this  vein  ;  but  I  must  write  thus  or  not  at  all. 
.No  punishment,  except  remorse,  can  exceed  the  misery  I  feel.  My 
heart  swells  to  bursting,  at  past  recollections ;  and  as  the  present  is 
without  enjoyment,  so  is  the  future  without  hope ;  so  far  at  least,  as 
respects  this  world. 

"  Here  I  am  yearning  after  the  society  of  some  one  who  is  not 
merely  indifferent  to  me,  and  condemned,  day  after  day,  to  a  solitude 
like  Robinson  Crusoe's.  But  each  day  brings  my  captivity  and  ex 
ile  nearer  to  their  end." 

To  Dr.  Brockenbrough,  June  12th,  he  says: — "This  letter  is 
written  as  children  whistle  in  the  dark,  to  keep  themselves  from  being 
afraid.  I  dare  not  look  upon  that  '  blank  and  waste  of  the  heart' 
within.  Dreary,  desolate,  dismal — there  is  no  word  in  our  language, 
or  any  other,  that  can  express  the  misery  of  my  life.  I  drag  on  like 
a  tired  captive  at  the  end  of  a  slave-chain  in  an  African  Coffle.  I  go 
because  I  must.  But  this  is  worse  than  the  sick  man's  tale." 

From  this  solitude  he  sent  forth  lessons  that  should  be  graven  on 
the  heart  of  every  young  mar.  His  own  sad  experience  adds  weight 
to  his  precepts.  Out  of  the  deep  anguish  of  his  heart  poured  forth 
the  words  of  wisdom.  His  admonitions  give  a  sure  guide  to  the  be- 
wildered mind,  and  cheering  hope  to  the  depressed  spirit.  No  young 
man  can  give  heed  to  them  and  follow  them,  without  finding  to  his 
joy  that  he  has  hit  upon  the  true  and  only  path  of  success  in  human 
life — he  will  find  that  activity,  cheerful  activity,  in  some  useful  call- 
ing in  daily  intercourse  with  his  fellow  man,  is  the  business,  the 
solace,  and  the  charm  of  existence. 

"  The  true   cure  for  maladies  like  yours,  "  says  he  to  Dr.  Dudley, 


HIS  WILL.  147 

W!K-  had  written  in  a  desponding  tone,  "  is  employment.  '  Be  not  soli« 
taijr ;  be  not  idle  !'  was  all  that  Burton  could  advise.  Rely  upon  it, 
life  was  not  given  us  to  be  spent  in  dreams  and  reverie,  but  for  ac- 
tive, useful  exertion ;  exertion  that  turns  to  some  account  to  our« 
selves  or  to  others — not  laborious  idleness — (I  say  nothing  about  re- 
ligion, which  is  between  the  heart  and  its  Creator.)  This  preaching 
is.  I  know,  foolish  enough ;  but  let  it  pass.  We  have  all  two  educa- 
tions j  one  we  have  given  to  us — the  other  we  give  ourselves ;  and 
after  a  certain  time  of  life,  when  the  character  has  taken  its^/y,  it  is 
idle  to  attempt  to  change  it. 

"  It  I  did  not  think  it  would  aggravate  your  symptoms,  I  would 
press  you  to  come  here.  In  the  sedulous  study  and  practice  of  your 
profession  I  hope  you  will  find  a  palliative,  if  not  a  complete  cure, 
for  your  moral  disease.  Yours  is  the  age  of  exertion — the  prime  and 
vigor  of  life.  But  I  have  'fallen  into  the  sear  and  yellow  leaf:  and  that 
which  should  accompany  old  age,  as  honor,  love,  obedience,  troops  of 
friends,  (•  Regan — What  need  one  V)  I  must  not  look  to  have ;  but, 
in  their  stead .' 

"  Rely  upon  it,  you  are  entirely  mistaken  in  your  estimate  of  the 
world.  Bad  us  it  is,  mankind  are  not  quite  so  silly  as  you  suppose. 
Look  around  you.  and  see  who  are  held  in  the  highest  esteem.  I  will 
name  one — Mr.  Chief  Justice.  It  is  not  the  *  rogue'  who  gains  the 
good  opinion  of  his  own  sex,  or  of  the  other.  It  is  the  man,  who  by 
the  exercise  of  the  faculties  which  nature  and  education  have  given 
him,  asserts  hia  place  among  his  fellows ;  and,  whilst  useful  to  all 
around  him,  establishes  his  claim  to  their  respect,  as  an  equal  and 
independent  member  of  society.  He  may  have  every  other  good 
quality  under  heaven ;  but,  wanting  this,  a  man  becomes  an  object 
of  pity  to  the  good,  and  of  contempt  to  the  vile.  Look  at  Mr.  Leigh, 
his  brother  William,  Mr.  Wickham,  Dr.  Brockenbrough,  &c.5  &c., 
and  compare  them  with  the  drones  which  society  is  impatient  to 
shake  from  its  lap. 

'•  One  of  the  best  and  wisest  men  I  ever  knew  has  often  said  to 
me,  that  a  decayed  family  could  never  recover  its  loss  of  rank  in  the 
world,  until  the  members  of  it  left  off  talking  and  dwelling  upon  its 
former  opulence.  This  remark,  founded  in  a  long  and  close  observa- 
tion of  mankind,  I  have  seen  verified,  in  num  prous  instances,  in  my 
own  connections ;  who,  to  use  the  words  of  my  oracle,  '  will  never 
thrive,  until  they  can  become  "poor  folks:'"  he  added,  'they  may 
make  some  struggles,  and  with  apparent  success,  to  recover  lost 
ground ;  they  may,  and  sometimes  do,  get  half  way  up  again ;  but 
they  are  sure  to  fall  back ;  unless,  reconciling  themselves  to  circum- 
stances, thej  ^.come  in  form,  as  well  as  in  fact,  poor  folks.' 

"  The  blind  pursuit  of  wealth,  for  the  sake  of  hoarding,  is  a  species 
cf  Insanity.  There  are  spirits,  and  not  the  least  worthy,  who,  con 


148  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

tent  with  an  humble  mediocrity,  leave  the  field  of  wealth  and  ambi- 
tion open  to  more  active,  perhaps  more  guilty,  competitors.  Nothing 
can  be  more  respectable  than  the  independence  that  grows  out  of 
self-denial.  The  man  who,  by  abridging  his  wants,  can  find  time  to 
devote  to  the  cultivation  of  his  mind,  or  the  aid  of  his  fellow-crea- 
tures, is  a  being  far  above  the  plodding  sons  of  industry  and  gain. 
His  is  a  spirit  of  the  noblest  order.  But  what  shall  we  say  to  the 
drone,  whom  society  is  eager  '  to  shake  from  her  encumbered  lap  ?' — 
who  lounges  from  place  to  place,  and  spends  more  time  in  '  Adoniz- 
ing'  his  person,  even  in  a  morning,  than  would  serve  to  earn  his 
breakfast  ? — who  is  curious  in  his  living,  a  connoisseur  in  wines,  fas- 
tidious in  his  cookery ;  but  who  never  knew  the  luxury  of  earning  a 
single  meal  ?  Such  a  creature,  '  sponging'  from  house  to  house,  and 
always  on  the  borrow,  may  yet  be  found  in  Virginia.  One  more 
generation  will,  I  trust,  put  an  end  to  them ;  and  their  posterity,  if 
they  have  any,  must  work  or  steal  directly. 

"  Men  are  like  nations :  one  founds  a  family,  the  other  an  empire ; 
both  destined,  sooner  or  later,  to  decay.  This  is  the  way  in  which 
ability  manifests  itself.  They  who  belong  to  a  higher  order,  like 
Newton,  and  Milton,  and  Shakspeare,  leave  an  imperishable  name. 
I  have  no  quarrel  with  such  as  are  content  with  their  original  obscu- 
rity, vegetate  on  from  father  to  son ;  '  whose  ignoble  blood  has  crept 
through  clodpoles  ever  since  the  flood ;"  but  I  cannot  respect  them. 
He  who  contentedly  eats  the  bread  of  idleness  and  dependence  is 
beneath  contempt. 

"  Noscitur  e  socio.  '  Tell  me  your  company  and  I  will  tell  you 
what  you  are.'  But  there  is  another  description  of  persons,  of  far 
inferior  turpitude,  against  all  connection  with  whom,  of  whatsoever 
degree,  I  would  seriously  warn  you.  This  consists  of  men  of  broken 
fortunes,  and  all  who  are  loose  on  the  subject  of  pecuniary  engage- 
ments. Time  was,  when  I  was  fool  enough  to  believe  that  a  man 
might  be  negligent  of  such  obligations,  and  yet  a  very  good  fellow, 
&c. ;  but  long  experience  has  convinced  me  that  he  who  is  lax  in  this 
respect  is  utterly  unworthy  of  trust  in  any  other.  He  might  do  an 
occasional  act  of  kindness  (or  what  is  falsely  called  generosity)  when 
it  lay  in  his  way,  and  so  may  a  prostitute,  or  a  highwayman  ;  but  he 
would  plunge  his  nearest  friends  and  dearest  connections,  the  wife 
of  his  bosom,  and  the  children  of  his  loins,  into  misery  and  want, 
rather  than  forego  the  momentary  gratification  of  appetite,  vanity,  or 
laziness.  I  have  come  to  this  conclusion  slowly  and  painfully,  but 
Certainly.  Of  the  Shylocks,  and  the  srnooth-visa,ged  men  of  the 
world,  I  think  as  I  believe  you  do.  Certainly,  if  I  were  to  seek  for 
the  hardest  of  hearts,  the  most  obdurate,  unrelenting,  and  cruel,  I 
should  find  them  among  the  most  selfish  of  mankind.  And  who  are 
the  most  selfish?  The  usurer,  the  courtier,  and  above  all,  the  spend- 


HIS  WILL.  149 

thrift.  Try  them  ouce  as  creditors,  and  you  will  find,  that  even  the 
Shylocks,  we  wot  of.  are  not  harder. 

c;  You  know  my  opinion  of  female  society.  Without  it,  we  should 
degenerate  into  brutes.  This  observation  applies  with  tenfold  force 
to  young  men,  and  those  who  are  in  the  prime  of  manhood  ;  for,  after 
a  certain  time  of  life  the  literary  man  may  make  a  shift  (a  poor  one, 
I  grant)  to  do  without  the  society  of  ladies.  To  a  young  man,  nothing 
is  so  important  as  a  spirit  of  devotion  (next  to  his  Creator)  to  some 
virtuous  and  amiable  woman,  whose  image  may  occupy  his  heart,  and 
guard  it  from  the  pollution  which  besets  it  on  all  sides.  Neverthe- 
less, I  trust  that  your  fondness  for  the  company  of  ?adies  may  not  rob 
you  of  the  time  which  ought  to  be  devoted  to  reading  and  meditating 
on  your  profession  ;  and,  above  all,  that  it  may  not  acquire  for  you 
the  reputation  of  dangler — in  itself  bordering  on  the  contemptible, 
and  seriously  detrimental  to  your  professional  character.  A  cautious 
old  Squaretoes,  who  might  have  no  objection  to  employing  such  a  one 
at  the  bar,  would,  perhaps,  be  shy  of  introducing  him  as  a  practitioner 
in  his  family,  in  case  he  should  have  a  pretty  daughter,  or  niece,  or 
sister ;  although  all  experience  shows,  that  of  all  male  animals,  the 
dangler  is  the  most  harmless  to  the  ladies,  who  quickly  learn,  with 
the  intuitive  sagacity  of  the  sex,  to  make  a  convenience  of  him,  while 
he  serves  for  a  butt,  also. 

"  Rely  upon  it.  that  to  love  a  woman  as  *  a  mistress,'  although  a 
delicious  delirium — an  intoxication  far  surpassing  that  of  Cham- 
pagne— is  altogether  unessential,  nay,  pernicious,  in  the  choice  of  a 
wife  :  which  a  man  ought  to  set  about  in  his  sober  senses,  choosing 
her,  as  Mrs.  Primrose  did  her  wedding-gown,  for  qualities  that  '  wear 
well.'  I  am  well  persuaded  that  few  love-matches  are  happy  ones.  One 
thing,  at  least,  is  true,  that  if  matrimony  has  its  cares,  celibacy  has 
no  pleasures.  A  Newton,  or  a  mere  scholar,  may  find  employment  in 
study ;  a  man  of  literary  taste  can  receive,  in  books,  a  powerful 
auxiliary  ;  but  a  man  must  have  a  bosom  friend,  and  children  around 
him.  to  cherish  and  support  the  dreariness  of  old  age." 

Just  as  he  was  about  to  leave  home  for  Washington,  the  first  of 
December.  1821,  while  his  horses  were  at  the  door,  and  he  booted 
and  spurred,  and  Johnny  and  his  travelling  companion,  Richard 
Randolph,  impatiently  waiting  for  him  in  the  cold,  Mr.  Randolph  sat 
down  and  wrote  his  will — the  will  which,  after  a  long  contest,  was 
finally  established  as  his  last  will  and  testament. 

In  May,  1819,  he  wrote  a  will,  and  deposited  it  with  Dr.  Brocken- 
brough.  to  the  following  effect : 

'•  I  give  to  my  slaves  their  freedom,  to  which  my  conscience  tells 
me  they  are  justly  entitled.  It  has  a  long  time  been  a  matter  of  the 


150  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

deepest  regret  to  me,  that  the  circumstances  under  which  I  inherited 
them,  and  the  obstacles  thrown  in  the  way  by  the  laws  of  the  land, 
have  prevented  my  emancipating  them  in  my  lifetime,  which  it  is  my 
full  intention  to  do,  in  case  I  can  accomplish  it. 

"  All  the  rest  and  residue  of  my  estate  (with  the  exceptions  here- 
after made),  whether  real  or  personal,  I  bequeath  to  William  Leigh, 
Esquire,  of  Halifax,  attorney  at  law,  to  the  Rev.  Wm.  Meade,  of 
Frederick,  and  to  Francis  Scott  Key,  Esqr.,  of  Georgetown,  District 
of  Columbia,  in  trust,  for  the  following  uses  and  purposes,  viz : 
1st.  To  provide  one  or  more  tracts  of  land  in  any  of  the  States  or 
Territories,  not  exceeding  in  the  whole  four  thousand  acres,  nor  less 
than  two  thousand  acres,  to  be  partitioned  and  apportioned  by  them, 
in  such  manner  as  to  them  may  seem  best,  among  the  said  slaves. 
2d.  To  pay  the  expense  of  their  removal,  and  of  furnishing  them  with 
necessary  cabins,  clothes,  and  utensils."  Then  follow  other  pro- 
visions. The  will  of  1821  is  substantially  the  same  as  the  above. 
The  first  item  is  :  "I  give  and  bequeath  to  all  my  slaves  their  free- 
dom, heartily  regretting  that  I  have  ever  been  the  owner  of  one. 
2.  I  give  to  my  executor  a  sum  not  exceeding  eight  thousand  dol- 
lars, or  so  much  thereof  as  may  be  necessary,  to  transport  and  settle 
said  slaves  to  and  in  some  other  State  or  Territory  of  the  United 
States,  giving  to  all  above  the  age  of  forty  not  less  than  ten  acres  of 
land  each." 

He  then  makes  a  special  annuity  to  his  "  old  and  faithful  servants, 
Essex  and  his  wife  Hetty" — the  same  allowance  to  his  '•woman- 
servant  Nancy" — to  Juba  (alias  Jupiter) — to  Queen — and  to  Johnny, 
his  body-servant. 

In  the  codicil  of  1826,  he  says:  "I  do  hereby  confirm  the  be- 
quests to  or  for  the  benefit  of  each  and  every  of  my  slaves,  whether 
by  name  or  otherwise." 

In  1828,  "Being  in  great  extremity,  but  in  my  perfect  senses," 
says  he,  "  I  write  this  codicil  to  my  will  in  the  possession  of  my 
friend,  William  Leigh,  of  Halifax,  Esquire,  to  declare  that  that  will 
is  my  sole  last  will  and  testament ;  and  that  if  any  other  be  found  of 
subsequent  date,  whether  will  or  codicil,  I  do  hereby  revoke  the 
same." 

In  a  codicil  of  1831.  Mr.  Randolph  says  :  :;  On  the  eve  of  embark- 
ing  for  the  United  States  (he  was  then  in  London),  considering  my 


HIS  WILL.  151 

feeble  health,  to  say  nothing  of  the  dangers  of  the  seas,  I  add  this 
codicil  to  my  last  will  and  testament  and  codicils  thereto,  affirming 
them  all,  except  so  far  as  they  may  be  inconsistent  with  the  follow- 
ing disposition  of  my  estate."  The  third  item  of  disposition  is  this : 
4: 1  have  upwards  of  two  thousand  pounds  sterling  in  the  hands  of  Baring 
Brothers  &  Co.,  of  London,  and  upwards  of  one  thousand  pounds, 
like  money,  in  the  hands  of  Gowan  and  Marx.  This  money  I  leave 
to  my  executor,  TVrm.  Leigh,  as  a  fund  for  carrying  into  execution  my 
will  respecting  my  slaves ;  and,  in  addition  to  the  provision  which  I 
have  made  for  my  faithful  servant  John,  sometimes  callel  John 
White.  I  charge  my  whole  estate  with  an  annuity  to  him,  during  his 
life,  of  fifty  dollars,  and  as  the  only  favor  I  ever  asked  of  any  govern- 
ment, I  do  entreat  the  Assembly  of  Virginia  to  permit  the  said  John 
and  his  family  to  remain  in  Virginia." 

And  finally,  in  his  dying  hour,  he  gathered  witnesses  around  him; 
and  when  the  spirit  was  trembling  to  escape  from  the  frail  tenement 
that  bound  it,  summoned  all  his  energies  in  one  last  moment,  and  con- 
firmed, in  the  most  solemn  form,  before  God  and  those  witnesses,  all 
the  dispositions  he  had  made  in  his  will,  in  regard  to  his  slaves. 
"  More  especially,"  said  he,  "  in  regard  to  this  man  !"  bringing  down 
his  hand  with  force  and  energy  on  the  shoulder  of  John,  who  stood 
weeping  beside  the  couch  of  his  expiring  master  and  greatest  benefactor. 

Let  the  reader  pause  and  reflect  on  these  things ;  here  are  deeds, 
not  promises — facts  that  speak  for  themselves  ;  they  need  no  addition, 
no  embellishment.  Here  is  a  man  who  made  no  pretensions  to  phi- 
lanthropy— despised  the  pretence  of  it.  The  hypocritical  cant,  for 
ever  prating  about  it,  pouring  forth  its  cheap  abundance  of  words,  but 
which,  unaccompanied  with  substantial  works  of  true  charity,  are  as 
sounding  brass  and  a  tinkling  cymbal.  Here  is  a  man  who  cavilled 
for  the  nineteenth  part  of  a  hair  in  a  matter  of  sheer  right — who 
would  admit  no  compromise  in  the  Missouri  question,  and  was  ready 
to  put  ever^  thing  to  hazard  in  vindication  of  the  rights  of  the  South. 
"  I  now,"  says  he,  on  that  occasion,  "  appeal  to  this  nation,  whether 
this  pretended  sympathy  for  the  rights  of  a  few  free  negroes  is  to  su- 
persede the  rights  of  the  free  white  population,  of  ten  times  their  whole 
number."  These  words  were  uttered  in  February,  1821.  In  Decem- 
ber following  the  same  man  made  free,  and  provided  for  the  comfort 
able  maintenance  of  three  hundred  negro  slaves  Is  there  a  man  of 


OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

that  majority  that  voted  against  him.  with  all  their  professed  sympa- 
thy, who  would  have  done  likewise  ?  And  how  completely  has  been 
fulfilled  the  prophecy  of  Mr.  Randolph,  uttered  on  the  occasion  of 
the  Missouri  agitation — "  I  am  persuaded  that  the  cause  of  humanity 
to  these  unfortunates,  has  been  put  back  a  century — certainly  a  gene- 
ration— by  the  unprincipled  conduct  of  ambitious  men,  availing  them- 
selves of  a  good  as  well  as  of  a  fanatical  spirit,  in  the  nation." 

There  can  be  no  doubt,  that  if  the  agitation  of  this  °lavery  ques- 
tion had  not  been  commenced  and  fermented  by  men  who  had  no  pos- 
sible connection  with  it,  and  who,  from  the  nature  of  the  case,  could 
have  no  other  motive  but  political  ambition  and  a  spirit  of  aggression ; 
had  that  subject  been  left  as  we  found  it,  under  the  compromises  of 
the  Constitution,  and  the  laws  of  God  and  conscience,  aided  by  an  en- 
lightened understanding  of  their  true  interests — been  left  to  work  their 
silent,  yet  irresistible  influences  on  the  minds  of  men,  there  can  be 
no  doubt  that  thousands  would  have  followed  the  example  of  John 
Randolph,  in  Virginia,  Maryland,  Kentucky,  and  Missouri,  and  that 
long  ere  this,  measures  would  have  been  adopted  for  the  final,  though 
gradual,  extinguishment  of  slavery  within  their  borders ;  as  it  is,  that 
event  has  again  been  put  off  for  another  generation. 


CHAPTER    XVII. 

LOG-BOOK  AND   LETTERS. 

"  As  one  of  the  very  few  persons  in  the  world  (Dr.  Brokenbrough) 
who  really  care  whether  I  sink  or  swim,  I  am  induced  to  send  you 
the  following  extract  from  my  log-book ;  relying  on  your  partiality  to 
excuse  the  egotism ;  and  if  you  experience  but  the  tenth  part  of  the 
pleasure  I  felt  on  reading  your  account  of  your  November  jaunt,  I 
shall  be  much  gratified,  as  well  as  yourself : — 

"  1821,  December  10th,  Monday,  half-past  11,  A.  M.  Left  Rich- 
mond. Four  miles  beyond  the  oaks  met  Mrs.  T b  and  poor  Mrs. 

R h.  Reached  Underwood  half-an-hour  by  run,  and  pushed  on 

to  gutter's,  where  I  arrived  quarter  past  five.  Very  comfortable  quar- 
ters. Road  heavy. 

"  1 1th,  Tuesday.  Breakfasted  at  eight  A.  M.,  and  reached  Batta- 
der  by  quarter  past  twelve.  Fed  my  horses  and  arrived  at  Freder« 


LOG-BOOK  AND  LETTERS.  153 

icksburg  half-past  three.  Road  heavy.  Mansfield  lane  almost  im- 
passable. Excellent  fare  at  Gray's,  and  the  finest  oysters  I  have  seen 
for  this  ten  year. 

c:  12th,  Wednesday.  Hard  frost.  Left  Fredericksburg  at  nine, 
A.  M.  Reached  Stafford,  C.  H.,  at  half-past  eleven,  Dumfries  at  five 
minutes  past  three_,  P.  M.,  and  Occoguon  at  half-past  five.  I  made 
no  stop  except  to  breathe  the  horses,  from  Dumfries  to  Neabsco,  sixty- 
live  minutes  three  and  a  half  miles.  The  five  miles  beyond  Dumfries 
employed  nearly  two  hours.  Roads  indescribable. 

'•13th,  Thursday.  Snow;  part  heavy  rain.  "Waited  until  meri- 
dian, when,  foreseeing  that  if  the  roads  froze  in  their  then  state,  they 
would  be  impassable ;  and  that  the  waters  between  me  and  Alexan- 
dria would  be  out  perhaps  for  several  days,  I  set  out  in  the  height  of 
the  storm,  and  through  a  torrent  of  mud,  and  water,  and  sloughs  of 
all  degrees  of  viscidity,  I  got  to  Alexandria  before  five,  where  a  fine 
canvas-back,  and  divers  other  good  things,  set  my  blood  into  circula- 
tion. 

"  14th,  Friday.  Bitter  cold.  Reached  Washington  half-past 
eleven.  House  does  not  sit  to-day.  Funeral.  No  southern  mail. 
Waters  out. 

"  15th.  Very  cold.  No  southern  mail.  Waters  out.  Just  beyond 
Pohick  I  met  a  man  driving  a  double  chair. 

"  J.  R. — '  Pray,  sir,  can  I  ford  Accotink  ?' 

"  Traveller. — '  If  you  drive  brisk  perhaps  you  may.' 

«  J.  K. — {  Did  you  cross  it,  sir  T 

"  T. — '  Yes  ;  but  it  is  rising  very  fast.' 

"  As  I  pressed  my  little  mare  on,  or  rather  as  she  pushed  on  after 
comrade  and  Johnny,  I  thought  of  Sir  Arthur  and  Miss  Wardour, 
of  the  old  Gabertunzie,  as,  in  breathless  anxiety,  they  turned  the 
head-land,  and  found  the  water-mark  under  water.  Pohick,  a  most 
dangerous  ford  at  all  times,  from  the  nature  of  the  bend  of  the  stream, 
which  is  what  is  called  a  kettle-bottom,  was  behind  me,  and  no  retreat 
and  no  house  better  than  old  Lear's  hovel,  except  the  church,  where 
were  no  materials  for  a  fire.  When  I  reached  Accotink,  the  sand- 
bank in  the  middle  of  the  stream  was  uncovered  ;  but  for  near  a  mile 
I  was  up  to  the  saddle-skirts.  A  great  price,  my  good  sir,  for  the 
privilege  of  franking  a  letter,  and  the  honor  of  being  overlooked  by 
die  great  men,  new  as  well  as  old. 

'•  Just  at  the  bridge  over  Hunting  Creek,  beyond  Alexandria,  I 
met  the  mail  cart  and  its  solitary  driver.  The  fog  was  Cimmerian. 

"  J.  R. — '  How  far  do  you  go  to-night,  friend  ?' 

«  D.— <  To  Stafford  Court-house,  sir.     Can  I  ford  the  Accotink  ?' 

"  J.  R. — '  I  think  you  may ;  but  it  will  be  impossible  before  mid 
night :  I  am  really  sorry  for  you.' 

"D. — '  God  bless  your  honor.' 


154  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

u  I  am  satisfied  this  poor  fellow  encounters  every  night  dangeri 
and  sufferings  in  comparison  with  which  those  of  our  heroes  are  flea 
bites. 

"  Friday  morning.  Your  letter  of  the  25th  (Christmas  day)  did 
not  reach  me  until  this  morning.  I  have  been  long  mourning  over 
the  decline  of  our  old  Christmas  sports  and  pastimes,  which  have 
'given  way  to  a  spirit  of  sullen  fanaticism  on  the  one  hand,  or  affected 
fashionable  refinement  on  the  other,  which  thinly  veils  the  selfishness 
and  inhospitality  it  is  designed  to  cover.  Your  own  letter  may  be 
cited  as  a  proof  that  I  am  no  grumbler  (in  this  instance  at  least)  at 
the  times,  although  friend  Lancaster,  after  puffing  me  in  his  wAy, 
was  moved  by  the  spirit  (when  I  would  not  subscribe  to  his  books)  to 
say  that  the  character  I  disclaimed  in  the  H.  of  R.  was  the  one  that 
fitted  me.  '  Difficilis,  querulus,  laudatur  temporis  acti.'  You  date 
on  Christmas  day ;  you  do  not  make  the  least  mention  of  the  season, 
into  such  '  desuetude '  has  the  commemoration  of  the  nativity  of  the 

great  Redeemer  fallen.     On  the  eve  of  that  day  P a  gave  a  grand 

diplomatic  dinner,  at  which  Messrs,  les  Envoyes  enrages  were  pre- 
sent, but  held  no  intercourse.  At  this  dinner  J.  Q.  A.  (the  cub  is  a 
greater  bear  than  the  old  one)  gave  this  toast,  rising  from  his  chair 
at  the  time :  c  Alexander  the  Great,  Emperor  of  all  the  Russias,  and 

the  Cross.'     Cross  vs.  Crescent,  I  presume ;  and  no  doubt  M.  P a 

wrote  to  his  court,  announcing  '  the  disposition  of  this  government 
towards  Russia.'  He  is  a  wretched  ass  (this  P.),  who  is  writing  a 
book  on  America,  and  whom  every  body  quizzes.  Some  very  laugh- 
able instances  of  this  have  been  related  to  me.  Travelling  through 
Ohio,  he  was  as  much  scandalized  as  John  Wesley  by  the  want  of  a 
commodite,  and  took  the  host  to  task  about  it.  The  fellow  gravely 
assured  him  that  were  he  to  erect  such  a  temple  to  a  heathen  and 
obscure  deity,  the  people  would  rise  in  arms  and  burn  it  to  the  ground  ; 
and  this  mystification  completely  took,  and  was  clapped  down  in 
P 's  notes.  I  expect  to  see  it  under  the  head  of  state  of  religion. 

"  To  return.  The  next  day  the  parties  were  reconciled,  and  all  is 
hushed  up.  Yesterday,  I  had  the  honor  of  a  visit  from  M.  1'Envoye 
de  sa  Majeste  tres  Chretienne  and  the  Secretary  of  Legation.  This 
great  honor  and  distinction  (for  such  the  folks  here  deem  it)  I  sus- 
pect I  owe  to  the  exercise  of  a  quality  for  which  I  have  not,  I  fear, 
been  greatly  distinguished ;  I  mean  discretion ;  for,  although  I  was 
present,  I  refused  to  be  a  referee,  when  applied  to  from  various  quar- 
ters, on  the  subject  of  the  quarrel.  I  did  not  hesitate  to  say  that  cer- 
tain very  offensive  words  imputed  to  de  N.  were  not  uttered  by  him ; 
but  I  declined  giving  any  account  of  the  matter,  except  to  my  old 
friend,  Mr.  Macon.  and  one  other  person,  forbidding  the  mentioning 
of  my  name  under  the  strongest  sanctions. 

u  On    reading  over   the    above.  I  perceive  that  it  is  '  horribly 


LOG-BOOK  AND  LETTERS.  155 

stuffed'  with  scraps  of  French.  This  apparent  affectation  (for  it  is 
only  apparent)  is  owing  to  a  silly  falling  in  with  the  fashion  in  this 
place,  where  the  commonest  English  word  or  phrase  is  generally  ren- 
dered in  (not  always  good)  French. 

u  I  showed  your  letter  to  my  most  discreet  friend,  Mr.  Macon, 
He  concurs  with  me  that  the  first  part  (relative  ^o  the  chair)  of  what 
you  heard  is  pretty  much  '  all  my  eye,  Betty  ; '  but  will  not  agree  as 
to  the  remainder,  which  I  class  under  the  same  head.  Else  how 
comes  the  greatest  latitudinarian  in  our  State,  and  a  professed  one 
too.  who  acknowledges  no  'law,'  but  his  favorite  one  of  circumstances, 
a  bank  man,  or  any  thing  you  please,  to  have  received  greater  and 
more  numerous  marks  of  the  favor  of  the  Legislature  of  Virginia 
(recent  ones  too)  than  any  citizen  in  it,  the  three  last  Presidents  ex- 
cepted  ?  I  detest  mock-modesty,  and  will  not  deny  that  if  I  had  the 
disposition,  and  could  undergo  the  labor,  (neither  of  which  is  the  case.) 
I  might  acquire  a  certain  degree  of  influence  in  the  House,  chiefly 
confined,  however,  to  the  small  minority  of  old-fashioned  Republicans. 
As  to  the  first  station,  there  was  a  time  in  which  I  might  not  have 
disgraced  it,  for  I  had  quickness  and  a  perfect  knowledge  of  our 
rules  and  orders,  with  a  competent  acquaintance  with  parliamentary 
law  in  general.  But  since  the  dictatorship  of  Mr.  C — y,  '  on  a  change 
tout  cela'  (French  again),  and  I  am  now  almost  as  raw  as  our  newest 
recruits.  Then,  too,  I  had  habits  of  application  to  business  ;  but. 
my  good  friend,  while  I  am  running  on  (Alnaschar-like),  I  protest  I 

believe  the  thought  entered  no  head  but  Mr.  S 's  (to  whom,  of 

course,  I  am  much  obliged  for  his  good  opinion) ;  for  no  suggestion 
of  the  sort  ever  occurred  to  me  until  I  read  it  under  your  hand. 

"  My  days  of  business,  of  active  employment,  are  over.  My  judg- 
ment, I  believe,  has  not  deserted  me,  and  when  it  does,  as  old  George 
Mason  said.  I  shall  be  the  last  person  in  the  world  to  find  it  out : 
my  principles  I  am  sure  have  not ;  and  if,  which  God  forbid,  they 
should,  I  shall  be  the  first  person  to  find  it  out.  Till  that  shall  hap- 
pen, I  will  be  '  the  warder  on  the  lonely  hill.3 

"  Why  cannot  all  the  honest  men  (not  poor  Burr's  sort)  unite  in  a 
man  for  the  presidency  who  possesses:  1.  Integrity,  2.  firmness,  3. 
great  political  experience,  4.  sound  judgment  and  strong  common 
sense.  5.  ardent  love  of  country  and  of  its  institutions  and  their  spirit, 
6.  unshaken  political  consistency  in  the  worst  of  times,  7.  manners  (if 
not  courtly)  correct.  I  could  name  such  a  man. 

"  Apropos  to  Burr.  I  have  been  reflecting  this  morning  on  the 
fate  of  some  of  the  most  active  and  influential  (pardon  the  slang)  of 
them  that  contributed  to  effectuate  the  change  in  1800-1.  Burr 
stands  foremost ;  Ned.  Livingston  ;  "W.  C.  N.  !  though  last,  not  least. 
It  is  mournful  to  think  on  I  might  mention  a  good  many  more  who 
played  an  under  part  in  the  drama,  such  as  Duane. 
Jones.  &c..  &c." 

31 


156  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

In  the  appropriation  bill  for  the  ensuing  year,  there  was  a  large 
undefined  appropriation  for  the  Indian  Department  asked  for  by  the 
Secretary  of  War,  and  was  understood  to  be  intended  to  cover  up  a 
deficiency  of  the  past  year.  Mr.  Randolph,  the  4th  of  January,  1822. 
moved  a  re-commitment  of  the  bill. 

"  Unreasonable  jealousy  of  the  Executive  Government,"  said  he, 
"  often  led  to  the  opposite  extreme — a  blind  confidence  in  the  govern- 
ing power.  From  this  jealousy  mid  confidence  he  felt  himself  free. 
He  believed  that  this  House  also  was  as  free  from  unreasonable 
jealousy  as  any  reasonable  body  ought  to  be.  In  fact,  jealousy  in 
public  life  was  like  that  same  '  green-eyed  monster'  in  the  domestic 
circle,  which  poisoned  the  source  of  all  social  happiness.  It  was 
extraordinary,  and  yet  apparent,  that  the  case  had  occurred  in  which 
confidence  had  lost  its  true  character,  and  taken  another,  which  he 
would  not  name  in  this  House.  It  was  remarkable,  as  well  on  the 
other  side  of  the  Atlantic  as  this,  that  a  general  suspicion  had  gone 
abroad,  that  the  department  which  emphatically  holds  the  purse- 
strings  of  the  nation,  was  more  remiss  than  any  other  in  guarding 
against  the  expenditure  of  its  subordinate  agents.  If  it  should  be 
generally  and  unanswerably  understood,  that  the  body  whose  duty 
it  was  to  guard  the  public  treasure  from  wasteful  expenditure,  had 
abandoned  their  trust  to  a  blind  confidence  in  the  dispensers  of  pub- 
lic patronage,  they  must  immediately  and  justly  lose  all  the  confi- 
dence of  the  community.  He  had  heard  yesterday,  with  astonish- 
ment, a  proposition  to  surrender  inquiry  to  a  confidence  in  the 
integrity  and  ability  in  the  officer  who  had  made  the  requisition. 
When  this  House  should  be  disposed  to  become  a  mere  chamber  in 
which  to  register  the  edicts,  not  of  the  President,  but  of  the  heads  of 
departments,  it  would  be  unimportant  whether  the  members  of  this 
House  professed  to  represent  35.000  freemen,  or  collectively  the 
single  borough  of  Sarum.  This  proceeding  was  to  him  unprece- 
dented. *  *  *  *  He  would  give  to  the  Government  his  confidence 
when  it  was  necessary,  and  he  would  not  give  it  to  the  Government, 
nor  to  any  man  further  than  that,  unless  to  his  bosom  friend.  But 
there  was  a  wide  difference  between  voting  for  an  advance  for  the 
service  of  the  current  year,  and  voting  for  the  same  sum  to  cover  a 
deficiency  of  the  past  year,  under  cover  of  an  advance  for  the  present 
year." 

The  same  day,  January  4th,  before  making  the  above  speech,  ho 
thus  writes  to  Dr.  Brockenbrough  : 

"  A  question  will  come  on  to-day  respecting  an  appropriation, 
ostensibly  in  advance  (or  '  on  account,'  as  trading  folks  say)  of  the 
military  expenditures  of  the  current  year  ;  but  really  to  cover  a  defi- 


LOG-BOOK  AND  LETTERS.  157 

ciency  (or  excess  of  expenditure)  for  the  last  year.  The  sum  is  only 
8100.000;  yet,  my  word  for  it!  this  honest  gentleman  (who  had 
kept  him  up  half  a  night  to  win  back  a  few  dollars)  will  vote  it  with- 
out the  least  scruple,  at  the  nod  of  an  executive  officer.  In  short, 
the  greater  part  of  us  view  with  equal  eye 

:  The  public  million  and  the  private  groat.' 

"  The  '  arguments'  yesterday,  when  the  question  was  pending, 
were  '  Having  the  fullest  confidence  in  the  head  of  the  war  depart- 
ment ;'  '  can  any  gentleman  believe  or  suppose  that  the  Secretary  of 
War  could  ask  an  improper  appropriation,'  &c.,  &c.,  all  to  the  same 
tune ;  and  although  Tracey,  of  New- York,  and  Trimble,  of  Kentucky, 

distinctly  opposed  the  imposition,  that  old  sinner, of  '  Marland] 

by  sheer  force  of  lungs,  induced  £ome  right  well-meaning  people  to 
think  the  objections  (which  they  did  not  understand,  nor  the  answer 

neither)  satisfactorily  repelled.  Even  L s,  with  whom  I  dined, 

agreed  that  the  thing  was  wrong :  said  he  had  told  S.  S.  it  ought  to 
be  in  a  separate  grant,  expressive  of  its  true  character ;  but  that  S. 
said  '  he  did  not  like  to  trust  it,'  and  so  thrust  it  in  the  partial  appro- 
priation bill  for  1 822,  where  he  hoped,  no  doubt,  it  would  pass  unob- 
served. 

"By  the  way,  I  believe  I  wrote  that  C n  had  'accepted.' 

He  and  L.  are,  I  think,  shot  dead  by  their  want  of  retenue.  More 
French,  and  I  am  not  sure  that  it  is  good  French. 

"  On  the  day  of  your  '  debauch,'  I  dined  with  Van  Buren  and  the 
whole  New-York  delegation  in  both  Houses,  with  the  V.  P.  at  their 
head.  Although  it  no  doubt  had  a  meaning  like  '  the  shake  of  the 
head'  in  the  l  Critic,'  I  did  not  exactly  find  it  out,  but  I  believe  I  was 
not  far  off  the  true  construction.  'Many  here  think  that  neither 

C n,  nor  C s.  nor  C y  will  be  '  run' — that  this  is  but  a 

ruse  de  guerre  to  weaken  C d  and  of  course  strengthen  the  East- 
ern and  Northern  interest. 

"  Since  I  came  to  the  House,  Baldwin,  speaking  of  the  present 
candidate,  said  to  me — •'  The  people  ought  to  put  down  (I  trust  they 
will)  every  man  who  has  put  himself  forward  at  this  premature  time.' 
I  left  mv  letter  open  for  what  I  might  hear,  and  I  have  heard  nothing 
else." 

-  Washington,  Jan.  13,  1822. — My  good  friend — I  had  taken  it 
for  granted  that  you  were  gone.  Orpheus  like,  to  fetch  your  wife  from 
the  infernal  regions,  or  at  least  through  infernal  ways,  when  I  received, 
this  morning,  your  welcome  letter  of  Friday  (the  llth).  The  truth 
is,  I  am  disappointed  by  the  Enquirer,  and  so  you  may  tell  him.  Al- 
though it  is  not  very  desirable  to  be  studiously  misrepresented  and 
caricatured  to  the  rest  of  the  States,  yet  I  was  fain  to  content  myself 
with  standing  (substantially  at  least,  if  not  in  form)  on  my  own  title. 


158  ^IFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

with  the  good  people  of  poor  old  Virginia  (God  help  her .)  through 
the  medium  of  the  Enquirer.  When  any  of  the  courtiers  are  to  speak 

G s  takes  his  seat  in  his  box,  and  makes  the  best  report  he  can  : 

e.  g.  McD 's  speech,  which  is  greatly  softened  in  point  of  arro- 
gance, and  which  is  much  improved  by  the  total  omission  of  the  sui- 
cidal declaration  towards  its  close,  that  the  money  was  wanting  '  to 
pay  vouched  accounts  then  lying  on  the  Secretary  of  War's  table.' 
When  one  of  the  country  party  speak,  the  duty  is  devolved  upon  an 
incapable  deputy ;  but  mere  incapacity  will  not  account  for  such  man- 
ifest and  repeated  perversions.  Take  the  following  as  some  among 
the  most  glaring  in  the  last  report  of  a  speech  which  satisfied  many 
others  much  more  than  it  did  its  author.  (Here  follow  numerous  cor- 
rections of  the  report  alluded  to.) 

"  The  words  for  which  I  was  called  to  order  by  S.,  are  not  those 
stated  in  the  report.  Those  words  were  subsequently  used — I  said 
not  one  syllable  about  the  soldiers  *  dealing  in  perfumery.'  What  the 
creature  means  I  can't  even  divine.  In  short,  it  may  be  considered 
as  the  greatest  outrage  of  the  sort  ever  committed." 

"  Tuesday.  Jan.  15,  1822. — I  wrote  you  a  letter  the  day  before 
yesterday,  in  a  character  that  might  have  passed  for  Sir  Anthony 
Scrabblestone's.  You  no  doubt  remember  that  old  acquaintance  of 
our  reverend  friend  the  holy  Clerk  of  Copmanhurst,  and  are  full  as 
well  acquainted  with  his  handwriting  as  that  pious  anchorite  was 
with  his  person.  However,  I  have  (in  addition  to  the  apology  that 
my  implements  are  furnished  by  contract)  the  further  justification  of 
my  Lord  Arlington's  high  authority. 

'  Did  you  preserve  the  Baltimore  paper  that  contained  No.  18,  of 
:a  Native  Virginian?'  Nos.  19  and  20  have  since  been  sent  me. 
They  are  well  written,  and  unanswered,  if  not  unanswerable.  Had 
they  appeared  in  a  paper  of  general  circulation,  and  one  that  possess- 
ed any  share  of  public  confidence,  they  would,  I  think,  have  produced 
some  effect,  if  indeed  the  public  be  not  dead  to  all  sensation. 

"  There  is  a  young  man  here  by  the  name  of  Chiles,  making  re- 
ports of  our  proceedings  for  the  '  Boston  Daily  Advertiser.'  Mr. 
Mills  of  the  Senate  (from  Massachusetts)  gave  me  his  report  of  the 
doings  of  Friday,  the  4th  instant — with  the  help  of  such  a  report  as 
that,  I  could  have  given  Mr.  Ritchie  what  I  said  almost  verbatim. 
But  the  truth  is,  that  after  the  occasion  passes  away,  I  can  seldom  re- 
call what  I  said  until  I  am  put  in  mind,  by  what  I  did  not  say,  or  by 
some  catch-word ;  at  the  same  time,  I  have  given  Mr.  Ritchie  the 
substance,  and,  where  any  particular  word  or  incident  occurred,  the 
very  language  that  I  used.  I  am  determined,  hereafter,  to  wait  for 
Chilcs's  report  from  Boston,  and  with  a  slight  alteration,  when  neces- 
sary, I  will  send  it  to  the  Enquirer.  The  N.  I.  does  not  condense  as 
he  pretends.  Of  all  the  speeches  made  on  the  subject,  it  was  the 


LOG-BOOK  AND  LETTERS  159 

longest  and  the  most  audible.  In  the  report  it  is  one  of  the  shortest, 
and  yet  stuffed  with  expletives  not  used  by  me,  as  well  as  perver- 
sions of  meaning.  There  is  no  mistaking  this,  when  continually  oc- 
3urring. 

"  The  discussion  of  the  M.  A.  bill  has  done  me  no  service." 

-Jan.  i8,  1822. — I'm  afraid  you  think  me  such  a  tiresome  ego- 
tist that  you  are  fain  to  drop  my  correspondence.  To  say  the  truth, 
I  am  vexed  at  being  made  to  talk  such  nonsense,  and  bad  English 
into  the  bargain — 'proven'  cum  multis  aliis  ejusdem  farinae,  familiar 
enough,  indeed,  to  congressional  ears,  but  which  never  escaped  from 
rny  lips. 

"  There  is  a  very  impudent  letter  in  Walsh,  which  I  half  suspect 
he  wrote  to  himself — '  hungry  mouths  to  stop,  and  dogs  not  above 
eating  dirty  pudding' — must  sound  peculiarly  offensive  in  his  ears, 
since  he  could  not  even  get  the  run  of  the  kitchen  when  he  was  here 
in  1816-17.  At  that  time  he  had  the  effrontery  to  tell  me  to  my 
face,  that  he  had  no  doubt  I  was  far  more  eloquent  than  Patrick 
Henry.  The  Intelligencer  puts  words  into  my  mouth  that  I  never 
uttered,  and  these  furnish  the  basis  of  Mr.  "W.'s  comments,  with  those 
great  critics  and  annotators — for  '  debate,'  read  i  detail '  (which  I 
said  neither  health  nor  inclination  allowed  me  to  enter  into),  and 
what  becomes  of  the  comment  ?  Of  one  thing  I  am  sure,  that  the 
House  is  not  yet  becoming  tired  of  me  ;  and  I  shall  take  especial 
care  that  it  do  not." 

"  Jan.  19. — My  avocations  are  such,  that  my  time,  like  my 
money,  runs  away  in  driblets,  without  producing  an  'ejfeck."1  I  have 
more  than  once  thought  of  using  my  pen  in  some  other  way  besides 
scribbling  to  you ;  but,  some  how  or  other,  I  can  find  none  so  pleasant, 
and  time  is  always  wanting.  I  have  read  nothing,  but  have  been 
very  much  in  company.  Like  the  long  waists  of  our  mothers.  I  really 
believe  I  am  growing,  if  not  generally,  at  least  somewhat,  in  fashion. 
But  I  hope  I  am  not  so  old  a  fool  as  to  presume  upon  this ;  for  of  all 
fools,  an  old  one  is  the  least  tolerable. 

':  Like  most  parvenus,  the  man  you  mention  is  a  sorry  black- 
guard, in  dress,  manners,  figure  (a  complete  paddy),  countenance, 
and  principle.  I  could  have  given  him  'such  a  sackfull  of  sair 
bones,'  that  he  could  have  borne  the  marks  to  his  grave.  But  I  pur- 
posely abstained  from  the  slightest  notice  of  him.  It  is  not  the  least 
:>f  our  success  against  temptation,  to  suppress  the  overwhelming  re- 
tort, and.  just  as  it  rises  to  the  tongue,  to  give  a  good  gulp  and  swal- 
low'it." 

"  Feb.  1. — You  will  see  a  correction  of  Gales's  in  yesterday's  Intel- 
ligencer. He  has  restored  the  words  that  I  used,  almost  verbatim. 
They  were  these  :  '  Transubstantiation,  I  was  going  to  say  ;  but  I 
would  not,  from  respect  to  a  numerous  and  most  respectable  class  of 


160  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

persons ;  but  would  say.  as  any  in  priestcraft,  kingcraft,  or  another 
craft  which  (as  great  as  is  the  Diana  of  the  Ephesians  !)  I  would  not 
name.'  Yet  I  have  received  an  indignant  remonstrance  from  a 
Roman  Catholic  of  Washington  City,  '  on  my  invective  against  that 
sect,'  of  which  you  may  see  some  notice  in  to-morrow's  Moniteur. 

Administration  is  sunk  into  much  contempt  with  our  House,  and 
the  other  too.  They  hail  from  '  four  corners.'  Instead  of  Dana's 
'  triangular  war,'  we  have  a  quadrangular  one.  They  must  dissolve 
in  their  own  imbecility.  By  the  way,  I  want  my  '  native  Virginian/ 
when  you  are  done  with  him. 

"  I  trust  the  Virginian  Government  will  not  be  weak  enough  to 
dismiss  the  "  claim  "  of  Kentucky.  I  suspect  it  was  got  up  to  defray 
C s'  electioneering  campaign  for  the  winter." 

"  Feb.  7. — I  am  at  last  gratified  by  a  letter  from  you.  To  say 
the  truth,  I  had  rather,  much  rather,  that  the  thing  had  not  ap- 
peared ;  but  as  to  '  being  affronted '  at  it,  that  was  out  of  the  ques- 
tion. Indeed,  if  I  do  not  egregiously  deceive  myself,  a  great  change 
has  been  wrought  in  my  character.  I  am  become  quiet  and  sedate — 
torpid,  if  you  will — -but  much  less  disposed  to  take  or  give  offence 
than  I  once  was.  This  remark  is  made,  not  in  reference  to  the  little 
incident  above  alluded  to,  but  in  that  vein  of  egotism  to  which  I  am 
too  prone. 

"  You  do  right  in  endeavoring  to  reconcile  L.  and  T. ;  but  in  the 
course  of  my  observation,  I  cannot  recall  a  single  instance  of  cordi- 
ality between  reconciled  friends.  Poor  human  nature !  The  view 
which  I  am  compelled  to  take  of  it  every  day,  augments  my  pity  for 
it,  We  dare  not  trust  ourselves  with  the  truth.  It  is  too  terrible. 
Hence  the  whole  world  is  in  masquerade.  '  Words  were  invented/ 
said  Talleyrand,  '  to  conceal  our  thoughts.'  Hence,  a  conventional 
language,  in  which  it  is  understood  that  things  are  never  to  be 
called  by  their  right  names,  and  which  at  last  ceases  to  answer  its 
original  design,  except  with  the  vulgar  great  and  small. 

"  I  must  be  a  very  uncommon  personage  to  '  astonish  all  the 
world'  with  what  I  do  not  do.  Since  I  am  not  able  to  astonish  them 
with  my  exploits,  it  is  very  good  in  them  to  be  negatively  charged  on 
my  account.  I  heartily  wish  that  I  had  never  given  them  any  other 
cause  of  wonder. 

"  Poor  T.  T r  !  I  know  his  disease.  It  has  been  killing  mo 

inch-meal,  a  long,  long  while.  Give  him  my  best  regards.  It  is  a 
dreadful  thing  to  find  out,  as  he  has  done,  too  late,  what  stuff  the 
world  is  made  of ;  to  have  an  illusion  dispelled  that  made  life  agree- 
able to  us.  Did  you  ever  read  '  Cobbett's  Sermons,'  or  his  '  Cottage 
Economy  ?'  If  not.  pray  do.  They  are  written  with  great  originality 
and  power,  and  I  heartily  wish  they  were  in  the  hands  of  all  who 
can  read. 


THE  APPORTIONMENT  BILL.  161 

"  There  has  been  a  great  deal  of  stuff  uttered  in  our  House  for 
the  last  two  or  three  days.  It  has  degenerated  into  a  mere  bear 
garden  ;  and,  really,  when  I  see  strangers  on  the  platform,  I  feel 
ashamed  of  belonging  to  the  body.  I  have  been  a  good  deal  pressed 
to  join  the  squabble  ;  for  it  don't  deserve  the  name  of  debate  ;  but  I 
have  refrained,  if  the  expression  can  be  applied,  where,  instead  of 
desire,  one  feels  only  disgust.  I  have  not  yet  seen  the  Chief  Justice, 
although  we  have  exchanged  visits.  I  am  glad  to  hear  that  you  in- 
tend to  '  write  again  soon.'  If  you  knew  the  feeling  I  have  when  a 
letter  from  you  is  brought  in,  you  would  shower  them  down  like  snow. 
My  health  and  spirits  are  incurably  bad.  If  I  can  raise  the  money, 
I  mean  to  dissipate  my  chagrin  and  ennui  in  some  foreign  land.  In- 
cessant change  of  place,  and  absence  of  all  occupation,  seem  indis- 
pensable to  my  tolerable  existence.  I  am  become  almost  reconciled 
to  pain  ;  but  there  is  a  sensation  of  another  sort  that  is  worse  than 
death.  Familiar  as  I  am  to  it,  it  serves  but  to  increase  its  misery. 
At  this  moment,  I  am  obliged  to  relinquish  my  pen  from  the  com- 
bined effects  of  bodily  disease  and  mental  distress.  Adieu. 

«  J.  R..OF  R." 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 

THE   APPORTIONMENT  BILL. 

''  GOVERNMENT,  to  be  safe  and  to  be  free,  must  consist  of  Representatives  having  a 
common  interest  and  a  common  feeling  with  the  represented."— JOHN  RAN- 
DOLPH. 

THE  great  business  of  the  session  was  the  apportionment  of  repre- 
sentatives among  the  States,  according  to  the  new  census.  It  seems 
to  have  been  the  policy  of  Congress,  as  the  population  increased,  to 
increase  the  ratio  of  representation  from  decade  to  decade,  so  as  to 
keep  down  the  numbers  of  the  House  of  Representatives.  This  sub- 
ject was  one  of  exciting  interest  to  all  parties.  None  felt  more  deeply 
than  Mr.  Randolph,  not  only  the  importance  of  the  principles  involved 
but  the  serious  influence  the  new  apportionment  was  likely  to  have 
on  the  relative  weight  and  standing  of  the  old  Commonwealth  which 
he  had  been  so  proud  to  represent  for  so  many  years,  as  the  Empire 
State.  "  Yesterday  I  rose,  (says  he,  the  7th  of  February,  the  day  the 
question  was  taken)  at  3,  and  to-day  at  2.  A.  M.  I  cannot  sleep. 


162  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

Two  bottles  of  champagne,  or  a  dozen  of  gas,  could  not  Lave  excited 
me  like  this  apportionment  bill." 

A  variety  of  propositions  werf  made  to  fix  the  ratio,  ranging  from 
35,000  to  75,000.  The  committee  reported  40.000.  Mr.  Tucker,  of 
Virginia,  proposed  38,000.  By  the  ratio  of  the  committee,  Virginia 
would  lose  one  member,  and  fall  below  New-York  and  Pennsylvania. 
By  the  ratio  of  Mr.  Tucker  she  would  retain  her  present  delegation  in 
Congress.  Mr.  Randolph  was  in  favor  of  the  latter  proposition.  But 
his  arguments  reach  far  beyond  the  particular  interest  his  own  State 
had  in  the  question.  They  are  profound  and  statesmanlike — are  wor- 
thy of  our  most  serious  consideration — and  the  principle  they  evolve 
should  be  made  a  cardinal  doctine  in  the  -ereed  of  those  who  hold  that 
the  responsibility  of  the  representative — the  independence  and  sover- 
eignty of  the  States,  and  the  cautious  action  of  the  Federal  Govern- 
ment on  the  subjects  strictly  limited  to  it,  are  the  only  sound  rules 
for  interpreting  the  Constitution.  The  danger  is  in  having  too  small 
a  representation.  No  country  was  ever  ruined  by  the  expense  of  its 
legislation ;  better  pay  an  army  of  legislators  than  an  army  of  soldiers. 

- 1  cannot  enter  into  the  reasoning,"  said  Mr.  Randolph,  "  which 
goes  to  show  that  two  hundred  members,  or  this  ratio  of  42,000,  or 
what  not,  is  to  serve  some  great  political  purpose,  whilst  one  member 
more  or  less,  or  1000  in  the  ratio,  more  or  less,  would  produce  a  ca- 
lamitous effect.  To  such  prescience  which  could  discover  such  impor- 
tant effects  from  such  causes  he  had  no  claim ;  but  this  he  would  say, 
it  was  made  an  objection  to  the  Constitution  by  some  of  the  greatest 
men  this  country  ever  produced,  and  perhaps  as  great  as  it  ever  would 
produce.  It  was,  in  itself,  a  vital  objection  to  George  Mason's  putting 
his  hand  to  the  Constitution,  that  the  representation  in  Congress  was 
limited  not  to  exceed  one  member  for  every  30.000  souls,  whilst  on 
the  other  hand,  a  most  unbounded  discussion  was  given  over  the  in- 
crease of  the  ratio.  It  was  an  objection  to  the  Constitution,  on  the 
part  of  some  of  the  wisest  men  this  country  ever  produced.  It  was  an 
objection  on  the  part  of  Patrick  Henry,  whose  doubts,  I  need  not  ask 
you,  Mr.  Speaker,  to  recur  to.  I  fear  you  have  been  too  familiar 
with  them  in  the  shape  of  verified  predictions,  whose  doubts  experi- 
ence has  proved  to  be  prophetic.  On  a  question  of  this  sort,  shall  we 
be  told  of  the  expense  of  compensating  a  few  additional  members  of 
this  body  ?  He  knew  we  had,  in  a  civil  point  of  view,  perhaps  the 
most  expensive  government  under  the  sun.  We  had,  taking  one  gen- 
tleman's declaration,  an  army  of  legislators.  There  was  a  time,  and  he 
wished  he  might  live  to  see  it  again,  when  the  legislators  of  the  country 


THE  APPORTIONMENT  BILL. 

outnumbered  the  rank  and  file  of  the  army,  and  the  officers  to  boot. 
I  wish  I  may  see  it  again.  Did  any  man  ever  hear  of  a  country  ru- 
ined by  the  expense  of  its  legislation  ?  Yes,  as  the  sheep  are  ruined 
by  so  much  as  is  required  for  the  nourishment  of  the  dogs.  As  to 
the  civil  list,  to  pay  a  host  of  legislators,  is  it  this  pay  that  has  run 
up  the  national  debt  ?•  Is  it  their  pay  that  produces  defalcations  of 
the  revenue  ?  Did  mortal  man  ever  hear  of  a  country  that  was  ru- 
ined by  the  expense  of  its  civil  list,  and  more  especially  by  the  legis- 
lative branch  of  it  ?  We  must  take  a  number  that  is  convenient  for 
business,  and  at  the  same  time  sufficiently  great  to  represent  the  in- 
terests of  this  great  empire.  This  empire,  he  was  obliged  to  say, 
for  the  term  republic  had  gone  out  of  fashion.  He  would  warn,  not 
this  House,  for  they  stood  in  no  need  cf  it,  but  the  good,  easy,  sus- 
ceptible people  of  this  country,  against  the  empiricism  in  politics, 
against  the  delusion  that  because  a  government  is  representative, 
equally  representative,  if  you  will,  it  must  therefore  be  free.  Govern- 
ment, to  be  safe  and  to  be  free,  must  consist  of  representatives  having 
a  common  interest  and  common  feeling  with  the  represented. 

When  I  hear  of  settlements  at  the  Council  Bluffs,  and  of  bills  for 
taking  possession  of  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia  River,  I  turn,  not  a 
deaf  ear,  but  an  ear  of  a  different  sort  to  the  sad  vaticination  of 
what  is  to  happen  in  the  length  of  time :  believing,  as  I  do,  that 
no  government  extending  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific  can  be  fit 
to  govern  me,  or  those  whom  I  represent.  There  is  death  in  the  pot, 
compound  it  how  you  will.  No  such  government  can  exist,  because  it 
must  want  the  common  feeling  and  common  interest  with  the  govern- 
ed, which  is  indispensable  to  its  existence.  *  *  *  *  The  first  House 
of  Representatives  consisted  of  but  sixty-five  members.  Mr.  Ran- 
dolph said  he  well  remembered  that  House.  He  saw  it  often,  and 
that  very  fact  was,  he  said,  to  him  a  serious  objection  to  so  smaL  a 
representation  on  this  floor.  The  truth  is,  said  he,  we  came  out  of 
the  old  Constitution  in  a  chrysalis  state,  under  unhappy  auspices. 
The  members  of  the  body  that  framed  the  Constitution  were  second 
to  none  in  respectability.  But  they  had  been  so  long  without  power, 
they  had  so  long  seen  the  evils  of  a  government  without  power,  that 
it  begot  in  them  a  general  disposition  to  have  king  Stork  substituted 
for  king  Log.  They  organized  a  Congress  to  consist  of  a  small  num- 
ber of  members,  and  what  was  the  consequence  ?  Every  one  in  the 
slightest  degree  conversant  with  the  subject  must  know,  that  on  the 
first  step  in  any  government  depends,  in  a  great  degree,  the  charac- 
ter and  complexion  of  that  government.  What,  I  repeat,  was  the 
consequence  of  the  then  limited  number  of  the  representative  body  1 
Many,  very  many,  indeed  all  that  could  be  called  fundamental  laws, 
were  passed  by  a  majority,  which,  in  the  aggregate,  hardly  exceeded  in 
number  the  committee  which  was  the  other  day  appointed  to  bring  in 


164  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

the  bill  now  on  your  table  ;  and  thereby,  said  he,  hangs  (not  a  tale, 
but)  very  serious  ones,  which  it  is  improper  to  open  here  and  now. 
Among  the  other  blessings  which  we  have  received  from  past  legisla- 
tion, we  should  not  have  been  sitting  at  this  place  if  there  had  been 
a  different  representation.  Those  who  administered  the  government 
were  in  a  hurry  to  go  into  the  business  of  legislation  before  they 
were  ready — and  here  I  must  advert  to  what  had  been  said  with  re- 
gard to  the  redundance  of  debate.  For  my  part,  said  he,  I  wish  wo 
could  have  done  nothing  but  talk,  unless,  indeed,  we  had  gone  to 
sleep  for  many  years  past ;  and  coinciding  in  the  sentiment  which 
had  fallen  from  the  gentlemen  from  New-York,  give  me  fifty  speeches. 
I  care  not  how  dull  or  how  stupid,  rather  than  one  law  on  the 
statute  book ;  and  if  I  could  once  see  a  Congress  meet  and  adjourn 
without  passing  any  act  whatever,  I  should  hail  it  as  one  of  the  most 
acceptable  omens.  *  *  *  *  The  case  of  a  State  wisely  governed  by 
its  legislature,  that  of  Connecticut,  for  example,"  he  argued,  "  would 
be  preposterously  applied  to  this  government,  representing  as  it  does 
more  than  a  million  of  square  miles,  and  more  than  twenty  millions 
of  people,  for  such  ere  long  would  be  the  amount  of  our  population. 
To  say  that  200  shall  be  the  amount  of  our  representation,  and  then 
to  proportion  that  number  among  the  States,  would  be  putting  the 
cart  before  the  horse,  or  making  a  suit  of  clothes  for  a  man  and  then 
taking  his  measure.  The  number  of  representatives  ought  to  be  suf- 
ficient to  enable  the  constituent  to  maintain  with  the  representative 
that  relation  without  which  representative  government  was  as  great  a 
cheat  as  transubstantiation — he  was  going  to  say — but  would  not, 
from  respect  to  a  numerous  and  most  respectable  class  of  persons, 
but  he  would  say,  as  any  priest-craft,  king-craft,  or  another  craft, 
which  (as  great  is  the  Diana  of  the  Ephesians  !)  he  would  not  name. 
When  I  hear  it  proposed  elsewhere  to  limit  the  numbers  of  the  re- 
presentatives of  the  people  on  this  floor,  I  feel  disposed  to  return 
the  answer  of  Agesilaus  when  the  Spartans  were  asked  for  their 
arms — '  come  and  take  them  !' — It  appeared  to  be  the  opinion  of  some 
gentlemen,  who  seemed  to  think  that  He  who  made  the  world  should 
have  consulted  them  about  it,  that  our  population  would  go  on  in- 
creasing, till  it  exceeded  the  limits  of  the  theory  of  our  representative 
government.  He  rememberered  a  case  in  which  it  had  been  seriously 
proposed,  and  by  a  learned  gentleman  too,  tr.at  inasmuch  as  one  of 
his  brethren  was  increasing  his  property  in  a  certain  ratio,  in  the 
course  of  time  it  would  amount,  by  progressive  increase,  to  the  value 
of  the  whole  world,  and  this  man  would  thus  become  master  of 
the  world.  These  calculations  would  serve  as  charades,  conun- 
drums, and  such  matters,  calculated  to  amuse  the  respectable 
class  (much  interested  in  such  matters)  of  old  maids  and  old  bache- 
lors, of  which  Mr.  K.  said  he  was  a  most  unfortunate  member.  To 
this  objection,  that  the  number  of  the  House  would  soon  become 


THE  APPORTIONMENT  BILL.  165 

too  great,  to  this  bugbear  it  was  sufficient  to  reply,  that  when  the 
case  occurred  it  would  be  time  to  provide  for  it.  We  will  not  take 
the  physic  before  we  are  sick,  remembering  the  old  Italian  epitaph, 
'  I  was  well,  I  would  be  better,  I  took  physic,  and  here  I  am.'  *  *  *  * 
He  was  in  favor  of  making  .the  House  as  numerous  as  the  Consti- 
tution would  permit,  always  keeping  within  such  a  number  as  would 
not  be  inconvenient  to  the  House  for  the  transaction  of  business. 
For,  in  that  respect,  the  legislature  of  a  little  Greek  or  Swiss  repub- 
lic might  be  as  numerous  as  that  of  the  Kingdom  of  Great  Britain. 
The  only  limit  was.  the  capacity  to  do  business  in  one  chamber ;  and 
it  was  desirable  to  have  as  great  a  number  as  would  keep  on  this  side 
of  a  mob. 

'•'•  One  of  the  most  profound  female  writers  of  the  present  age— 
and.  perhaps,  he  might  amend  by  striking  out  the  wcid  female — had 
pointed  out  the  superiority  of  the  legislative  body  of  England  over 
that  of  France,  from  the  circumstance  that,  of  the  British  Parlia- 
ment, no  man  is  permitted  to  read  a  speech,  but  is  obliged  to  pro- 
nounce it  extempore  ;  while  in  the  French  Legislative  Assembly,  the 
rage  for  making  speeches  was  excited  by  the  usage,  that  any  member 
who  could  manufacture  one,  or  get  some  one  else  to  do  it  for  him, 
ascended  the  tribune,  and  delivered,  and  afterwards  published  it; 
and  hence  their  notion,  that  an  assembly  of  more  than  one  hundred, 
if  composed  of  Newtons,  might  be  called  a  mob.  The  practice  in 
England  naturally  forced  out  the  abilities  of  the  house.  The  speaker 
was  obliged  to  draw  on  his  own  intellectual  resources,  and  upon  those 
talents  with  which  heaven  had  endowed  him.  Talents  descend  from 
heaven  :  they  are  the  gift  of  God  ;  no  patent  of  nobility  can  confer 
them  ;  and  he  who  had  the  right,  beyond  a  monarch's  power  to  grant, 
did  conduct  the  public  affairs  of  the  country.  By  the  contrary  prac- 
tice, according  to  Madame  De  Stael,  the  French  nation  was  cheated, 
and  men  passed  for  more  than  they  were  worth.  *  *  *  *  A  gentle- 
man from  Georgia  had  feared  a  large  ratio  would  introduce  an  oli- 
garchy. But  it  would  be  recollected  that  our  government,  in  its 
head,  was  monarchical.  It  was  useless  to  quarrel  about  words,  for 
such  is  the  fact ;  and.  as  some  writers  say,'  not  the  best  form  of  mo- 
narchy, the  elective  ;  but  on  this  he  would  express  no  opinion.  There 
was  another  body  that  was  oligarchical — the  Senate,  and  an  oligar- 
chy of  the  worst,  for  the  representatives  of  the  State  sovereignties 
were  not  revocable  by  them.  What  would  become  of  the  House  of 
Representatives  if  the  whole  rays  of  Executive  influence  were  to  be 
concentrated  upon  it  ?  It  would  be  consumed,  or,  like  a  diamond 
under  a  lens,  would  evaporate.  Nevertheless,  there  were  dull  speeches 
delivered  in  the  Houses  of  Parliament,  as  well  as  here.  Witness 
those  of  Mr.  Fuller,  or  of  Mr.  Drake.  This  was  one  of  those  cases 
in  which  the  maxim  de  mortuis  nil  nisi  bonum  did  not  hold.  He 
complained  of  the  growth  of  the  contingent  expenses  of  the  House, 


166  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

which  had  been  incurred  for  the  accommodation  of  the  members,  in  a 
profusion  of  stationery,  easy  arm-chairs,  and  a  mass  of  printed  docu- 
ments that  nobody  reads  !  These  accommodations,  like  those  at 
Banks,  did  no  good  to  those  who  made  use  of  them.  He  believed 
that  an  increased  ratio  would  be  one  of  the  means  of  getting  rid  of 
these  incumbrances." 

These  observations  are  worthy  of  most  serious  consideration.  Is 
the  opinion  of  Mr.  Randolph,  an  enlargement  of  the  numbers  of  the 
House  of  Representatives  would,  in  the  end,  produce  an  economy  of 
expenditure  for  their  own  accommodation,  would  reduce  the  chances 
of  executive  influence,  give  a  more  immediate  and  responsible  repre- 
sentation to  the  people,  enlarge  the  field  of  political  interest  in  the 
country,  by  bringing  the  representative  and  the  represented  more 
closely  together,  would  lessen  the  propensity,  and  take  away  the  faci- 
lities for  sectional  combinations  and  partial  and  unconstitutional 
legislation,  more  effectually  call  forth  the  real  talent  and  patriotism 
of  the  House,  and  add  to  the  weight  and  respectability  of  the  States, 
which  are  the  only  opposing  forces  and  counterweights  to  the  strong 
centripetal  tendencies  of  the  Federal  G-overnment.  These  are  results 
greatly  to  be  desired.  The  wisest  men  foresaw  the  dangers  of  too 
small  a  representation.  It  was  a  serious  objection  to  the  Constitu- 
tion. We  have  felt  the  evil  consequences  in  more  ways  than  one. 
Let  the  evil  be  remedied :  reduce  the  army  ;  reduce  the  navy ;  they 
have  almost  become  useless  in  our  vastly-extended  territory  and  com- 
manding position.  Build  no  more  fortifications ;  build  no  more  ships 
but  steam-ships,  and  make  them  useful  as  mail-carriers  and  explorers 
of  unknown  regions.  Abolish  the  land  system  (which  is  expensive), 
and  sell  out  to  the  States  the  public  lands  within  their  respective 
borders.  Collect  no  more  revenue  than  is  needed  for  an  economical 
administration  of  the  government.  Increase  the  representatives  of 
the  people  in  Congress  ;  let  them  avoid  all  doubtful  questions ;  con- 
fine themselves  to  the  few  subjects  of  a  common  interest,  specifically 
delegated,  and  proceed  on  the  maxim,  that  a  "  wise  and  masterly  in- 
activity "  in  the  science  of  legislation,  as  well  as  in  the  practice  of  the 
healing  art,  is  the  truest  evidence  of  wisdom  and  prudence.  When 
these  things  are  done,  then  the  great  danger  so  much  apprehended 
by  our  fathers  need  no  longer  to  be  the  cause  of  uneasiness  to  their 
children,  and  we  may  go  on  adding  State  after  State  until  our  Fede- 
rative Union  shall  overspread  the  whole  continent.  The  truth  is. 


THE  APPORTIONMENT  BILL.  167 

the  addition  of  States  from  different  sections  of  widely-divo/sified  and 
opposing  interests  has  done  more  than  any  thing  else  to  bring  back 
the  action  of  the  government  to  its  legitimate  sphere,  by  diminishing 
the  chances  and  the  desire  of  sectional  combinations. 

Mr.  Randolph's  efforts  were  all  in  vain.  The  ratio  was  fixed  at 
40.000  On  the  6th  of  February,  by  means  of  the  previous  question, 
the  bill  was  carried  by  a  vote  of  nearly  two  to  one,  and  Virginia, 
henceforth,  had  to  take  her  rank,  in  numerical  strength  at  least,  as 
a  second  or  third-rate  State.  Mr.  Randolph  spoke  most  feelingly  on 
the  occasion. 

-  I  confess."  said  he,  "  that  I  have  (and  I  am  not  ashamed  to  own 
it)  an  hereditary  attachment  to  the  State  that  gave  me  birth.  I  shall 
act  upon  it  as  long  as  I  act  upon  this  floor,  or  any  where  else.  I 
shall  feel  it  when  I  am  no  longer  capable  of  acting  any  where.  But 
I  beg  gentlemen  to  bear  in  mind,  if  we  feel  the  throes  and  agonies 
which  they  impute  to  us  at  the  sight  of  our  departing  power,  there  is 
something  in  fallen  greatness,  though  it  be  in  the  person  of  a  despot — 
something  to  enlist  the  passions  and  feelings  of  men,  even  against 
their  reason.  Bonaparte  himself  believed  he  had  those  who  sympa- 
thized with  him.  But  if  such  be  our  condition — if  we  are  really  so 
extremely  sensitive  on  this  subject — do  not  gentlemen  recollect  the 
application  of  another  received  maxim  in  regard  to  sudden,  I  will 
not  say  upstart,  elevation,  that  some  who  are  once  set  on  horseback, 
know  not.  nor  care  not,  which  way  they  ride?  I  am  a  man  of 
peace.  With  Bishop  Hall,  I  take  no  shame  to  myself  for  making 
overtures  of  pacification,  when  I  have  unwittingly  offended.  But, 
sir,  I  cannot  permit,  whatever  liberties  may  be  taken  with  me,  I  can- 
not permit  any  that  may  be  taken  with  the  State  of  Virginia  to  pass 
unnoticed  on  this  floor.  I  hope  the  notice  which  I  shall  always  take 
of  them  will  be  such  as  not  only  becomes  a  member  of  this  House, 
but  the  dignity  of  that  ancient  State." 

While  the  star  of  Virginia  was  in  the  ascendant,  and  her  do- 
minion was  acknowledged  by  all,  her  course  was  one  of  self-sacrifice. 
A  royal  domain  she  surrendered  as  a  peace-offering  to  the  Confede- 
ration :  she  exhausted  her  own  resources  to  fill  the  common  treasury ; 
ever  careful  of  the  rights  of  others,  she  neglected  her  own,  and  stu- 
died more  the  common  welfare  than  her  private  interest.  No  statute 
can  rise  up  and  condemn  her  as  mean  or  selfish,  unjust  or  wasteful. 

Let  those  who  are  now  in  the  ascendant  go  and  do  likewise  ; 
above  all,  let  them  take  care  that  the  maxirn  given  by  Mr.  Randolph 
as  a  warning,  prove  not  prophetic — "  that  some  who"  (by  sudden  ele- 


168  LIFE  °F  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

vation)  ::  are  once   set  on  horseback,  know  not,  nor  care  not,  which 
way  they  ride." 

Next  day  after  the  passage  of  the  bill,  Mr.  Randolph  .thus  writes 
to  his  friend  Brockenbrough. 

Washington,  Thursday,  4  o'clock  p.  M.,  Feb.  7,  1822. 
From  Dudley's  letter,  written  the  day  after  the  event,  I  had  an- 
ticipated the  cause  of  my  not  having  heard  from  you  within  the 
week.  My  good  friend,  "  neither  can  I  write,"  but  for  a  different 
reason.  I  am  now  down,  abraded^  by  long-continued  stretch  of  mind 
and  feeling.  We  may  now  cry  out  "  Ichabod,"  for  our  glory  is  de- 
parted. I  made  last  night  my  final  effort  to  retrieve  our  fortunes, 
and  the  Virginia  delegation  (to  do  them  justice,  sensible  when  too 
late  of  their  error)  did  what  they  could  to  second  me.  I  do  them 
this  justice  with  pleasure,  if  there  was  one  I  did  not  note  the  excep- 
tion. Had  they  supported  me  from  the  first,  we  could  have  carried 

38,000  or  38,500.     S e  of  W e  got  alarmed  at  my  earnest 

deprecation  of  the  conduct  of  the  majority,  of  which  he  was  one, 
and  came  to  me  repeatedly,  and  tried  to  retrace  his  steps.  So  did 
some  others  (i.  e.  "try  back  "),  but  the  mischief  had  gone  too  far  to 
be  remedied.  Our  fathers  have  eaten  grapes,  and  my  teeth,  at  least, 
are  set  on  edge.  I  am  sensible  that  I  have  spoken  too  much,  and 
perhaps  my  friends  at  a  distance  may  think  me  more  faulty  in  this 
respect  than  they  would  do,  had  they  been  on  the  spot — for  since  my 
first  (also  unpublished)  opposition  to  the  "Yazoo  "  bill,  I  have  never 
spoken  with  such  effect  upon  the  House,  as  on  Saturday  last :  a^d 
I  am  certain  by  their  profound  attention  last  night,  that  I  lost  no 
thing  even  with  them  that  divided  against  me,  at  least  the  far  greater 
part  of  them.  If  in  this  I  shall  find  by  the  representation  of  others 
that  my  self-love  has  deceived  me,  I  will  be  more  than  ever  on  my 
guard  against  that  desperately  wicked  and  most  deceitful  of  all 
things,  my  own  heart.  I  pray  you,  therefore,  not  to  have  the  fear  of 
the  Archbishop  of  Grenada  before  your  eyes,  but  tell  me  truly,  if  I 
am  mistaken.  This  you  can  readily  learn  through  Mr.  Ritchie,  to 
whom  please  show  this  letter,  or  through  some  of  our  assembly  men, 
or  others,  who  have  correspondents  here.  I  do  not  want  to  know 
the  source  whence  your  information  comes  ;  nor  yet  am  I  setting  a 
clap-trap,  vain  as  I  am  (for  vanity  I  know  is  imputed  to  me  by  my 
enemies,  and  I  fear  (as  has  been  said)  that  they  come  nearer  the 
truth  of  one's  character  than  our  friends  do),  and  sweet  as  applause 
is,  (Dr.  South  says  of  the  seekers  of  praise,  that  they  search  for 
what  "  flashes  for  a  moment  in  the  face  like  lightning,  and  perhaps 
says  he,  it  hurts  the  man.")  I  fish  for  no  opinion  on  the  character 
of  my  endeavors  to  render  public  service,  except  as  regards  their 
too  frequent  repetition ;  it  is  rather  to  obtain  the  means  of  hereafter 
avoiding  censure  that  this  request  is  made. 


DEPARTURE  FOR  EUROPE.  169 


CHAPTEE     XIX. 

PIXCKNEY,    MARSHALL,    TAZEWELL — DEPARTURE  FOR  EUROPE. 

MONDAY,  the  25th  of  February,  Mr,  Randolph  prematurely  an- 
nounced the  death  of  William  Pinckney,  a  Senator  from  Maryland, 
and  a  distinguished  jurist  and  orator.  He  had  obtained  the  infor- 
mation from  one  of  the  Judges  of  the  Supreme  Court,  who  came  ID 
while  the  House  was  in  session,  and  gave  the  information  to  Mr.  Ran- 
dolph as  coming  from  a  gentleman  of  the  bar,  who  told  him  he  had 
seen  the  corpse.  Mr.  Randolph  immediately  rose  and  pronounced 
the  following  eulogy,  which,  considering  that  it  was  sudden  and  ex 
temporaneous,  is  unsurpassed  in  eloquence: 

He  arose  to  announce  to  the  House  the  death  of  a  man  who  filled 
the  first  place,  in  public  estimation,  in  the  first  profession  in  that  es- 
timation, in  this  or  any  other  country  : — 

'•  We  have  been  talking,"  says  he,  "  of  General  Jackson,  and  a 
greater  rnan  than  he  is  not  here,  but  gone  for  ever !  I  allude,  sir,  to 
the  boast  of  Maryland  and  the  pride  of  the  United  States — the  pride 
of  us  all,  and  particularly  the  pride  and  ornament  of  that  profession 
of  which  you,  Mr.  Speaker  (Stephenson),  are  a  member,  and  an  emi 
nent  one.  He  was  a  man  with  whom  I  lived  when  a  member  of  this 
House,  and  a  new  one  too  ;  and  ever  since  he  left  it  for  the  other — I 
spsak  it  with  pride — in  habits  not  merely  negatively  friendly,  but  of 
kindliness  and  cordiality.  The  last  time  I  saw  him  was  on  Saturday,  the 
last  Saturday  but  one,  in  the  pride  of  life  and  full  possession  and  vigor 
of  all  his  faculties,  in  that  lobby.  He  is  now  gone  to  his  account  (for 
as  the  tree  falls  so  it  must  lie),  where  we  must  all  go — where  I  must 
soon  go,  and  by  the  same  road,  too — the  course  of  nature ;  and  where 
all  of  us,  put  oft7  the  evil  day  as  long  as  we  may,  must  also  soon  go 
For  what  is  the  past  but  a  span  ;  and  which  of  us  can  look  forward  to 
as  many  years  as  we  have  lived  ?  The  last  act  of  intercourse  between 
us  was  an  act,  the  recollection  of  which  I  would  not  be  without  for 
all  the  offices  that  all  the  men  of  the  United  States  have  filled  or  ever 
shall  fill.  He  had,  indeed,  his  faults,  his  foibles  ;•  I  should  rather  say 
sins.  Who  is  without  them?  Let  such,  such  only,  cast  the  first 
stone.  And  these  foibles,  if  you  will,  which  every  body  could  see, 
because  every  body  is  clear-sighted  with  regard  to  the  faults  and  foi- 
bles of  others,  he,  I  have  no  doubt,  would  have  been  the  first  to  ac 
knowledge,  on  a  proper  representation  of  them.  Every  thing  now  is 


170  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

hidden  from  us — not,  God  forbid,  that  utter  darkness  rests  upon  the 
grave,  which,  hideous  as  it  is,  is  lighted,  cheered,  and  warmed  with 
light  from  heaven;  not  the  impious  fire  fabled  to  be  stolen  from 
heaven  by  the  heathen,  but  by  the  Spirit  of  the  living  God,  whom  we 
all  profess  to  worship,  and  whom  I  hope  we  shall  spend  the  remainder 
of  the  day  in  worshipping ;  not  with  mouth  honor,  but  in  our  hearts, 
in  spirit  and  in  truth ;  that  it  may  not  be  said  of  us  also, '  This  people 
draweth  nigh  unto  me  with  their  lips,  but  their  heart  is  far  from  me.7 
Yes,  it  is  just  so ;  he  is  gone.  I  will  not  say  that  our  loss  is  irrepar- 
able, because  such  a  man  as  has  existed  may  exist  again.  There  has 
been  a  Homer,  there  has  been  a  Shakspeare,  there  has  been  a  Mil- 
ton, there  has  been  a  Newton.  There  may  be  another  Pinckney,  but 
there  is  none  new.  And  it  was  to  announce  this  event  that  I  have 
risen.  I  am  almost  inclined  to  believe  in  presentiments.  I  have 
been  all  along,  as  well  assured  of  the  fatal  termination  of  that  disease 
with  which  he  was  afflicted  as  I  am  now ;  and  I  have  dragged  my 
weary  limbs  before  sunrise,  to  the  door  of  his  sick  chamber  (for  I 
would  not  intrude  on  the  sacred  grief  of  the  family),  almost  every 
morning  since  his  illness.  From  the  first,  I  had  almost  no  hope." 

In  these  early  and  pious  visitations  to  the  sick  chamber  of  virtue 
and  genius,  he  was  frequently  accompanied  by  the  Chief  Justice. 
What  a  beautiful  and  touching  tribute  to  the  memory  of  Pinckney. 
that  the  greatest  orator  and  statesman,  and  the  greatest  jurist  of  his 
age,  should  watch  with  so  much  interest  and  tenderness,  the  last  ex- 
piring breath  of  him  who  in  life  had  rivalled  the  one  in  eloquence  and 
the  other  in  profound  learning. 

Though  premature,  the  event  of  Mr.  Pinckney 's  death  soon  fol- 
lowed the  announcement. 

"  Mr.  Pinckney  (says  Randolph  to  a  friend)  breathed  his  last 
about  12  o'clock  (midnight).  The  void  cannot  be  filled.  I  have  not 
slept,  on  an  average,  two  hours,  for  the  last  six  days.  I  have  been 
at  his  lodgings,  more  than  half  a  mile  west  of  mine,  every  day,  by 
sunrise — often  before — and  this  morning  before  daybreak.  I  heard 
from  him  last  night  at  ten,  and  sat  up  (which  I  have  not  done  before 
for  six  weeks)  until  the  very  hour  that  he  expired.  He  died  literally 
in  harness.  To  his  exertions  in  the  Dudley  cause,  and  his  hard  train- 
ing to  meet  Tazewell  in  the  cochineal  case,  as  'tis  called,  may  be  fairly 
ascribed  his  death.  The  void  will  never  be  filled  that  he  has  left 
Tazewell  is  second  to  no  man  that  ever  breathed  ;  but  he  has  taken 
almost  as  much  pains  to  hide  his  light  under  a  bushel  as  P.  did  to 
set  his  on  a  hill.  He  and  the  Great  Lord  Chief  are  in  i\\&ipar-nobik  ,• 
hut  Tazewell.  in  point  of  reputation,  is  far  beyond  both  Pinckney  and 
Marshall." 


DEPARTURE  FOR  EUROPE.  171 

Saturday,  March  9th,  Mr.  Randolph  made  a  speech  of  two  hours, 
against  the  Bankrupt  bill.  Finding  by  a  vote,  to  strike  out  the  enact- 
ing clauses,  that  the  bill  would  pass  by  a  large  majority,  and  that 
being  the  only  remaining  subject  of  importance  before  the  House,  he 
obtained  leave  of  absence  on  Monday,  the  llth,  and  set  out  for  New- 
York,  to  embark  on  board  the  packet  ship  Amity,  for  Liverpool. 

From  '•  on  board  the  steamboat  Nautilus,  under  weigh  to  the 
Amity,  Saturday,  March  16,  1822,"  he  addressed  a  letter  to  his  con- 
stituents :— • 

''  My  friends,  for  such  indeed  you  have  proved  yourselves  to  be, 
through  good  and  through  evil  report,  I  throw  myself  on  your  indul- 
gence, to  which  I  have  never  yet  appealed  in  vain.  It  is  now  just 
five  years  since  the  state  of  my  health  reluctantly  compelled  me  to 
resist  your  solicitations  (backed  by  my  own  wishes)  to  offer  my  ser- 
vices to  your  suffrages.  The  recurrence  of  a  similar  calamity  obligea 
.me  to  retire,  for  a  while,  from  the  field  of  duty. 

"  Should  the  mild  climate  of  France  and  the  change  of  air  restore 
my  health,  you  will  again  find  me  a  candidate  for  your  independent 
suffrages  at  the  next  election  (1823). 

"  I  have  an  especial  desire  to  be  in  that  Congress,  which  will  de- 
cide (probably  by  indirection)  the  character  of  the  executive  gov- 
ernment of  the  Confederation  for,  at  least,  four  years — perhaps  for 
ever  ;  since  now,  for  the  first  time  since  the  institution  of  this  gov- 
ernment, we  have  presented  to  the  people  the  army  candidate  for  the 
presidency,  in  the  person  of  him  who,  judging  from  present  appear- 
ance, will  receive  the  support  of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  also. 
This  is  an  union  of  the  purse  and  sword,  with  a  vengeance — one 
which  even  the  sagacity  of  Patrick  Henry  never  anticipated,  in  this 
shape  at  least.  Let  the  people  look  to  it,  or  they  are  lost  for  ever. 
They  will  fall  into  that  gulf,  which,  under  the  artificial,  military,  and 
paper  systems  of  Europe,  divides  Dives  from  Lazarus,  and  grows 
daily  and  hourly  broader,  deeper,  and  more  appalling.  To  this  state 
of  things  we  are  rapidly  approaching,  under  an  administration,  the 
head  of  which  sits  an  incubus  upon  the  State,  while  the  lieutenants 
of  this  new  Mayor  of  the  palace  are  already  contending  for  the  suc- 
cession ;  and  their  retainers  and  adherents  are  with  difficulty  kept 
from  coming  to  blows,  even  on  the  floor  of  Congress.  We  are  arrived 
at  that  pitch  of  degeneracy  when  the  mere  lust  of  power,  the  reten- 
tion of  place  and  patronage,  can  prevail,  not  only  over  every  consid- 
eration of  public  duty,  but  stifle  the  suggestions  of  personal  honor, 
which  even  the  ministers  of  the  decayed  governments  of  Europe 
have  not  yet  learned  entirely  to  disregard." 

32 


172  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

From  the  same  steamboat,  Nautilus,  he  addressed  the  following 
note  to  Dr.  Brockenbrough. 

"  As  I  stepped  into  the  Nautilus,  a  large  packet  from  Washington, 
among  which  was  yours  inclosing  '  Uncle  Nat's'  letter,  was  put  into 
my  hands. 

"  The  '  Native  of  Virginia'  is  indiscreet  in  covering  too  much 
ground.  He  ought  to  have  darned  and  patched  old  Tom's  Mantle, 
and  fought  behind  it  as  a  Telemonian  shield. 

"  Add  to  my  P.  S.  in  the  address  to  my  constituents,  that  letters, 
via  New-York,  to  the  care  of  the  P.  Master,  will  reach  me.  My  ad- 
dress is,  care  of  John  &  Wm.  Grilliatt,  London,  until  further  notice. 
I  am  nearing  the  Amity.  Farewell !  farewell !" 


CHAPTER    XX. 

« 

THE  VOYAGE. 

A'-TER  the  Amity  had  gotten  fairly  under  way,  and  the  passengers 
somewhat  acquainted  with  each  other,  they  sought,  by  various  amuse- 
ments, to  relieve  the  tedium  of  their  voyage.  Whist  was  a  favorite 
game  on  board ;  and  here  Mr.  Randolph  soon  proved  his  superiority 
as  a  player.  It  became  a  contest  each  night,  who  should  have  him  as 
a  partner,  and  finally  they  took  turns. 

I  observed,  one  morning,  says  Mr.  Jacob  Harvey,  of  New- York, 
to  whom  we  are  indebted  for  the  incidents  of  this  voyage,  that  Mr. 
Randolph  was  examining  a  very  large  box  of  books,  containing  enough 
to  keep  him  busy  reading  during  a  voyage  round  the  world.  I  asked 
him  why  he  had  brought  so  many  with  him ?  "I  want  to  have  then? 
bound  in  England,  sir,"  replied  he.  "Bound  in  England!"  ex- 
claimed I,  laughing,  "  why  did  you  not  send  them  to  New-York  or 
Boston,  where  you  can  get  them  done  cheaper?" 

"  What,  sir,"  replied  he  sharply,  "  patronize  some  of  our  Yankee 
taskmasters  ;  those  patriotic  gentry,  who  have  caused  such  a  heavy 
duty  to  be  imposed  upon  foreign  books?  Never,  sir,  never;  I  will 
neither  wear  what  they  make,  nor  eat  what  they  raise,  so  long  as  my 


THE  VQ.YAGE.  173 

tobacco  crop  will  enable  me  to  get  supplies  from  old  England  ;  and 
I  shall  employ  John  Bull  to  bind  my  books,  until  the  time  arrives 
when  they  can  be  properly  done  South  of  Mason  and  Dixorts  line!'1 
He  was  kind  enough  to  offer  me  the  use  of  them,  saying :  "  Take  my 
advice,  and  don't  read  any  of  the  novels  ;  and  when  you  get  home,  sir, 
tell  your  father  that  /  recommended  abstinence  from  novel  reading 
and  whisky  punch.  Depend  upon  it,  sir,  they  are  both  equally  in- ' 
jurious  to  the  brain  /" 

His  favorite  author  was  Milton,  and  he  frequently  gave  us  read- 
ings from  "  Paradise  Lost,"  stopping  occasionally  to  point  out  the 
beauties  of  the  poem.  Young,  Thomson,  Johnson,  and  Southey,  did 
not  please  his  taste  ;  they  were,  he  said,  "  too  artificial."  But  his 
classification  of  modern  poems  was  very  original. 

"  Sir,  I  place  first  on  this  list,  Tom  Crib's  Memorial  to  Congress,  for 
its  great  wit  and  satire ;  next,  the  Two  Penny  Post  Boy,  for  similar 
excellencies;  and  third,  Childe  Harold's  Pilgrimage,  for  every  variety 
of  sentiment,  well  expressed.  But,  sir  (no  offence  to  Ireland),  I  can't 
go  Moore's  songs ;  they  are  too  sentimental  by  half ;  all  ideal  and 
above  nature." 

Turning  over  his  books  one  day,  I  was  surprised  to  find  a  copy  of 
:;  Fanny,"  Mr.  Halleck's  very  clever  satirical  poem,  which  had  been 
recently  published.  "  I  am  glad,"  said  I,  "  that  you  do  not  proscribe 
Yankee  poetry  as  well  as  Yankee  codfish." 

(i  0  no,  sir,"  replied  he,  "I  always  admire  talent,  no  matter  where 
it  comes  from  •  and  I  consider  this  little  work  as  the  best  specimen 
of  American  poetry  that  we  have  yet  seen.  I  am  proud  of  it,  sir ; 
and  I  mean  to  take  it  to  London  with  me,  and  to  present  it  to  that 
lady  whose  talents  and  conversation  I  shall  most  admire." 

I  may  mention  here,  although  somewhat  out  of  place,  that  when  we 
met  in  London  in  June  following,  I  suddenly  recollected  the  circum- 
stance, and  said  to  him:  "By  the  way,  Mr.  Randolph,  to  whom  did 
you  present '  Fanny  ?' n 

"To  your  countrywoman,  Miss  Edgeworth,  sir :  she  has  no  com- 
petitor in  my  estimation.  She  fairly  won  the  book,  sir." 

He  proposed,  one  fine  morning,  to  read  Fanny  to  me  aloud,  and 
on  deck,  where  we  were  enjoying  a  fine  breeze  and  noonday  sun.  It 
was  the  most  amusing  "  reading"  I  ever  listened  to.  The  notes  were 
much  longer  than  the  poem  ;  for,  whenever  he  came  to  a  well-known 


174  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

name,  up  went  his  spectacles  and  down  went  the  book,  and  he  branch 
ed  off  into  some  anecdote  of  the  person  or  of  his  family.  Thus  we 
"  progressed"  slowly  from  page  to  page,  and  it  actually  consumed 
three  mornings  before  we  reached — 

"  And  music  ceases  when  it  rains 

In  Scudder's  balcony." 
I 

I  was  one  morning  looking  over  his  books  for  my  own  amusement, 
and  observed  that  several  of  the  prettiest  editions  were  marked 
"  This  for  Miss " 

"  How  is  this  ?"  said  I ;  "  some  fair  lady  seems  to  have  enchained 
you." 

"  Ah,"  replied  he,  "  if  you  only  knew  her,  the  sweetest  girl  in  the 
'  Ancient  Dominion,'  and  a  particular  favorite  of  mine,  sir ;  I  shall 
have  all  these  books  beautifully  bound  in  London,  sir,  fit  to  grace 
her  centre-table  on  my  return." 

I  took  up  one  of  them,  a  volume  of  old  plays,  and  after  reading 
a  few  pages,  exclaimed:  "  Surely  you  have  not  read  these  plays 
lately,  Mr.  Randolph,  or  you  would  not  present  this  book  to  Miss 
;  it  is  too  lascivious  for  her  eyes." 

He  immediately  ran  his  eye  over  the  page ;  then  took  the  book 
out  of  my  hands,  and  immediately  indorsed  on  the  back  "  not  fit  for 
Bet."  Then,  turning  to  me,  he  said  with  warmth  : 

"  You  have  done  me  an  infinite  service,  sir.  I  would  not  for 
worlds  do  aught  to  sully  the  purity  of  that  girl's  mind.  I  had  for- 
gotten those  plays,  sir,  or  they  would  not  have  found  a  place  in  my 
box.  I  abominate  as  much  as  you  do,  sir,  that  vile  style  of  writing 
which  is  intended  to  lessen  our  abhorrence  of  vice,  and  throw  ridi- 
cule on  virtuous  conduct.  You  have  given  me  the  hint,  sir.  Come, 
assist  me  in  looking  over  all  these  books,  lest  some  other  black  sheep 
may  have  found  its  way  into  the  flock." 

We  accordingly  went  through  the  whole  box,  but  found  no  other 
volume  deserving  of  condemnation,  much  to  Randolph's  satisfaction. 
He  then  presented  me  with  several  books,  as  keepsakes;  and  he 
wanted  to  add  several  more,  but  I  had  to  decline  positively.  His 
generosity  knew  no  bounds ;  and  had  I  been  avaricious  of  mental 
food,  I  might  have  become  possessed  of  half  his  travelling  library. 

On  the  5th  of  April,  we  landed  about  noon.     The  wind  had 


THE  VOYAGE.  175 

changed  since  Randolph  predicted  that  we  would  strike  l  Sligo  Head] 
and  we  first  saw  the  high  mountains  of  Donegal.  The  atmosphere 
was  beautifully  clear,  and  we  ran  along  the  coast  near  enough  to  see 
the  houses,  &c.  Towards  night  Randolph  said  to  me : 

•:  Well,  sir,  I  now  believe  the  anecdote  related  by  Arthur  Young. 
In  his  notes  on  Ireland  he  says,  that  one  day  a  farmer  took  his  son, 
a  young  boy,  some  distance  from  home,  in  the  county  Meath.  They 
came  to  a  tree ;  the  boy  was  astonished,  stopped,  and  asked,  {  Father, 
what  is  that?'  never  having  seen  one  before.  Here  have  we  been 
sailing  along  the  Irish  coast  for  a  whole  day,  and  not  a  single  tree 
have  I  yet  seen  !" 

It  was  too  true.  Barren  are  the  mountains  of  Donegal,  no  treos 
are  to  be  seen ;  and  it  is  no  wonder  that  an  American  should  be 
struck  with  astonishment,  just  arriving  from  his  own  well-wooded 
shores. 

The  moon  was  shining  brightly  when  we  came  up  with  the  island 
of  "  Rathlin,"  or  "  Raghery ;"  but  the  tide  ran  so  strongly  against  us 
we  passed  it  very  slowly,  notwithstanding  we  had  a  stiff  breeze  in  our 
favor.  As  Mr.  Randolph  gazed  upon  its  rugged  shore,  he  said  : 

"  That  island  I  have  wished  much  to  see,  sir.  I  suppose  that 
you  are  aware  that  its  inhabitants  are  a  most  peculiar  race.  They 
look  down  with  contempt  upon  the  '  Continent]  as  they  call  Ireland 
(only  three  miles  distant) ;  and  the  greatest  curse  known  to  them  is, 
'  May  Ireland  be  your  latter  end.'  They  have  their  own  laws  and 
usages;  intermarrying  among  themselves;  pay  great  deference  to 
their  landlord  and  priest ;  smuggle  a  little  for  an  honest  livelihood ; 
and  the  severest  punishment  practised  among  them  is,  banishment  to 
Ireland  /" 

Next  day  we  ran  down  the  Channel,  passing  and  meeting  hun 
drecls  of  vessels,  from  the  stately  Indiaman  to  the  small  fishing- 
smack.  The  American  vessels  were  easily  discovered  from  the  Brit- 
ish, by  their  ivhite  canvas,  bright  eides,  and  sharp  bows.  It  was  a 
very  exciting  scene,  and  Randolph  was  in  fine  spirits.  The  sight  of 
Old  England  brought  back  the  "  olden  time  "  to  his  memory,  and  he 
shed  tears  of  delight. 

"  Thank  G-od,"  exclaimed  he,  « that  I  have  lived  to  behold  the 
land  of  Shakspeare,  of  Milton,  of  my  forefathers  !  May  her  greatness 
increase  through  all  time  !" 


176  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

It  was  past  eleven  o'clock  at  night  when  we  reached  the  dock,  and 
we  remained  on  board  till  next  morning.  Before  parting.  Randolph 
said  to  me,  "  I  do  not  wish  you  to  tell  any  one  that  I  am  here.  I  do 
not  covet  any  attentions,  at  present,  sir.  I  have  come  to  England 
to  see,  and  iwt  to  be  seen;  to  hear,  and  not  to  be  heard.  I  don't 
want  to  be  made  a  lion  of,  sir.  You  understand  me.  I  have  formed 
a  friendship  for  you,  which  I  hope  will  be  continued,  sir  ;  and  when 
you  come  to  London,  you  must  instantly  inform  me  of  your  arrival ; 
there  is  my  address,  sir.  God  bless  you ;  and  remember  you  tell 
your  father  not  to  give  you  ivhisky  punch  or  novels}'' 

LONDON,  May  27th,  1822.    Mon<la}r. 

MY  DEAR  BET  :  On  Saturday  I  had  the  pleasure  to  receive  your 
letter  of  the  10th  of  last  month;  and  a  great  one  it  was  ;  for,  altho' 
I  took  somewhat  of  a  French  leave  of  you,  I  do  assure  you,  my  dear, 
that  "  my  thoughts,  too,  were  with  you  on  the  ocean."  Among  my 
treasures  I  brought  a  packet,  containing  all  the  letters  I  have  ever 
received  from  you ;  and  the  reading  over  these,  and  talking  of  you  to 
a  young  Irish  gentleman,  whose  acquaintance  I  happened  to  make 
on  board  the  steamboat,  was  the  chief  solace  of  my  voyage.  It  was  a 
short  one,  although  a  part  of  it  was  somewhat  boisterous,  and  the 
press  of  sail  carried  by  our  ships  (the  packets  more  especially),  when 
those  of  other  nations  are  under  reefed  and  double-reefed  topsails, 
exposes  them  to  greater  danger,  while  it  shortens  their  voyage ;  and 
yet,  such  is  the  skill  of  our  seamen,  that  insurance  is  no  higher  upon 
our  bottoms  than  upon  European  ones.  Indeed,  our  voyages  remind- 
ed me  of  our  tobacco  crop.  You  see  I  can't  "  sink  the  tailor."  The 
vessel  is  out  so  short  a  time  that  she  avoids  many  dangers  to  which 
dull  sailers  are  exposed. 

We  made  the  coast  of  Ireland  at  noon  on  Good  Friday,  and  at 
twelre  on  the  following  night  we  were  safe  in  the  Regent's  Dock,  in 
Liverpool.  When  you  consider  that  we  had  to  come  the  North  Pas- 
sage (that  is,  between  the  coast  of  Ireland  and  Scotland),  and  crooked 
as  our  path  was,  to  go  out  of  our  way  to  Holyhead  for  a  pilot,  it  was 
an  astonishing  run.  The  first  land  we  made  in  Ireland  was  Runar- 
dallah  (liquid  n,  as  in  Spanish),  or  the  Bloody  Foreland,  bearing  on 
our  lee  (starboard),  bore  S.  S.  E.  6  leagues — an  ominous  name..  Fal- 
coner's beautiful  poem,  The  Shipwreck,  will  render  you  mistress  of 
the  sea-phrases.  The  coast  of  Donegal,  far  as  the  eye  can  reach,  is 
lonely,  desolate,  and  naked ;  not  a  tree  to  be  seen,  and  a  single  Mar- 
tello  tower  the  only  evidence  that  it  was  the  dwelling-place  of  man 
Not  even  a  sail  was  in  sight ;  and  I  felt  a  sensation  of  sadness  and 
desolation,  for  we  seemed  more  forsaken  and  abandoned  than  when 
surrounded  only  by  the  world  of  waters.  This  is  the  coast  to  which 


THE  VOYAGE.  177 

our  honest  American  (naturalized)  merchants  smuggle  tobacco,  when 
piracy  under  Arligan  colors  or  the  slave-trade  is  dull.  Tory  island 
rises  like  the  ruins  of  some  gigantic  castle,  out  of  the  sea.  I  presume 
that  it  is  basaltic,  like  the  Giant's  Causeway,  of  which  we  could  not  get 
a  distinct  view ;  but  Fairhead  amply  compensated  us.  I  must  not  for- 
get, however,  the  beautiful  revolving  light  of  Ennistra  Hull,  which 
at  regular  intervals  of  time  broke  upon  us  like  a  brilliant  meteor,  and 
then  died  away ;  while  that  on  the  Mull  of  Con  tire  (mistaken  by  our 
captain,  who  had  never  gone  the  North  Passage  before,  for  Rachlin, 
or  Rahery,  as  the  Irish  call  it)  was  barely  visible.  It  is  a  fixed  light, 
and  a  very  bad  one.  After  passing  Fairhead,  I  "  turned  in,"  and  was 
called  up  at  dawn  to  see  Ailsa  Craig,  which  our  captain  maintained 
would  be  too  far  distant  to  be  seen  in  our  course,  while  I  as  stoutly  de- 
clared we  must  see  it  if  we  had1  light.  And  here,  by  the  way,  my 
dear,  I  found  my  knowledge  of  geography  always  gave  me  the  advan- 
tage over  my  companions,  and  rendered  every  object  doubly  interest- 
ing. The  Irish  Channel  swarmed  with  shipping,  and  as  we  "  near- 
ed"  the  Isle  of  Man,  and  her  Calf,  I  looked  out  for  Dirck  Hatteraick 
and  his  lugger.  We  hugged  the  Irish  shore — Port  Patrick,  a  nice 
little  white  town  on  our  right ;  but  the  green  hills  of  Erin  were  as 
41  brown  as  a  berry."  When  we  came  in  sight  of  the  entrance  into 
Strangford  Lock,  I  longed  to  go  ashore  and  see  Mrs.  Cunningham,  at 
Dundruni.  Tell  this  to  my  friend  Ed.  C.,  and  give  my  love  to  Mrs. 
Ariana,  and  the  whole  firm.  Holy  head  is  a  fine  object ;  so  is  the 
Isle  of  Anglesea.  At  the  first  glance  I  recognized  the  Parry's  Mine 
mountain,  with  Lord  Grosvenor's  copper  treasures ;  and  Gray's  Bard 
rushed  into  my  mind  at  the  sight  of  the  Carnarvonshire  hills,  with 
Snowdon  overtopping  them  all — still,  not  a  tree  to  be  seen.  The  fields 
of  Man  are  divided  by  stone  "  march-dykes,"  and  the  houses  are 
without  shade,  or  shelter  from  the  bleak  easterly  winds.  The  float- 
ing light  off  Hoyle-sands,  which  we  passed  with  the  speed  of  a  race- 
horse— a  strong  current  and  stiff  breeze  in  our  favor — was  a  most 
striking  object.  One  view  of  it  represented  a  clergyman  preaching 
by  candlelight,  the  centre  light  being  the  head ;  and  the  two  others 
gave  a  lively  picture  of  impassiored  gesture  of  the  arms,  as  they 
were  tossed  up  and  down. 

Although  our  pilot,  and  the  captain  too,  declared  the  thing  to  be 
impossible,  we  did  get  "  round  the  rock,"  and  passing  a  forest  of 
masts  in  the  Mersey,  were  safely  moored  at  quarter-past  twelve,  in 
the  dock,  where  ships  are  put  away  under  lock  and  key,  like  books  in 
a  book-case. 

After  a  very  sound  and  refreshing  sleep,  I  rose  and  went  ashore, 
in  search  of  breakfast — for  not  a  spark  of  fire,  not  even  a  candle  or 
lamp,  can  be  brought  into  the  dock,  on  any  pretext  whatsoever.  At 
the  landward  gate  I  stopped,  expecting  to  be  searched,  but  the  guard 


^78  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

did  not  even  make  his  appearance ;  so  on  I  passed  with  little  3  em.  a 
wicked  dog  of  a  cabin-boy,  carrying  my  bundle,  to  the  King's  Arms, 
in  Castle  street ;  but  I  had  hardly  commenced  my  breakfast,  when 
the  femme  d'affaires,  in  the  person  of  a  strapping  Welsh  wench,  who 
had  tried  before  to  put  me  up  two  pair  of  stairs,  entered  the  room, 
and  with  well  dissembled  dismay  "  begged  my  pardon,  but  the  room  was 
engaged  (it  was  the  best  in  the  house)  for  the  Lord  Bishop  of  the  Isle 
of  Man,  and  the — the — the  Dean  of — of  Canterbury."  Here  again  my 
knowledge  of  England,  to  say  nothing  of  innkeepers,  stood  me  in  good 
stead.  I  coolly  replied  that  they  would  hardly  arrive  before  1  had 
finished  breakfast,  and  requested  to  see  her  master  or  mistress,  as  the 
case  might  be.  "  Mrs.  Jones  was  sick,"  but  her  niece  would  wait  on 
me.  She  came  in  the  person  of  a  pretty  young  married  woman  ;  and 
now  the  tale  varied  to  "  the  room  being  engaged  for  a  family  daily  ex- 
pected." "  The  name  ?"  "  The  name  had  not  been  given — was  very 
sorry  for  the  mistake,"  &c.  "  Mistakes,  madam,  must  be  rectified  ; 
as  soon  as  this  nameless  family  arrives,  I  will  make  my  bow  and  give 
up  the  parlor."  "  Very  handsome,  and  very  genteel,  and  a  thousand 
thanks" — and  a  courtesy  at  every  word.  Next  day,  the  arrival  of  a 
regiment  from  Ireland  unlocked  the  whole  mystery.  The  room  was 
wanted  for  the  officers.  And  here,  my  dear,  I  am  sorry  to  say  that, 
except  by  cross-examination,  I  have  not  obtained  a  word  of  truth 
from  any  of  the  lower  orders  in  this  country.  I  think  that  in  this 
respect,  as  well  as  in  honesty,  our  slaves  greatly  excel  them.  In  ur- 
banity they  are  also  far  superior.  Now,  don't  you  tell  this  to  any 
body — not  even  to  your  father — but  keep  the  fact  to  yourself,  for  a 
reason  that  I  will  communicate  to  you  when  I  see  you ;  and  a  very 
important  one  it  is. 

After  receiving  every  civility  from  the  collector,  Mr.  Swainson, 
and  from  my  countrymen,  Mr.  James  King,  Mr.  Maury,  and  Mr. 
Haggerty,  and  seeing  the  docks,  and  the  Islington  market,  I  was  im- 
patient to  leave  Liverpool,  which  bears  the  impress  of  trade  upon  it, 
and  is,  of  course,  as  dull  as  dull  can  be.  The  market  is  of  new  erec- 
tion, and  I  believe  altogether  unique — far  surpassing  even  that  of 
Philadelphia,  not  only  in  the  arrangement  (which  is  that  of  a  square, 
roofed,  well  lighted,  and  unencumbered  with  carts,  and  unannoyed 
by  a  public  street  on  each  side  of  it),  but  in  the  variety  and  delicacy 
of  its  provisions.  Here,  for  the  first  time,  I  saw  a  turbot,  and  Mr. 
King  bought  half  a  one  for  our  dinner,  for  which  he  paid  half  a 
guinea.  The  variety  and  profesion  of  the  vegetables,  and  the  neat, 
rosy-cheeked  "  Lancashire  witches,"  that  sprinkled  them  with  water 
to  keep  them  fresh,  who  were  critically  clean  in  their  dress  and  per- 
sons, was  a  most  delightful  spectacle.  Whatever  you  buy  is  taken 
home  for  you  by  women  whose  vocation  it  is  ;  and  Mr.  King's  house 
is  two  miles  off,  at  the  beautiful  village  of  Everton.  commanding  a 


THE  VOYAGE.  179 

fine  view  of  the  Mersey  and  the  opposite  coast  of  Cheshire.  For  a 
full  account  of  Liverpool,  sec  its  "  Picture,"  at  Roanoke,  where  you 
will  find,  if  you  have  them  not,  the  other  books  referred  to  in  this  let- 
ter, and  I  shall  write,  by  this  packet,  to  Leigh,  to  send  them  to  you. 
The  packets  sail  with  the  punctuality  of  stage-coaches,  and  arrive  al- 
most as  regularly.  The  Albion  formed  the  first  and  most  melan- 
cholly  exception.  We  were  long  kept  in  painful  suspense  respecting 
the  names  of  the  passengers.  I  was  afraid  that  my  unfortunate 
friend  Tubceuf  was  one  of  the  "five  Frenchmen."  The  Mr.  Clark, 
and  lady,  I  take  for  granted  is  an  old  acquaintance,  G-eorge  Clark,  of 
Albany,  son  of  a  former  royal  governor  of  New-York,  and  a  man  of 
very  large  estate,  returning  with  his  wife  to  England,  after  fifteen  or 
twenty  years'  absence.  Dupont  may  be  another  very  old  acquaint- 
ance, whom  I  knew  thirty-four  years  ago  in  New-York,  and  saw  in 
Charleston  in  1796,  and  a  few  months  ago  in  Washington.  His 

name  is  Victor  Dupont,  son  of  D de  Nemours,  and  brother  of 

Irenee  D.  They  have  a  large  powder  and  woollen  manufactory  on 
the  Brandywine,  in  Delaware.  Tubceuf,  I  see,  had  not  left  the  U.  S. 
Both  he  and  Dupont  told  me  they  were  about  to  cross  the  Atlantic. 
The  history  of  the  former  is  the  "  romance  of  real  life."  In  educa- 
tion and  feeling,  he  is  more  than  half  a  Virginian.  His  father  was 
killed  by  the  Indians  when  he  was  a  child,  and  he  knows  the  rifle, 
hunting-shirt,  and  moccasons.  His  father  was  the  friend  of  my  near 
and  dear  relative,  Jack  Banister,  of  Battersea.  When  Tuboeuf  1'aine 
arrived  at  City  Point  he  found  his  young  friend  had  been  dead  sev- 
eral years.  This  connection  determined  him  to  Virginia,  and  he  went 
out  to  the  Holston  country,  where  he  was  killed,  and  where  the  son 
lived  until  manhood.  But  I  shall  never  get  off  from  Liverpool. 

On  Wednesday  morning,  April  10th,  I  set  out  alone,  in  a  post- 
chaise  ;  and  now  you  must  take  an  extract  from  my  "  log-book." 

Verdure  beautiful ;  moss  on  youngest  trees  shows  dampness  of 
climate.  Dr.  Solomon  and  Gilead  House.  The  Doctor  dead,  but 
quackery  is  immortal.  Highfield,  the  seat  of  Mrs.  Parke,  on  the 
right ;  very  fine  object.  Around  Liverpool,  in  their  fine  pastures,  I 
saw  the  most  wretched  looking  horses,  and  even  cows — not  a  good 
horse  in  the  town.  To  Prescot,  with  a  fine  view  of  Knowsley  Park, 
and  a  glimpse  of  the  house.  Legs  of  Man,  (the  arms  of  the  Isle  of 
Man  are  three  legs,  and  the  Stanleys,  Earls  of  Derby,  were  lords  of 
Man,  as  Shakspeare  will  tell  you,  Hen.  VI.)  The  park-keeper  in  the 
kitchen — send  for  him  and  talk  about  the  horses ;  all  in  training  on 
Delamere  forest,  except  old  Milo  and  one  other.  The  Earl  and  Count- 
ess in  town,  (this  always  means  London  Karegoxrjv.  Mr.  Gr.  will  deci- 
pher and  translate  my  Greek  for  you.)  So  is  Lord  Stanley,  the 
Earl's  eldest  son,  who  represents  the  county  in  Parliament.  Cross 
the  Sankey  canal,  the  first  Executed  in  England.  Soon  after,  pass 


130  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

under  the  Bridgewater  canal.  To  Warrington,  Nag's  Head  ;  cross 
the  Mersey,  and  enter  Cheshire.  At  High  Leigh,  West  Hall,  Eger- 
ton  Leigh,  Esq.,  (the  road-book  falsely  places  this  seat  beyond  Knuts- 
ford),  and  High  Leigh  (or  East)  Hall,  Geo.  Leigh,  Esq.  See  Debrett's 
Baronetage.  At  Mere,  which,  as  the  name  imports,  is  a  beautiful 
sheet  of  natural  water,  too  small  to  be  dignified  with  the  name  of 
lake,  but  large  enough  to  be  quite  rough  with  the  wind,  I  came  to 
the  first  descent  that  could  be  called  a  hill ;  for  although  hills  and 
mountains  too  were  in  sight  all  around  me,  the  roads  are  conducted 
on  a  level.  On  the  right  is  Mere  Hall,  Peter  L.  Brooke,  Esq.,  a  fine 
seat.  I  ought  to  mention  that  all  the  seats  are  embosomed  in  fine 
woods.  There  were  some  noble  pines  at  High  Leigh,  which  a  Vir- 
ginian overseer  would  soon  have  down  for  tobacco  sticks.  The  houses 
of  the  poorest  people  are  adorned  with  honeysuckles,  and  have  flower 
pots  in  the  windows,  with  geraniums,  &c.  Dear  Mrs.  Bell,  I  thought 
of  her  at  every  step ;  and,  by  the  way,  Mr.  G.  writes  that  she  was  in 
Richmond  on  the  26th,  and  well,  although  he  does  not  say  a  word  of 
a  certain  E.  T.  C.,  or,  indeed,  any  body  else  but  the  Brockenbro's, 
and  to  them  he  allows  not  quite  a  line.  His  letter  of  a  page  and  a 
half  is  most  provokingly  concise.  What  there  is  of  it  is  horribly 
stuffed  with  epithets  of  war,  and  what  not,  about  "  Fox,  and  Burke, 
and  Pitt,  and  Brutus,  and  Cassius,  and  Junius,  and  Rome ;"  descend- 
ing by  regular  anti-climax  to  "  Russia,  and  Poletica,  and  Adams." 
Pray  tell  him  from  me,  that  I  could  hardly  have  expected  much 
worse  even  from  Mr.  Walsh,  if  I  had  the  misfortune  to  be  afflicted 
with  his  correspondence.  And  I  had  rather  have  heard  of  old  Aggy 
than  all  those  fine  ancients  and  would-be-fine  moderns.  Now,  this  from 
Frank  G.,  who  can  write  so  well,  and  so  much  to  the  purpose,  is  too 
bad.  I  assure  you,  reading  the  result  of  the  election  of  Ned  Mayo,  in 
Henrico,  was  more  interesting. 

Before  reaching  Knutsford,  I  travelled  along  the  huge,  high  wall 
of  Tatton  Park,  twelve  miles  in  circumference.  It  extends  to  the 
very  town.  Dine  at  Knutsford,  and  drive  into  the  park  ;  superb  do- 
main ;  fine  sheet  of  water  on  the  right,  with  a  view  of  the  Lancashire 
hills,  about  Worsley.  For  the  sixth  time  to-day  it  snowed.  Re- 
turned, and  struck  off  from  the  London  road,  to  Northwich,  to  see 
the  mines  of  fossil  salt. 

On  the  right  of  Northwich  is  the  seat,  and  a  very  fine  one  it  is, 
of  Sir  John  Stanley,  who  married  the  eldest  daughter  of  Gibbon's 
friend.  Lord  Sheffield.  I  felt  when  I  saw  him  at  Chester,  as  if  he 
was  an  old  acquaintance.  He  was  foreman  of  the  grand  jury,  and 
had  his  hands  full  of  business,  for  there  were  seventy  felons  against 
whom  bills  were  preferred.  I  breakfasted  at  a  small  inn,  at  Sandy- 
way  head,  having  passed  through  a  road  of  heavy  and  deep  sand, 
with  considerable  hills.  But  before  reaching  S.  H.,  I  made  the 


THE  VOYAGE. 

postillion  drive  through  Vale  Royal  Park,  the  proprietor  of  which, 
Thomas  Cholmondeley,  Esq.,  is  one  of  the  new  coronation  peers,  by 
the  title  of  Lord  Delamere.  With  the  names  and  proprietors  of  all 
these  places  I  was  as  familiarly  acquainted  as  if  I  had  lived  all  my 
life  in  the  palatinate.  Nothing  can  be  more  beautiful  than  these 
parks.  Here  I  saw  that  rara  avis  (rare  bird)  the  black  swan,  in 
company  with  white  ones.  I  drove  about  two  miles  and  a  half  before 
I  reached  the  house,  when  I  caused  the  postillion  to  return.  There 
was  no  fear  of  disturbing  the  family,  although  his  lordship  had  re- 
turned from  town  the  day  preceding,  for  it  was  only  six  o'clock,  and 
the  great  in  England  seldom  leave  their  beds  before  noon.  The 
whole  establishment,  although  not  so  great  as  Tatton,  is  princely.  I 
told  the  keepers  of  the  lodges,  who  were  very  grateful  for  their  shil- 
lings, to  tell  Lord  D.,  if  he  asked,  that  a  foreign  gentleman  travelling 
for  his  health  had  taken  the  liberty  to  drive  through  his  beautiful 
grounds.  Over  Delamere  forest,  a  rough,  barren  tract,  for  eight 
miles.  Very  likely  government  have  inclosed  and  planted  it,  for  the 
-  forest"  contained  not  a  tree  or  shrub ;  and  individuals  also  have 
done  much  in  this  way.  At  present  the  trees  are  almost  knee  high. 
At  Kelsah  we  leave  the  forest  and  emerge  into  the  rich  pastures  and 
meadows  of  Cheshire.  To  Chester — the  Albion  hotel;  drive  to 
Eaton  Hall,  Lord  Grosvenor's ;  return — dine ;  misconduct  of  inn- 
keeper, who  put  me  into  his  own  filthy  bed-chamber ;  (town  full,  it 
being  assize  time).  Remove  to  the  Royal  hotel ;  visit  the  cathedral, 
"  and  let  my  due  feet  never  fail  to  walk  the  studious  cloisters  pale," 
&c.  At  every  turn  since  I  came  from  Liverpool,  I  have  been  break- 
ing out  into  quotations  from  Milton  and  Shakspeare.  Bad  Latin  in 
a  bishop  ;  epitaph ;  and  worse  scholars  in  the  Royal  School.  None 
of  the  boys  could  give  the  Latin  of  their  coronation  banner,  and  I 
offered  half  a  guinea  to  him  who  would  complete  the  following  lines  : 
"  Vir  bonus  est  quis  ?  Qui  consulta  patruum,  qui," — and  translate 
them.  Only  one  boy  could  supply  "  leges  juraque  servat,"  and  he  be- 
gan "  Vir  bonus  est  quis" — "  He  is  a  good  man" — so 'I  took  up  my 
half  guinea  and  walked  out,  thinking  of  Mr.  Brougham  and  his  bill. 
To  the  Castle — here  two  boys  arraigned  for  robbery. 

Saturday — through  Eaton  Park ;  see  the  horses  and  grounds,  and 
pheasants,  and  hares,  and  deer,  and  stables — in  comparison  with 
which  last,  the  finest  house  I  ever  saw  in  America  is  a  mere  hovel. 
(I  except  the  public  buildings  at  Washington,  and  the  Bank  of  Penn- 
sylvania.) To  Wrcxham,  in  Wales,  which  principality  I  entered  six 
miles  from  Chester.  Near  W.,  on  the  left,  is  a  magnificent  entrance 
into  Acton  Park,  Sir  Foster  Cunliffe's,  with  greyhounds,  in  stone,  on 
the  gates.  Cross  the  Dee,  to  Overton,  eight  miles.  The  beauty  of 
this  country  throws  all  that  I  have  seen  before  or  since  into  the 
shade.  Nothing  can  be  imagined  finer.  The  village  of  Overton  is  a 


182  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

perfect  paradise,  and  the  vale  of  Dee  is  more  like  fairy-land  than  real 
earth  and  water.  Mr.  Price's  seat,  at  Bryxypys,  surpasses  all  I  have 
seen  yet.  To  Ellesmere — Bridgewater  arms.  The  Earl  of  B.  has  a 
great  estate  here.  The  mere  very  beautiful.  Dine,  and  go  on  to 
Shrewsbury.  Country  changes,  and  becomes  comparatively  ugly. 
To  the  Lion  inn,  at  Shrewsbury.  Sunday — drive  through  a  lovely 
country,  to  Battlefield  church,  five  miles,  on  the  very  site  of  the  bat- 
tle ground  where  Harry  Percy's  spur  became  cold ;  mound  of  the 
slain.  Parish  clerk  and  wife  true  English  cottagers.  Sunday  school 
of  clean,  fine  children.  Rev.  Mr.  "Williams,  of  Battlefield,  preaches 
to  a  congregation  of  rustics  a  truly  evangelical  sermon.  Church  per- 
fectly clean ;  rush  mats  to  kneel  on.  How  different  from  Chester 
cathedral.  Only  equipage  a  single  "taxed  cart."  Mr.  Williams 
preached  at  Effington  in  the  evening.  Returned  the  same  road  to 
Shrewsbury ;  ascended  Lord  Hill's  column — most  heavenly  view. 
Remember  that  I  am  now  on  the  Severn,  and  turn  to  Gray's  Letters. 
Leave  the  Lion,  and  my  friend  Bourne,  the  head  waiter,  and  the 
truly  respectable  landlady,  with  regret  I  hope  on  all  sides,  and  go  on, 
with  sleek,  fine  horses,  and  clean  chaise,  and  obliging  driver,  to  Iron- 
bridge,  thirteen  miles,  where  I  changed  chaise  and  horses,  and  cross- 
ing the  Severn  a  second  time,  over  the  bridge  of  one  arch,  ascended 
a  mountainous  hill  on  the  other  side,  through  Madely  market.  These 
are  the  greatest  iron  works  (Colebrooke  Dale)  in  England.  To 
Bridgeworth,  seven  miles,  to  sup  and  sleep.  This  town  pleases  me 
more  than  any  I  have  seen  before  or  since.  It  is  old,  clean,  pleasant, 
romantic,  with  no  commercial,  manufacturing,  or  fashionable  taint 
about  it.  Cheltenham  sickened  me  of  the  last. 

Monday,  15th — wound  round  the  high  hill  of  red  stone  ;  stopped  ; 
ascended  to  the  ruin  of  the  castle  and  the  church  ;  ludicrous  epitaph ; 
returned  to  the  chaise,  and  completed  our  descent  to  the  Severn,  "  the 
very  principal  light  and  capital  feature  of  my  journey,"  which  I  again 
crossed.  Stopped  at  a  small  house  of  call  to  beg  an  idle  pin.  Old 
man  and  wife  show  me  their  cows ;  their  tenderness  to  the  mother- 
less lamb,  and  pity  of  me.  Their  gratitude  to  their  cow,  which,  said 
the  dame,  "  when  my  house  was  burnt,  maintained  our  whole  family, 
old  and  unsightly  as  she  looks,  bat  making  me  pounds  of  butter 
a  week."  Csetera  desunt. 

Monday,  past  12,  May  27,  1822. 

MY  DEAR*  BET, — When,  a  few  minutes  ago,  I  wrote  "cetera 
desunt,"  as  I  folded  my  letter  which  young  Mr.  Hammond  waited 
to  the  last  minute  to  take  to  Liverpool.  I  did  not  know  that  the  be- 
ginning, as  well  as  the  conclusion,  was  wanting.  I  now  inclose  it  to 
Mr.  H..  with  a  request  that  he  will  put  the  two  under  one  cover,  and 
address  it  to  your  father — as  he  promised  to  do  with  the  first — for  it 


THE  VOYAGE.  183 

was  to  avoid  exposing  your  name  to  strangers,  that  I  got  him  to  take 
the  letter.  He  carries  a  map  of  the  city,  in  which  the  new  improve- 
ments are  laid  down ;  with  this,  and  the  Ambulator,  and  the  Pictures 
of  London  (all  at  Roanoke),  and  Smith's  English  Atlas  (also  there), 
you  can  travel  with  me  without  once  mistaking  your  way,  and.  1  hope, 
pleasantly,  as  well  as  easily. 

I  left  the  old  farmer  (Evans)  and  his  dame  (for  he  has  a  small 
farm  under  Mr.  Whittemore,  member  for  the  borough  of  Bridge- 
north),  as  well  as  his  ale-house.  I  left  the  old  couple  fondling  their 
lamb,  and  caressing  it  and  their  kine — one  a  Hereford  red,  with  a 
fine  calf,  which  they  had  been  debating  about  selling  to  the  butcher ; 
but  at  last  their  affections  got  the  better  of  their  poverty,  and  the  old 
man  concluded,  by  saying,  it  would  be  a  pity  to  kill  the  poor  thing, 
and  he  would  e?en  keep  it  for  the  mother's  sake.  Although  I  stopped 
for  a  pin  to  fasten  up  the  envious  curtain  behind  the  chaise,  yet  I  asked 
for  a  draught  of  milk,  warm  from  the  favorite  cow,  which  was  given 
to  me  in  a  clean  porringer,  with  a  face  of  as  true  benevolence  as  I 
ever  saw.  On  taking  leave,  I  asked  to  contribute  towards  the  re- 
building of  the  burnt  house,  telling  them  it  was  the  custom  in  the 
country  I  came  from.  But  the  old  man,  with  a  face  of  great  surprise, 
said,  "  I  was  kindly  welcome  to  the  milk ;  it  was  a  thing  of  nothing ;" 
and  they  both  rejected  the  money  (only  two  half-crowns),  until  I  told 
them  they  must  oblige  me  by  accepting  it,  or  I  should  be  ashamed 
of  having  such  a  trifle  returned.  Whereupon  the  gude  man  said  he 
would  give  the  postillion  with  the  return  chaise  a  skinful  of  his  best 
ale,  when  he  came  back ;  and  the  dame,  ascribing  her  good  fortune 
to  the  mercy  shown  to  the  calf,  promised,  at  my  request,  to  remember 
me,  in  her  prayers,  as  the  sick  stranger  to  whom  she  had  ministered ; 
and  I  left  them,  with  feelings  of  deep  respect  for  their  honest  poverty 
and  kind-heartedness.  Mr.  Whittemore  is  a  great  proprietor  here. 
His  great  house,  on  the  right,  is  under  repair,  and  he  occupies  a  "  cot- 
tage "  in  the  village ;  about  such  a  house  as  Mr.  Wickham's.  His 
poor  tenant  at  Quat  is  the  third  instance  I  have  met  with  of  a  per- 
son refusing  money  here.  The  first  was  the  parish-clerk,  at  Battle- 
field ;  the  next,  Bourne,  the  head-waiter  at  the  Lion  ;  a  thing  hardhr 
credible  in  England,  where  the  rapacity  of  this  class,  in  particular,  is 
proverbial ;  for — asking  Mr.  Wickham's  pardon  for  making  free  with 
his  person,  as  well  as  his  house — you  meet  with  as  well  dre&sed  per- 
sons as  himself  v  ho  will  make  you  a  low  bow  for  sixpence  ;  aye,  and 
beg  for  it,  to  boot.  I  thought  a  thousand  times  of  Mr.  Wickham's 
speech.  Plunder  is  the  order  of  the  day.  Shopkeepers,  tradesmen, 
but,  above  all,  innkeepers,  waiters,  postillions,  ostlers,  and  chamber- 
maids, fleece  you  without  mercy  ;  all  is  venal.  Pray  remember  the 
boots  !  Something  for  the  waiter,  sir  ! — and  this  at  a  coffee-house 
where  you  have  only  stepped  in  to  take  a  glass  of  negus,  after  a 


LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

play,  and  have  paid  a  double  price  for  it.  You  can't  get  a  reply 
to  the  plainest  question  without  paying  for  it,  unless  you  go  into 
a  shop;  and  to  speak  to  one  whom  you  don't  know,  is  received 
with  an  air  as  if  you  had  clapped  a  pistol  to  his  breast. 

But  I  should  do  the  greatest  injustice  were  I  not  to  say,  that  the 
higher  ranks — a  few  despicable  and  despised  fashionables  ex« 
cepted — are  as  unpretending  and  plain  as  our  old-fashioned  Virgin- 
ian gentlemen,  whom  they  greatly  resemble.  This  class  of  men  is 
now  nearly  extinct,  to  my  great  grief,  and  the  shame  and  loss  of  our 
country.  They  are  as  distinct  from  the  present  race  in  their  manners, 
dress,  principles,  and  every  thing  but  anatomical  structure,  as  an 
eagle  is  from  a  pig,  or  a  wild  turkey  from  a  turkey-buzzard.  The 
English  gentleman  is  not  graceful,  not  affable,  but  plain,  sincere,  kind, 
without  one  particle  of  pretension  in  dress,  manner,  or  any  thing 
else. 

At  Kidderminster,  I  breakfasted  (15  miles),  and  saw  the  carpet 
manufactory,  and  bought  four  hearth  rugs.  I  also  visited  the  old 
church,  as  was  my  custom,  and  copied  an  epitaph,  not  on  the  rich 
and  great,  but  a  poor  sergeant,  erected  by  his  colonel ;  I  mean  the 
monument  was,  not  the  epitaph.  We  entered  "Worcestershire  some 
miles  before  we  reached  Kidderminster.  It  is  perhaps  the  finest 
county  in  the  kingdom,  take  it  for  all  and  all.  Among  the  seats 
between  Kidderminster  and  Worcester,  are  Halleburg ;  the  Bp.  of 
W.'s,  where  the  pigs  (hogs,  we  should  call  them,)  were  in  the  beauti- 
ful grounds ;  Waverley  House,  Mrs.  Orange,  a  rich  widow  lady, 
with  an  only  daughter,  unmarried — this  is  one  of  the  prettiest  and 
finest  places  I  have  seen ;  Sir  John  Fleming  Leicester's,  between 
Knutsford  and  Northwich  (which  I  just  remember  to  have  omitted),  is 
another  very  capital  place ;  and  I  am  sure  I  have  not  mentioned  a 
thousand  superior  to  any  thing  we  have.  But  the  air  of  comfort  and 
fatness  since  we  left  Lancashire,  is  very  refreshing.  The  houses  are 
old  and  weather-stained,  but  clean  to  fastidiousness  ;  some  of  frame- 
work, filled  in  with  brick ;  the  timbers  black,  and  the  brick-work 
overcast  with  lime,  and  white  as  this  paper  ;  casement-lights,  leaden 
sashes,  &c.  Ombresley  Court,  Lady  Downshire's,  which  is  the 
ancient  seat  of  the  Sandys  family,  is  a  fine  place.  She  is  a  Sandys, 
and  Baroness  S.  in  her  own  right.  I  thought  of  Walpole  and  Pulte- 
ney.  and  her  progenitor  who  sunk  into  a  peerage. 

At  Worcester,  in  driving  into  the  Hop  Pole  Inn  yard,  the  postil- 
lion had  nearly  killed  a  poor  girl,  with  a  child  in  her  arms.  She  was 
thrown  down,  but,  God  be  praised  !  neither  were  hurt.  I  would  not 
endure  what  I  felt  while  the  suspense  lasted  for  any  consideration. 
Town  full.  Quarter  sessions.  Cleanest  and  prettiest  town  (a  city) 
that  I  have  yet  seen.  Determined  to  remain,  and  see  the  cathedral ; 
but  next  morning  I  determined  otherwise. 


INCIDENTS  IN  ENGLAND.  185 

Giving  up,  for  the  present,  my  pilgrimage  to  Cheltenham,  I  set 
out  on  the  top  of  the  coach,  paying  12  shillings  for  my  fare  to  Lon- 
don, and  through  the  Vale  of  Evesham,  and  an  enchanting  coun- 
try through  Pershire,  Bengeworth,  Morton,  Broadway  (where  is  a 
tremendous  hill,  commanding  the  whole  vale  and  the  Malvern  Hills), 
Morton,  Woodstock,  Oxford,  a  city  of  palaces. 

And  here,  my  dear  Bet,  I  must  again  abruptly  close  this  long- 
winded  epistle,  with  assurances  of  my  exalted  regard. 

J.  E.  OP  E. 

I  broke  open  this  letter  myself. 


CHAPTEK    XXI. 

INCIDENTS  IN  ENGLAND. 

IN  the  month  of  June,  says  Mr.  Harvey,  I  went  over  to  London,  ac- 
companied by  my  father,  who  had  been  summoned  to  attend  a  com- 
mittee  of  the  House  of  Commons,  to  give  evidence  in  a  case  of  some 
importance.  I  had  prepared  my  father  for  an  introduction  to  my 
most  eccentric  friend,  and  yet,  when  I  did  introduce  him,  he  could 
scarcely  refrain  from  smiling.  "  Sir,"  said  Mr.  Kandolph,  "  I  am 
proud  to  make  the  acquaintance  of  the  son  of  that  man  who  received 
the  thanks  of  Congress  for  his  kindness  to  my  poor  countrymen. 
Your  son,  my  young  friend  here,  sir,  tells  me  he  has  delivered  my 
letter,  and  I  hope  you  will  soon  receive  the  books  from  my  bookseller 
in  Washington.  Keep  them  as  a  momento  of  my  friendship,  sir." 
My  father  thanked  him  warmly  for  his  kindness,  and  we  entered  into 
a  general  conversation.  Suddenly  Randolph  rose  from  his  chair,  and, 

in  his  most  imposing  manner,  thus  addressed  him :  "  Mr.  H ,  two 

days  ago  I  saw  the  greatest  curiosity  in  London ;  aye,  and  in  England, 
too,  sir — compared  to  which,  Westminster  Abbey,  the  Tower,  Somer- 
set House,  the  British  Museum,  nay  Parliament  itself,  sink  into  utter 
insignificance  !  I  have  seen,  sir,  Elizabeth  Fry,  of  Newgate,  and  I 
have  witnessed  there,  sir,  miraculous  effects  of  true  Christianity  upon 
the  most  depraved  of  human  beings — bad  women,  sir,  who  are  worse, 
if  possible,  than  the  devil  himself!  and  yet  the  wretched  outcasts 


186  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

have  been  tamed  and  subdued  by  the  Christian  eloquence  of  Mrs 
Fry  !  I  have  seen  them  weep  repentant  tears  whilst  she  addressed 
them.  I  have  heard  their  groans  of  despair,  sir  !  Nothing  but  reli- 
gion can  effect  this  miracle^  sir ;  for  what  can  be  a  greater  miracle. 
than  the  conversion  of  a  degraded,  sinful  woman,  taken  from  the  very 
dregs  of  society  !  Oh  !  sir,  it  was  a  sight  worthy  the  attention  of 
angels  !  You  must,  also,  see  this  wonder,  sir ;  and,  by  the  way,  this 
is  one  of  her  visiting  days — let  us  go  at  once ;  we  shall  just  be  in 
time.  She  has  given  me  permission  to  bring  any  of  my  friends  with 
me.  I  shall  introduce  you,  sir,  with  great  pleasure."  We  immedi- 
ately ordered  a  coach,  and  drove  to  Mrs.  Fry's  house,  but  found,  to 
our  no  small  disappointment,  that  she  was  not  in  town  that  day. 

It  was  my  good  fortune,  afterwards,  to  become  acquainted  with 
Mrs.  Fry,  and  to  spend  a  day  or  two  at  her  country-seat,  near  Lon- 
don, and  I  need  scarcely  add,  that  my  admiration  of  her  character 
was,  if  possible,  increased  by  this  introduction  into  her  social  circle. 
In  the  course  of  conversation,  I  said  to  Miss  Fry,  "Pray  tell  me  in 
what  way  you  became  acquainted  with  my  eccentric  friend  Randolph  ?" 
"  Why,"  replied  she,  "  in  rather  an  eccentric  way.  One  day  my  mo- 
ther was  in  town,  getting  ready  to  go  to  Newgate,  when  a  stranger 
was  announced.  A  tall,  thin  gentleman,  with  long  hair,  and  very 
strangely  dressed,  entered  the  parlor,  walked  deliberately  up  to  my 
mother,  who  rose  to  receive  him,  and  held  out  his  hand,  saying,  in 
the  sweet  tone  of  a  lady's  voice, '  I  feel  I  have  some  right  to  intro- 
duce myself  to  Elizabeth  Fry,  as  I  am  the  friend  of  her  friend,  Jessy 
Kersey,  of  Philadelphia,  (a  celebrated  preacher  in  the  Society  of 
Friends).  I  am  John  Randolph,  of  Roanoke,  State  of  Virginia ;  the  fel- 
low countryman  of  Washington.'  My  mother,  who  had  heard  a  great 
deal  of  him  from  different  persons,  gave  him  a  cordial  reception ;  and 
was  so  extremely  pleased  with  his  most  original  conversation,  she  not 
only  took  him  with  her  to  Newgate,  but  invited  him  to  come  and  see  us. 
We  have  since  seen  him  several  times,  and  have  been  highly  delighted 
with  him.  Last  week  some  strangers  were  to  dine  with  us,  and  my 
mother  invited  him  to  be  of  the  number.  In  writing  the  note  of  in- 
vitation,  I  apologized  to  him  for  naming  so  unfashionably  early  an 
hour  SLsfour  o'clock,  knowing  that  at  the  ivest  end  he  never  dined  be- 
fore eight.  His  reply  was  quite  characteristic,  and  made  us  all 
laugh  heartily.  Here  it  is:  'Mr.  Randolph  regrets  that  a  prior  en 


INCIDENTS  IN  ENGLAND.  187 

gagement  will  deprive  him  of  the  pleasure  of  dining  with  Mrs.  Fry 
on  Thursday  next.  No  apology,  however,  was  necessary  for  the  early 
hour  named  in  her  note,  as  it  is  two  hours  later  than  Mr.  R.  is  accus- 
tomed to  dine  in  Virginia ;  and  he  has  not  yet  been  long  enough  in 
London  to  learn  how  to  turn  day  into  night,  and  vice  versa.' " 

I  told  Randolph,  next  day,  that  I  had  seen  his  note.  "  "Well,  sir," 
said  he,  "  and  was  I  not  right  to  be  candid  ?  Mrs.  Fry  is  a  most  sen- 
sible woman,  sir,  and  she  shows  her  good  taste  by  opposing  the  fool- 
ish customs  of  the  aristocracy ;  and  I  wanted  her  to  know  that  I  agreed 
with  her,  sir.  I  can  go  all  but  the  late  dinners ;  they  are  killing  me, 
sir ;  and  I  must  quickly  run  away  from  London,  or  cut  my  noble  ac- 
quaintances." 

Before  my  arrival  in  London,  Lord  L ,  meeting  Randolph 

one  night,  under  the  gallery  of  the  House  of  Commons,  introduced 
himself  to  him,  and  they  became  very  intimate.  His  lordship  said 
to  me  one  day  afterwards,  "  I  have  never  met  with  so  thoroughly 
well-informed  a  gentleman  as  your  friend  Randolph,  no  matter  what 
the  subject — history,  belles-lettres,  biography ;  but,  sir,  the  most 
astonishing  part  of  all  is,  that  he  possesses  a  minute  local  knowledge 
of  England  and  Ireland.  I  thought  that  I  knew  them  well,  but  I 
assure  you  I  was  obliged  to  yield  the  palm  to  him.  I  have  purposely 
tried  to  puzzle  or  confuse  him,  but  all  in  vain.  His  conversational 
powers  are  most  dazzling,  even  in  London,  sir,  where  we  pride  our- 
selves on  good  talkers.  I  never  have  been  so  much  struck  with  any 
stranger ;  and  although  a  high  tory,  I  always  forgot  that  he  was  a  re- 
publican. .  By  the  way,  not  a  very  bigoted  one,  sir.  I  never  heard 
him  abuse  the  aristocracy  !  I  was  so  much  pleased  with  him,  on  our 
first  interview,  I  determined  to  pay  him  a  mark  of  respect,  which  1 
was  sure  would  gratify  his  Virginia  pride.  I  solicited  permission 
from  the  Lord  Chancellor,  to  introduce  Mr.  Randolph,  as  a  distin- 
guished American,  into  the  House  of  Lords,  by  the  private  entrance, 
near  the  throne,  instead  of  obliging  him  to  force  his  way,  with  the 
crowd,  at  the  common  entrance.  Having  obtained  his  lordship's  con- 
sent, I  then  introduced  Mr.  Randolph  to  the  door-keeper,  and  desired 
him  to  admit  him  whenever  he  presented  himself,  without  requiring 
him  to  exhibit  any  special  order.  His  figure  and  whole  appearance 
are  so  singular,  I  ran  no  risk  in  having  any  counterfeit  Randolphs, — 
ind  I  said  so  to  the  door-keeper,  as  some  excuse  for  omitting  our 

33 


188  LIFK  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

usual  practice.  When  I  told  him  of  his  privilege,  I  saw  at  once  that 
I  had  won  my  way  to  his  heart ;  and  amply  has  he  repaid  me,  sir.  by 
the  richness  of  his  conversations  whenever  we  have  since  met." 

A  few  days  after  my  arrival  in  London,  continues  Mr.  Harvey. 
I  had  an  opportunity  of  testing  the  value  of  this  privilege  of  private 
entry.  It  will  be  recollected  that  G-eorge  Canning,  in  the  year  1822. 
just  previous  to  his  intended  departure  as  governor-general  of  India 
(which  never  took  place,  owing  to  Lord  Castlereagh's  death),  intro- 
duced, and  carried  through  the  House  of  Commons,  the  "  Roman 
Catholic  Peers'  bill,"  as  it  was  called,  which  he  intended  as  a  fare- 
well legacy  to  his  countrymen.  It  passed  by  a  handsome  majority, 
and  was  then  sent  to  undergo  the  fiery  ordeal  of  the  House  of  Lords, 
The  subject  engrossed  public  attention,  and  there  was  great  anxietj 

to  attend  the  debate  on  the  appointed  night.  The  Marquis  of  L 

was  kind  enough  to  present  me  with  an  order  to  admit  two  persons — 
myself  and  friend — and  I  returned  to  our  lodgings  in  great  glee. 
There  I  found  Randolph,  told  him  of  my  good  luck,  and  offered  him 
the  unoccupied  half  of  my  order. 

"  Pray,  sir,"  said  he  "  at  which  door  do  you  intend  to  enter  the 
House  ? 

"  At  the  lower  door,  of  course,"  replied  I  "  where  all  strangers 
enter." 

"  Not  all  strangers  if  you  please,"  said  he,  "  for  I  shall  enter  at  the 
private  door,  near  the  throne  !"  "  Oh,  my  dear  sir,"  replied  I,  -your 
privilege,  I  dare  say,  will  answer  on  any  common  occasion ;  but  to- 
night the  members  of  the  House  of  Commons  will  entirely  fill  the 
space  around  the  throne,  and  no  stranger,  depend  upon  it,  will  be 
admitted  there.  So  be  wise,  and  don't  refuse  this  chance,  or  you 
will  regret  it." 

"  What  sir,"  retorted  he,  "  do  you  suppose  I  would  consent  to 
struggle  with  and  push  through  the  crowd  of  persons  who,  for  two 
long  hours,  must  fight  their  way  in  at  the  lower  door  ?  Oh  no,  sir  !  I 
shall  do  no  such  thing ;  and  if  I  cannot  enter  as  a  gentleman  com- 
moner, I  go  not  at  all !  " 

After  vainly  endeavoring  to  induce  him  to  change  his  mind,  we 
separated ;  he  for  the  aristocratic  entrance,  I  for  the  common  one. 
With  great  difficulty,  and  wondering  how  I  had  preserved  my  coat-tails 
whole,  I  finally  squeezed  myself  into  the  House,  half  suffocated,  and 


INCIDENTS  IN  ENGLAND.  139 

was  fortunate  enough  (being  then  young  and  active)  to  secure  a  stand 
at  the  bar,  from  whence  I  could  see  my  noble  lord's  face,  and  hear 
every  word  that  was  spoken.  Casting  a  glance  towards  the  throne 
soon  after  my  entrance,  to  my  no  small  surprise  and  envy,  I  beheld 
':  Randolph  of  Roanoke  "  in  all  his  glory,  walking  in  most  leisurely,, 
and  perfectly  at  home,  along-side  of  Canning,  Lord  Castlereagh,  Sir 
Robert  Peel,  and  many  other  distinguished  members  of  the  House 
of  Commons.  Some  of  these  gentlemen  even  selected  for  him  a  pro- 
minent position,  where  he  could  see  and  hear  perfectly,  and  I  observ- 
ed many  courtesies  passing  between  them  during  the  night.  Very 
shortly  after  Mr.  Randolph's  arrival  in  London,  a  splendid  ball 
was  given,  under  the  immediate  patronage  of  George  the  Fourth  and 
the  principal  nobility,  for  the  benefit  of  the  poor  Irish  peasantry  of 
Munster  and  Connaught,  who  were  suffering  from  the  effects  of 
famine,  attended  as  usual  by  disease.  It  was  a  magnificent  affair, 
Randolph  attended,  glad  of  an  opportunity  to  give  his  mite,  and  to 
behold  at  the  same  time  the  congregated  aristocracy  of  Great  Britain. 
'•  It  was  cheap,  sir,  very  cheap  "  said  he  to  me,  "  actors  and  actresses 
innumerable,  and  all  dressed  out  most  gorgeously.  There  were 
jewels  enough,  sir,  there,  to  make  new  crowns  for  all  the  monarchs 
of  Europe !  And  I,  too,  republican  though  I  am,  must  needs  go 
in  court-dress  !  Well  sir,  don't  imagine  that  I  was  so  foolish  as  to 
purchase  a  new  suit,  at  a  cost  of  twenty-five  or  thirty  guineas.  Oh 
no  !  I  have  not  studied  London  life  for  nothing.  I  have  been  told, 
sir,  that  many  a  noble  lady  would  appear  at  the  ball  that  night  with 
jewels  hired  for  the  occasion  ;  and  I  took  the  hint,  sir,  and  hired  a 
full  court-dress  for  five  guineas.  When  I  beheld  myself  in  the  glass, 
I  laughed  at  the  oddity  of  my  appearance,  and  congratulated  my- 
self that  I  was  three  thousand  miles  from  Charlotte  Court-House. 
Had  I  played  the  harlequin  tlwre,  sir,  I  think  my  next  election 
would  be  doubtful.  I  stole  into  the  room,  with  rather  a  nervous 
walk,  and  was  about  selecting  a  very  quiet  position  in  a  corner,  when 
your  countryman,  Lord  Castlereagh,  seeing  my  embarrassment, 
came  forward,  and  with  an  air  of  the  most  finished  politeness,  insist- 
ed upon  being  my  chaperon.  For  one  hour  he  devoted  himself  to 
me,  and  pointed  out  all  persons  of  notoriety  in  the  crowd  as  they 
passed  us  in  review.  Such  was  the  fascination  of  his  manners,  I  for- 
got, for  the  moment,  that  I  was  speaking  to  the  man  who  had  sold 


190  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

his  country's  independence  and  his  own ;  who  had  lent  his  aid  to  a 
licentious  monarch  to  destroy  his  queen,  who,  if  guilty,  might  point 
to  her  husband's  conduct  as  the  cause  of  her  fall.  But,  sir,  I  was 
spellbound  for  that  hour,  for  never  did  I  meet  a  more  accomplished 
gentleman  ;  and  yet  he  is  a  deceitful  politician,  whose  character  none 
can  admire.  An  Irish  tory,  sir,  I  never  could  abide."  Miss  Edge- 
worth  and  Randolph  met  together  for  the  first  time  at  the  breakfast- 
table  of  a  very  distinguished  Irish  member  of  Parliament  (now  a 
peer  of  the  realm).  The  gentleman  to  whom  I  refer,  told  me  that 
it  was  an  intellectual  feast,  such  as  he  had  rarely  enjoyed  before. 
To  use  his  own  words : 

"  Spark  produced  spark,  and  for  three  hours  they  kept  up  the 
fire,  until  it  ended  in  a  perfect  blaze  of  wit,  humor,  and  repartee. 
It  appeared  to  me  that  Mr.  11.  was  more  intimately  acquainted  with 
Miss  Edgeworth's  works  than  she  was  herself.  He  frequently  quoted 
passages  where  her  memory  was  at  fault ;  and  he  brought  forward 
every  character  of  any  note  in  all  her  productions :  but  what  most 

astonished  us  was,  his  intimate  knowledge  of  Ireland.  Lady  T 

and  myself  did  nothing  but  listen  ;  and  I  was  really  vexed  when  some 
public  business  called  me  away." 

"  Who  do  you  think  I  met  under  the  gallery  of  the  House  of 
Commons  ?"  said  Randolph  to  me  one  day.  "  You  can't  guess,  and 
so  I'll  tell  you.  There  was  a  spruce,  dapper  little  gentleman  sitting 
next  to  me,  and  he  made  some  trifling  remark,  to  which  I  replied. 
We  then  entered  into  conversation,  and  I  found  him  a  most  fascinat- 
ing witty  fellow.  He  pointed  out  to  me  the  distinguished  members 
who  were  unknown  to  me,  and  frequently  gave  them  a  friendly  shot. 
At  parting,  he  handed  me  his  card,  and  I  read  with  some  surprise, 
'  Mr.  Thomas  Moore.'  Yes.  sir,  it  was  the  '  Bard  of  Erin ;'  and  upon 
this  discovery  I  said  to  him,  '  Well,  Mr.  Moore,  I  am  delighted  to 
meet  you  thus  ;  and  I  tell  you.  sir.  that  I  envy  you  more  for  being 
the  author  of  the  "  Twopenny  Post-bag"  and  "  Tom  Crib's  Memorial 
to  Congress,"  than  for  all  your  beautiful  songs,  which  play  the  fool 
with  young  ladies'  hearts.'  He  laughed  heartily  at  what  he  called 
my  '  singular  taste,'  and  we  parted  the  best  friends  imaginable." 

Mr.  Randolph  was  present  at  a  large  meeting  of  the  African  In- 
stitution at  London.  Mr.  Wilberforce,  after  speaking  with  his  usual 
ability  and  eloquence  on  the  appropriate  subjects  of  the  occasion, 
concluded  by  pronouncing  a  warm  panegyric  upon  the  example  set 
by  the  United  States  of  America,  in  making  the  slave-trade  piracy, 
and  upon  Mr.  Randolph's  great  efforts  in  promoting  that  act. 


INCIDENTS  IN  ENGLAND.  191 

Mr.  Randolph  then  rose  to  return  thanks  for  the  mark  of  respect 
towards  the  United  States  of  America.  After  a  few  appropriate  re- 
marks, he  thanked  the  meeting  for  'the  grateful  sense  they  had 
expressed  towards  America ;  and  also  assured  them  that  all  that  was 
exalted  in  station,  in  talent,  and  in  moral  character  among  his  coun- 
trymen, was  (as  was  also  to  be  found  in  England)  firmly  united  for 
the  suppression  of  this  infamous  traffic.  It  was  delightful  to 'him  to 
know  that  Virginia,  the  land  of  his  sires,  the  place  of  his  nativity, 
had  for  half  a  century  affixed  a  public  brand  and  indelible  stigma 
upon  this  traffic,  and  had  put  in  the  claim  of  the  wretched  objects  of 
it  to  the  common  rights  and  attributes  of  humanity. 

The  plainness 'of  Mr.  Randolph's  appearance,  says  a  London 
paper,  his  republican  simplicity  of  manners,  and  easy  and  unaffected 
address,  attracted  much  attention,  and  he  sat  down  amidst  a  burst  of 
applause. 

Mr.  Randolph  travelled  extensively  in  England  and  Scotland, 
met  a  flattering  and  distinguished  reception  wherever  he  went,  was 
pleased  with  every  thing,  and  delighted  every  body  with  his  cordial 
manner  and  fascinating  conversation.  He  returned  to  the  United 
States  about  the  last  of  November,  and  was  present  during  the  last 
session  of  the  seventeenth  Congress,  which,  on  the  3d  of  March,  1823, 
was  closed ;  but  he  did  not  open  his  lips  on  any  occasion  whatever  ; 
indeed  there  was  no  discussion  of  any  importance  during  the  session. 
Immediately  on  the  adjournment  he  hurried  off  to  Virginia,  and 
spent  some  days  with  his  friend,  William  R,  Johnson,  in  Chesterfield, 
who  was  then  in  high  training  for  the  great  match  race  between  the 
North  and  the  South.  The  exercise  and  excitement  of  mind  in  anti- 
cipation of  his  favorite  sport  produced  an  evident  change  in  Mr.  Ran- 
dolph's health  ;  it  was  much  improved ;  he  slept  better  than  he  had 
for  ten  years. 

"  To  that  night,"  says  he,  <:  spent  on  a  shuck  matress  in  a  little 
garret  room  at  Chesterfield  Court-house,  Sunday,  March  the  9th, 
1823,  I  look  back  with  delight.  It  was  a  stormy  night.  The  win- 
dows clattered,  and  William  R.  Johnson  got  up  several  times  to  try 
and  put  a  stop  to  the  noise,  by  thrusting  a  glove  between  the  loose 
sashes.  I  heard  the  noise ;  I  even  heard  him ;  but  it  did  not  dis- 
turb me.  I  enjoyed  a  sweet  nap  of  eight  hours,  during  which,  he  said, 
he  never  heard  me  breathe.  N.  B.  I  had  fastecTall  day,  and  supped 
(which  I  have  not  done  since)  on  a  soft  egg  and  a  bit  of  biscuit.  My 


192  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

feelings  next  day  were  as  new  and  delightful  as  those  of  any  bride 
the  day  after  her  nuptials,  and  the  impression  (on  memory  at  least) 
as  strong." 

He  was  present  (as  most  lovers  of  the  turf  were)  at  the  celebrated 
race  between  Eclipse  and  Henry,  on  the  Long  Island  Course,  in  the 
month  of  May.  He  stood  in  a  very  conspicuous  place  on  the  stand 
during  the  race,  surrounded  by  gentlemen  of  the  North  and  the 
South ;  and  he  evidently  was  very  confident  of  the  success  of  Henry. 
But  after  the  result,  to  him  so  unexpected,  and  while  the  thousands 
of  spectators  were  vociferously  applauding  the  successful  rider 
(Purdy),  Mr.  Randolph  gave  vent  to  his  great  .disappointment  by 
exclaiming  to  those  around  him  in  his  most  satirical  tone : 

"Well,  gentlemen,  it  is  a  lucky  thing  for  the  country  that  the 
President  of  the  United  States  is  not  elected  by  acclamation,  else 
Mr.  Purdy  would  be  our  next  President,  beyond  a  doubt." 

He  then  left  the  ground,  and  spent  the  evening  with  Mr.  Rufus 
King,  at  Jamaica.  Next  day  he  said  to  a  friend,  with  a  sigh  : 

"  Ah,  sir  !  only  for  that  unfortunate  vote  on  the  Missouri  question, 
he  would  be  our  man  for  the  presidency.  He  is,  sir,  a  genuine  Eng- 
lish gentleman  of  the  old  school ;  just  the  right  man  for  these  degen- 
erate times.  But,  alas  !  it  cannot  be  !" 

Mr.  Randolph,  soon  after  this  event,  retired  into  his  usual  summer 
solitude,  at  Roanoke.  Thence,  on  the  25th  of  July,  he  asks  Dr. 
Brockenbrough,  "  You  and  Mr.  Wickham  are  wise  men,  but  a  by- 
stander, you  know,  sees  the  blots  of  better  players  than  himself. 
Are  you  both  resolved  to  die  in  harness  ?  You  may  put  the  question 
to  me,  but  I  tell  you  NO.  March  3,  1825,  is  the  utmost  limit  of  my 
servitude.  But  what's  the  use  of  talking  ? — '  a  man  will  do  what  he 
will  do  ;'  a  saying,  which,  like  some  others,  I  once  took  to  be  rather 
silly,  but  which,  I  have  since  found  out,  contains  much  sense.  *  * 

"  You  wouldn't  infer  it  from  the  tone  of  this  epistle,  but  I  too  am 
sick — seriously  sick,  as  well  as  home-sick,  i.  e.  as  Sir  John  Brute  was 
wife-sick.  My  oaks  send  love  and  duty  to  you  and  the  silent  Mad- 
ame, and  hope  you'll  never  be  as  tired  of  them  as  their  master  is.  T 
would  go  among  the  Selvidgcs,  beyond  the  '  mountings,'  but  I  dare 
not  encounter  Pharaoh's  plagues.  I'd  rather  be  swallowed  up  in  the 
Red  Sea  at  once. 


EIGHTEENTH  CONGRESS.  193 

"  P.  S.  In  sheer  distress  what  to  do  with  myself,  I  yesterday 
i-ead  Don  Juan — the  third,  fourth  and  fifth  cantos  for  the  first 
time — fact,  I  assure  you.  It  is  diabolically  good.  The  ablest,  I  am 
inclined  to  think,  of  all  his  performances.  I  now  fully  comprehend 
the  cause  of  the  odium  plusquam  theologicum  of  the  lake  school,  to- 
ward this  wayward  genius.  I  am  not  sorry  that  I  had  not  read  the 
whole  when  I  was  in  Southey's  company.  I  could  not  have  conversed 
so  unreservedly  as  I  did  on  the  subject  of  Byron's  writings." 

In  October,  he  says :  "  The  life  I  lead  here  is  enough  to  destroy 
the  intellectual  and  moral  faculty  of  any  Imman  being.  It  resembles, 
in  many  points,  solitary  confinement.  It  \s  the  daily  recurrence  of 
the  same  dreary  scene ;  and  when  evening  sets  in,  so  that  I  cannot 
read  or  ride,  nothing  can  be  imagined  more  forlorn.  But  I  struggle 
through  it,  as  the  will  of  Providence. 

"  I've  received  from  London  some  publications  on  the  subject  of 
slavery,  that  have  awakened  me  more  than  ever  to  that  momentous 
question.  They  are  from  Wilberforce,  T.  Clarkson,  Adam  Hodgson, 
and  a  larger  pamphlet,  entitled  '  Negro  Slavery  as  it  exists  in  the 
U.  S.  and  the  West  Indies,  especially  in  Jamaica ' — that  being  held 
up  as  the  negro  paradise,  by  the  W.  I.  body  in  England." 


CHAPTEK    XXII. 

EIGHTEENTH  CONGRESS — CONSOLIDATION  IS  THE  ORDER  OF 
THE  DAY — "SPEAK  A  CHEERING  WORD  TO  THE  GREEKS." 

IN  1822,  a  leading  federalist,  one  who  was  conspicuous  in  the  attempt 
to  elect  Burr  over  Jefferson,  and  was  opposed  to  every  measure  of 
the  Jefferson  and  of  the  Madison  administrations,  in  1822,  made  use 
of  these  words :  "  The  federalists  almost  unanimously  declared  their 
approbation  of  the  leading  measures  of  the  Government,  and  gave  it 
their  cordial  support.  The  National  Government,  indeed,  destroyed 
the  federal  party,  in  the  only  way  it  could  be  destroyed,  by  adopting 
substantially  its  principles?  This  was  true  in  that  "  era  of  good- 
feeling,"  when  we.  were  "all  federalists  and  all  republicans."  The 


194  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

seeds  of  consolidation  were  sowed  broad-cas^;.  But  at  no  period  were 
more  rapid  strides  made  toward  a  prostration  of  all  the  barriers  of 
the  Constitution,  than  at  the  first  session  of  the  eighteenth  Congress. 
A  general  distress  pervaded  all  departments  of  business.  The  peo- 
ple were  taught  to  look  to  Government  for  relief,  and  were  ready  to 
acquiesce  in  any  measure  that  gave  hopes  of  present  alleviation, 
without  regard  to  the  consequences ;  and,  besides  this,  there  seemed  to 
be  a  universal  madness — a  national  and  individual  ambition  that 
o'erleaped  all  bounds,  and  embraced  the  whole  world  in  '.is  aspiring 
grasp.  The  body  politic  seemed  to  be  radically  diseased.  "  You  are 
right,"  said  Randolph,  to  a  friend  who  was  deploring  ;he  state  of 
things,  ':  consolidation  is  the  order  of  the  day.  The  epidemic  shows 
itself  in  a  thousand  Protean  forms  :  so  was  despotism  epidemic  from 
the  foundations  of  the  world.  In  that  state  of  the  body  politic  the 
predisposition  turns  every  pimple  to  cancer."  With  this  belief, 
and  in  this  spirit,  he  met  and  manfully,  though  often  unsuccessfully, 
fought  each  Protean  shape,  as  it  successively  arose  to  distil  its  lep- 
rous poison  into  the  Constitution,  or  to  develope  the  seeds  of  some 
gangrenous  ulcer,  deep  festering  in  the  body  politic. 

The  first  subject  Mr.  Randolph  met  and  successfully  opposed, 
was  the  measure  proposed  by  Congress  to  be  adopted  on  the  Greek 
question.  It  will  be  recollected  that  the  Spanish  provinces,  Mexico. 
Peru,  New  Granada,  and  others,  had  been  struggling  for  a  long  time 
for  their  independence.  They  had  been  recognized  by  the  United 
States  as  independent  Republics,  and  ministers  had  been  sent  to  re- 
side near  their  respective  governments.  But  Spain  still  persisted  in 
her  efforts  to  reconquer  her  revolted  provinces ;  and  it  was  rumored 
that  aid  would  be  granted  her  for  this  purpose,  by  the  allied  powers 
of  Europe.  In  the  mean  time,  the  Greeks,  also,  had  revolted  from 
the  odious  yoke  of  Turkish  despotism,  and  were  fighting  with  a  valor 
and  a  success  worthy  of  the  better  days  of  Thermopylae  and  of  Mar- 
athon. 

In  this  state  of  things,  the  President  in  his  annual  message  to 
Congress  expressed  the  opinion  that  there  was  reason  to  hope  that 
the  Greeks  would  be  successful  in  the  present  struggle  with  their 
oppressors,  and  that  the  power  that  has  so  long  crushed  them  had 
lost  its  dominion  over  them  for  ever.  The  same  communication  con- 
tained other  matters  of  great  importance,  in  relation  to  the  rumored 


EIGHTEENTH  CONGRESS.  195 

combination  of  foreign  sovereigns  to  interfere  in  the  affairs  of  South 
America.  Under  these  circumstances,  Mr.  Webster  thought  it  was 
proper  and  becoming  that  the  communication  of  the  President  should 
receive  some  response  from  the  House  of  Representatives.  Accord- 
ingly, on  Monday,  December  the  8th,  1823,  he  submitted  for  consider- 
ation a  resolution  :  "  That  provision  ought  to  be  made,  by  law,  for 
defraying  the  expense  incident  to  the  appointment  of  an  agent,  or 
commissioner,  to  Greece,  whenever  the  President  shall  deem  it  expe- 
dient to  make  such  appointment." 

On  the  19th  of  January  the  resolution  was  called  up,  and  Mr. 
Webster  delivered  his  sentiments  on  the  subject  embraced  in  it,  in  a 
speech  of  great  power,  eloquence,  and  feeling.  When  he  sat  down, 
Mr.  Clay  introduced  a  resolution :  "  That  the  people  of  these  States 
would  not  see,  without  serious  inquietude,  any  forcible  interposition 
by  the  allied  powers  of  Europe,  in  behalf  of  Spain,  to  reduce  to 
their  former  subjection  those  parts  of  the  continent  of  America  which 
have  proclaimed  and  established  for  themselves,  respectively,  inde- 
pendent governments,  and  which  have  been  solemnly  recognized 
by  the  United  States."  Thus  the  whole  field  of  foreign  politics  was 
brought  within  the  scope  of  the  debate. 

Next  day  Mr.  Poinsett  delivered  his  sentiments  at  length  on  the 
subject,  and  concluded  by  moving  a  modification  of  Mr.  Webster's 
resolution,  so  as  merely  to  express  the  sympathy  of  the  nation  for  the 
suffering  Greeks,  and  the  interest  felt  by  the  Government  in  their  wel- 
fare and  success.  Mr.  Clay  then  followed  and  expressed  himself  with 
great  force.  It  was,  indeed,  a  glorious  theme  !  wide  as  the  sufferings 
of  humanity ;  deep  as  the  love  of  liberty  in  the  breast  of  man.  It 
was  a  subject  that  took  hold  on  the  hearts  of  the  people ;  predisposed 
to  sympathize  with  nations  struggling  against  despotism  every  where, 
how  could  they  resist  the  appeals  of  the  glorious  descendants  of 
Leonidas,  and  of  Epaminondas,  and  Philopoemen ;  aided,  too,  by 
the  condensed  logic  of  Webster,  the  varied  learning  of  Poinsett. 
and  the  fervid  eloquence  of  Henry  Clay?  A  harvest  of  golden 
opinions  was  to  be  the  destined  reward  of  this  day's  exhibition. 
Webster  was  to  be  translated  into  Greek,  to  be  read  with  rapture 
through  the  Peloponnesus,  and  to  be  pronounced  side  by  side  with 
Demosthenes  from  the  heights  of  the  Acropolis ;  while  Clay  was  to 
receive  the  thanks  and  the  gratitude  of  the  South  American  Repub 


196  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

lies  through  the  person  of  the  great  Liberator,  the  modern  Wash- 
ington. 

Under  such  circumstances,  it  took  a  man  of  no  ordinary  strength 
of  character  to  resist  these  seductive  measures,  and  expose  their  truo 
nature  and  tendency.  John  Randolph  was  the  man  for  the  times ; 
he  was  then,  as  he  had  been  for  years  past,  "  the  solitary  warder  on 
the  wall ;"  all  others  were  asleep,  or  caught  away  by  the  enthusiasm } 
he  saw  the  danger,  and  gave  the  alarm. 

"  This,"  said  he,  "  is  perhaps  one  of  the  finest  and  prettiest  themes 
for  declamation  ever  presented  to  a  deliberative  assembly.  But  it 
appears  to  me  in  a  light  very  different  from  any  that  has  as  yet  been 
thrown  upon  it. 

"  I  look  at  the  measure  as  one  fraught  with  deep  and  deadly  dan- 
ger to  the  best  interests  and  to  the  liberties  of  the  American  people  ; 
so  satisfied,  sir,  am  I  of  this,  that  I  have  been  constrained  by  the 
conviction  to  overcome  the  almost  insuperable  repugnance  I  feel  to 
throwing  myself  upon  the  notice  of  the  House ;  but  I  feel  it  to  be 
my  duty  to  raise  my  voice  against  both  these  propositions. 

My  intention  in  rising  at  present,  sir,  is  merely  to  move,  that  the 
committee  rise,  and  that  both  of  the  resolutions  may  be  printed.  I 
wish  to  have  some  time  to  think  of  this  business,  to  deliberate,  before 
we  take  this  leap  in  the  dark  into  the  Archipelago,  or  the  Black  Sea, 
or  into  the  wide-mouthed  La  Plata.  I  know,  sir,  that  the  post  of 
honor  is  on  the  other  side  of  the  House,  the  post  of  toil  and  of  diffi- 
culty on  this  side,  if,  indeed,  any  body  shall  be  with  me  on  this  side. 
It  is  a  difficult  and  an  invidious  task  to  stem  the  torrent  of  public 
sentiment,  when  all  the  generous  feelings  of  the  human  heart  are  ap- 
pealed to.  But  I  was  delegated,  sir,  to  this  House,  to  guard  the 
interests  of  the  people  of  the  United  States,  not  to  guard  the  rights 
of  other  people ;  and,  if  it  was  doubted,  even  in  the  case  of  England, 
a  land  fertile  above  all  other  lands  (not  excepting  Greece  herself)  in 
great  and  glorious  men — if  it  was  doubted  whether  her  interference 
in  the  politics  of  the  continent,  though  separated  from  it  only  by  a 
narrow  strait,  not  so  wide  as  the  Chesapeake,  as  our  Mediterranean 
Sea,  had  redounded  either  to  her  honor  or  advantage ;  if  the  effect  of 
that  interference  has  been  a  monumental  debt  that  paralyzes  the  arm 
that  might  now  strike  for  Greece,  that  certainly  would  have  struck 
for  Spain,  can  it  be  for  us  to  seek,  in  the  very  bottom  of  the  Mediter- 
ranean, for  a  quarrel  with  the  Ottoman  Porte?  And  this,  while  we 
have  an  ocean  rolling  between  ?  While  we  are  in  that  sea  without  a 
single  port  to  refit  a  gun-boat ;  and  while  the  powers  of  Barbary  lie 
in  succession  in  our  path,  shall  we  open  this  Pandora's  box  of  politi- 
cal evils  ?  Are  we  prepared  for  a  war  with  these  pirates  ?  (not  that 


EIGHTEENTH  CONGRESS.  197 

we  are  not  perfectly  competent  to  such  a  war,  but)  does  it  suit  our 
finances  ?  Does  it  suit,  sir,  our  magnificent  projects  of  roads  and 
canals  ?  Does  it  suit  the  temper  of  our  people  ?  Does  it  promote 
their  interests  ?  will  it  add  to  their  happiness  ?  Sir,  why  did  we 
remain  supine  while  Piedmont  and  Naples  were  crushed  by  Austria  2 
Why  did  we  stand  aloof,  while  the  Spanish  peninsula  was  again 
reduced  under  legitimate  government?  If  we  did  not  interfere  then, 
why  now  ? 

"  This  Quixotism,  in  regard  either  to  Greece  or  to  South  Ameri- 
ca, is  not  what  the  sober  and  .reflecting  minds  of  our  people  require 
at  our  hands.  Sir,  we  are  in  debt  as  individuals,  and  we  are  in  debt 
as  a  nation ;  and  never,  since  the  days  of  Saul  and  David,  or  Caesar 
and  Catiline,  could  a  more  unpropitious  period  have  been  found  for 
such  an  undertaking.  The  state  of  society  is  too  much  disturbed. 
There  is  always,  in  a  debtor,  a  tendency  either  to  torpor  or  to  despe- 
ration— neither  condition  is  friendly  to  such  deliberations.  But  I 
will  suspend  what  I  have  further  to  say  on  this  subject.  For  my  part, 
I  see  as  much  danger,  and  more,  in  the  resolution  proposed  by  the 
gentleman  from  Kentucky,  as  in  that  of  the  gentleman  from  Massa- 
chusetts. The  war  that  may  follow  on  the  one,  is  a  distant  war ;  it 
lies  on  the  other  side  of  the  ocean.  The  war  that  may  be  induced 
by  the  other,  is  a  war  at  hand ;  it  is  on  the  same  continent.  I  am 
equally  opposed  to  the  amendment  which  has  been  since  offered  to 
the  original  resolutions.  Let  us  look  a  little  further  at  all  of  them. 
Let  us  sleep  upon  them  before  we  pass  resolutions,  which,  I  will  not 
say,  are  mere  loops  to  hang  speeches  on,  and  thereby  commit  the  na- 
tion to  a  war,  the  issues  of  which  it  is  not  given  to  human  sagacity 
to  divine." 

The  resolutions  were  postponed.  When  again  taken  up,  Mr.  Ran- 
dolph spoke  at  large  upon  them.  We  must  be  content  with  a  few  par- 
agraphs, only. 

c;  It  is  with  serious  concern  and  alarrm,"  said  Mr.  Randolph,  "  that 
I  have  heard  doctrines  broached  in  this  debate,  fraught  with  conse- 
quences more  disastrous  to  the  best  interests  of  this  people,  than  any 
that  I  ever  heard  advanced,  during  the  five  and  twenty  years  since  1 
have  been  honored  with  a  seat  on  this  floor.  They  imply,  to  my  ap- 
prehension, a  total  and  fundamental  change  of  the  policy  pursued  by 
this  Government,  db  urbe  condita — from  the  foundation  of  the  Repub- 
lic, to  the  present  day.  Are  we.  sir,  to  go  on  a  crusade,  in  another 
hemisphere,  for  the  propagation  of  two  objects  as  dear  and  delightful 
to  my  heart,  as  to  that  of  any  gentleman  in  this,  or  in  any  other  as- 
sembly— Liberty  and  Religion — and,  in  the  name  of  these  holy 
words — by  this  powerful  spell,  is  this  nation  to  be  conjured  and  be- 
guiled out  of  the  highway  of  heaven — out  of  its  present  compara- 


198  .  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

tively  happy  state,  into  all  the  disastrous  conflicts  arising  from  tha 
policy  of  European  powers,  with  all  the  consequences  which  flow  from 
them  ?  Liberty  and  Religion,  sir !  Things  that  are  yet  dear,  in  spite 
of  all  the  mischief  that  has  been  perpetrated  in  their  name.  I  be- 
lieve that  nothing  similar  to  this  proposition  is  to  be  found  in  modern 
history,  unless  in  the  famous  decree  of  the  French  National  Assem- 
bly, which  brought  combined  Europe  against  them,  with  its  united 
strength ;  and,  after  repeated  struggles,  finally  effected  the  downfall 
of  the  French  power. 

"  I  will  respectfully  ask  the  gentleman  from  Massachusetts, 
whether,  in  his  very  able  and  masterly  arguroont — and  he  has  said 
all  that  could  be  said  on  the  subject,  and  much  more  thai*  I  supposed 
could  have  been  said  by  any  man  in  favor  of  his  resolution — whether 
he,  himself,  has  not  furnished  an  answer  to  his  speech.  I  had  not 
the  happiness  myself  to  hear  his  speech,  but  a  friend  has  read  it  to 
me — in  one  of  the  arguments  in  that  speech,  towards  the  conclusion, 
I  think,  of  his  speech,  the  gentleman  lays  down  from  Puffendorff,  in 
reference  to  the  honeyed  words  and  pious  professions  of  the  Holy  Al- 
liance, that  these  are  all  surplusage,  because  nations  are  always  sup- 
posed to  be  ready  to  do  what  justice  and  national  law  require.  Well, 
sir,  if  this  be  so,  why  may  not  the  Greeks  presume — why  are  they 
not  in  this  principle,  bound  to  presume — that  this  Government  is  dis- 
posed to  do  all,  in  reference  to  them,  that  they  ought  to  do,  without 
any  formal  resolutions  to  that  effect  ?  I  ask  the  gentleman  from  Mas- 
sachusetts, whether  the  doctrine  of  Puffendorff  does  not  apply  as 
strongly  to  the  resolution  as  to  the  declaration  of  the  Allies — that  is, 
if  the  resolution  of  the  gentleman  be  indeed  that  almost  nothing  he 
would  have  us  suppose,  if  there  be  not  something  behiiid  this  nothing, 
which  divides  this  House,  (not  horizontally,  as  the  gentleman  has 
somewhat  quaintly  said — but  vertically)  into  two  unequal  parties ;  one 
the  advocate  of  a  splendid  system  of  crusades,  the  other,  the  friends 
of  peace  and  harmony ;  the  advocates  of  a  fireside* policy — for,  as 
long  as  all  is  right  at  the  fireside,  there  cannot  be  much  wrong  else- 
where— whether,  I  repeat,  does  not  the  doctrine  of  Puffendorff  apply 
as  well  to  the  words  of  the  resolution,  as  to  the  words  of  the  Holy 
Alliance  ? 

"  There  was  another  remark  that  fell  from  the  gentleman  from 
Massachusetts — of  which  I  shall  speak,  as  I  shall  always  speak  of 
any  thing  from  that  gentleman,  with  all  the  personal  respect  that 
may  be  consistent  with  the  freedom  of  discussion.  Among  other 
cases  forcibly  put  by  the  gentleman,  why  he  would  embark  in  this 
incipient  crusade  against  Mussulmen,  he  stated  this  as  one — that  they 
hold  human  beings  as  property.  Aye,  sir, — and  what  says  the  Con- 
stitution of  the  United  States  on  this  point? — unless,  indeed,  that 
instrument  is  wholly  to  be  excluded  from  consideration — unless  it  is 


EIGHTEENTH  CONGRESS.  199 

to  be  regarded  as  a  mere  useless  parchment,  worthy  to  be  burnt,  as 
was  once  actually  proposed.  Does  not  that  Constitution  give  its  sanc- 
tion to  the  holding  of  human  beings  as  property  ?  Sir,  I  am  not  go- 
ing to  discuss  the  abstract  question  of  liberty  or  slavery,  or  any  other 
abstract  question.  I  go  for  matters  of  fact.  But  I  would  ask  gen- 
tlemen in  this  House,  who  have  the  misfortune  to  reside  on  the 
wrong  side  of  a  certain  mysterious  parallel  of  latitude,  to  take  this 
question  seriously  into  consideration — whether  the  Government  of  the 
United  States  is  prepared  to  say,  that  the  act  of  holding  human  be- 
ings as  property,  is  sufficient  to  place  the  party  so  offending,  under 
the  ban  of  its  high  and  mighty  displeasure  ? 

"  Sir,  I  am  afraid,  that,  along  with  some  most  excellent  attributes 
and  qualities — the  love  of  liberty,  jury  trial,  the  writ  of  habeas  cor- 
pus, and  all  the  blessings  of  free  government  we  have  derived  from 
our  Anglo-Saxon  ancestors,  we  have  got  not  a  little  of  their  John 
Bull,  or  rather  John  Bull-dog  spirit — their  readiness  to  fight  for  any 
body,  and  on  any  occasion.  Sir,  England  has  been  for  centuries  the 
game-cock  of  Europe.  It  is  impossible  to  specify  the  wars  in  which 
she  has  been  engaged  for  contrary  purposes  ;  and  she  will  with  great 
pleasure,  see  us  take  off  her  shoulders  the  labor  of  preserving  the 
balance  of  power.  We  find  her  fighting,  now  for  the  Queen  of  Hun- 
gary— then  for  her  inveterate  foe,  the  King  of  Prussia — now  at  war 
for  the  restoration  of  the  Bourbons — and  now  on  the  eve  of  war  with 
them  for  the  liberties  of  Spain. 

"  These  lines  on  the  subject,  were  never  more  applicable,  than  they 
have  now  become : 

" '  Now  Europe's  balanced — neither  side  prevails, 
For  nothing's  left  in  either  of  the  scales.' 

"  If  we  pursue  the  same  policy,  we  must  travel  the  same  road,  and 
endure  the  same  burthens,  under  which  England  now  groans.  But, 
glorious  as  such  a  design  might  be,  a  President  of  the  United  States 
would,  in  my  apprehension,  occupy  a  prouder  place  in  history,  who, 
when  he  retires  from  office,  can  say  to  the  people  who  elected  him,  I 
leave  you  without  a  debt,  than  if  he  had  fought  as  many  pitched  bat- 
tles as  Caesar,  or  achieved  as  many  naval  victories  as  Nelson.  And 
what,  sir,  is  debt  ?  In  an  individual  it  is  slavery.  It  is  slavery  of 
the  worst  sort,  surpassing  that  of  the  "West  India  Islands,  for  it  en- 
slaves the  mind,  as  well  as  it  enslaves  the  body  ;  and  the  creature  who 
can  be  abject  enough  to  incur  and  to  submit  to  it,  receives,  in  that  condi- 
tion of  his  being,  perhaps,  an  adequate  punishment.  Of  course,  I  speak 
of  debt,  with  the  exception  of  unavoidable  misfortune.  I  speak  of 
debt  caused  by  mismanagement,  by  unwarrantable  generosity,  by  being 
generous  before  being  just.  I  am  aware  that  this  sentiment  was  ridi- 
culed by  Sheridan,  whose  lamentable  end  was  the  best  commentary 
upon  its  truth.  No.  sir ;  let  us  abandon  these  projects.  Let  us  say 


200  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

to  those  seven  millions  of  Greeks,  *  We  defended  ourselves  when  we 
were  but  three  millions,  against  a  power,  in  comparison  with  which 
the  Turk  is  but  a  lamb.  Go  and  do  thou  likewise.'  And  so  with 
the  governments  of  South  America.  If,  after  having  achieved  their 
independence,  they  have  not  valor  to  maintain  it,  I  would  not  commit 
the  safety  and  independence  of  this  country  in  such  a  cause.  I  will, 
in  both  these,  pursue  the  same  line  of  conduct  which  I  have  ever  pur- 
sued, from  the  day  I  took  a  seat  in  this  House,  in  1799,  from  which, 
without  boasting,  I  challenge  any  gentleman  to  fix  upon  me  any  color- 
able charge  of  departure. 

"  Let  us  adhere  to  the  policy  laid  down  by  the  second  as  well  as 
the  first  founder  of  our  republic — by  him  who  was  the  Camillas,  as 
well  as  Romulus,  of  the  infant  State — to  the  policy  of  peace,  com- 
merce, and  honest  friendship  with  all  nations,  entangling  alliances 
with  none ;  for  to  entangling  alliances  we  must  come,  if  you  once  em- 
bark in  policy  such  as  this.  And,  with  all  my  British  predilections, 
I  suspect  I  shall,  whenever  that  question  shall  present  itself,  resist 
as  strongly  an  alliance  with  Great  Britain,  as  with  any  other  power. 
We  are  sent  here  to  attend  to  the  preservation  of  the  peace  of  this 
country,  and  not  to  be  ready,  on  all  occasions,  to  go  to  war,  whenever 
any  thing  like  what,  in  common  parlance,  is  termed  a  turn  up:  takes 
place  in  Europe. 

"What,  sir,  is  our  condition?  We  are  absolutely  combatting 
shadows.  The  gentleman  would  have  us  to  believe  his  resolution  is 
all  but  nothing ;  yet,  again,  it  is  to  prove  omnipotent,  and  fill  the 
whole  globe  with  its  influence.  Either  it  is  nothing,  or  it  is  some- 
tiling.  If  it  be  nothing,  let  it  return  to  its  original  nothingness  ; 
let  us  lay  it  on  the  table,  and  have  done  with  it  at  once ;  but,  if  it  is 
that  something,  which  it  has  been  on  the  other  hand  represented  to 
be,  let  us  beware  how  we  touch  it.  For  rny  part,  I  would  sooner  put 
the  shirt  of  Nessus  on  my  back  than  sanction  these  doctrines — doc- 
trines such  as  I  never  heard  from  my  boyhood  till  now.  They  go 
the  whole  length.  If  they  prevail,  there  are  no  longer  any  Pyre- 
nees ;  every  bulwark  and  barrier  of  the  Constitution  is  broken  down  ; 
it  is  become  tabula  rasa,  a  carte  llanche,  for  every  one  to  scribble  on 
it  what  he  pleases." 

The  resolutions  were  laid  on  the  table,  never  afterwards  to  ba 
called  up. 


INTERNAL  IMPROVEMENTS.  201 

CHAPTER    XXIII. 

INTERNAL  IMPROVEMENTS. 

IMMEDIATELY  after  the  close  of  the  foregoing  debate,  within  a  few  days, 
there  followed  a  discussion  on  an  appropriation  to  defray  the  expenses  of 
a  survey  of  the  country,  with  reference  to  an  extended  and  connected 
scheme  of  roads  and  canals.  But  two  years  previous,  May,  1822,  Mr. 
Monroe  had  demonstrated,  in  the  most  elaborate  manner,  the  unconsti- 
tutionally of  any  system  of  internal  improvement  by  the  Federal  Gov- 
ernment. Having  duly  considered  the  bill,  entitled  "  An  act  for  the 
preservation  and  repair  of  the  Cumberland  Road,"  he  returned  it 
to  the  House  of  Representatives,  in  which  it  originated,  under  the 
conviction  that  Congress  did  not  possess  the  power,  under  the  Con- 
stitution, to  pass  such  a  law. 

A  power  to  establish  turnpikes,  with  gates  and  tolls,  and  to  enforce 
the  collection  of  the  tolls  by  penalties,  implies  a  power  to  adopt 
and  execute  a  complete  system  of  internal  improvement.  Mr.  Mon- 
roe contended  that  Congress  did  not  possess  this  power — that  the 
States  individually  could  not  grant  it.  If  the  power  exist,  it  must 
be  either  because  it  has  been  specifically  granted  to  the  United  States, 
or  that  it  is  incidental  to  some  power  which  has  been  specifically 
granted.  It  has  never  been  contended  that  the  power  was  specifi- 
cally granted.  It  is  claimed  only  as  being  incidental  to  some  one  or 
more  of  the  powers  that  are  specifically  granted. 

The  following  are  the  powers  from  which  it  is  said  to  be  derived : 
1st.  From  the  right  to  establish  post-offices  and  post-roads.  2d.  From 
the  right  to  declare  war.  3d.  To  regulate  commerce.  4th.  To  pay 
the  debts,  and  provide  for  the  common  defence  and  general  welfare. 
5th.  From  the  power  to  make  all  laws  necessary  and  proper  for  car- 
rying into  execution  all  the  powers  vested  by  the  Constitution  in  the 
Government  of  the  United  States.  Gth.  From  the  power  to  dispose 
of,  and  make  all  needful  rules  and  regulations  respecting  the  territory 
and  other  property  of  the  United  States. 

Mr.  Monroe  took  up  the  power  thus  claimed,  and  by  a  most 
extended  and  elaborate  review  of  the  history  and  the  principles 


202  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

of  the  Constitution,  demonstrated  that  it  could  not  be  derived 
from  either  of  those  powers  specified,  nor  from  all  of  them  united, 
and  that  in  consequence  it  did  not  exist. 

These  views,  so  distinct  and  unequivocal,  were  set  forth  by  Mr. 
Monroe  on  the  4th  of  May,  1822,  in  a  special  message,  addressed  to 
Congress.  In  December,  1823,  a  bill  was  introduced  into  the  House 
of  Representatives,  by  which  the  President  of  the  United  States  was 
authorized  to  cause  the  necessary  surveys,  plans,  and  estimates  to 
be  made,  of  the  routes  of  such  roads  and  canals  as  he  may  deem  of 
national  importance,  in  a  commercial  or  military  point  of  view,  or 
necessary  for  the  transportation  of  the  public  mail.  This  bill,  it  was 
understood,  contemplated  a  scheme  of  internal  improvement  on  the 
most  extended  scale ;  as  such,  it  was  discussed  and  voted  upon. 
The  debate  was  long,  and  was  ably  conducted.  Mr.  Clay,  as  usual, 
was  the  great  champion  of  this  as  of  all  the  other  brilliant  schemes 
of  the  day.  It  was  natural,  therefore,  that  he  and  Randolph  should 
come  in  collision  on  all  occasions.  The  one  was  the  bold  leader  of  a 
new  school  of  politicians,  sprung  up  out  of  the  ruins  of  the  old  Ham- 
iltonian  dynasty,  who  by  interpolation  or  construction  made  the  Con- 
stitution mean  any  thing  and  every  thing  their  ardent  minds  chose 
to  aspire  to.  The  other  was  the  clear-sighted,  consistent,  and  up- 
right statesman,  that  stood  by  the  old  landmarks  of  republicanism, 
as  they  were  laid  down  by  the  fathers  of  the  faith ;  and  never  could 
be  induced  to  depart  from  them  by  the  hope  of  reward  or  the  fear 
of  denunciation.  They  were  the  Lucifer  and  the  Michael  of  contend- 
ing hosts : 

"  Now  waved  their  fiery  swords,  and  in  the  air 
Made  horrid  circles :  two  broad  suns  their  shields 
Blaz'd  opposite,  while  expectation  stood 
In  horror ;  from  each  hand  with  speed  retir'd 
Where  erst  was  thickest  fight,  the  angelic  throng, 
And  left  large  field ;  unsafe  within  the  wind 
Of  such  commotion." 

Or   Randolph,  rather,  was  the  faithful  Abdiel — 

"  Nor  number,  nor  example  with  him  wrought 
To  swerve  from  truth,  or  change  his  constant  mind, 
Though  single.     From  amidst  them  forth  he  passed, 
And  with  retorted  scorn  his  back  he  turned 
On  those  proud  towers  to  s\vift  destruction  doomed/' 


INTERNAL  IMPROVEMENTS.  203 

Mr.  Kandolph,  on  the  31st  of  January,  1824,  delivered  his  senti- 
ments at  large  on  the  bill.  The  reader  must  here  also  be  Content 
with  a  few  paragraphs  : 

'•During  no  very  short  course  of  public  life,"  said  Mr.'B.,  "  I  do 
not  know  that  it  has  ever  been  my  fortune  to  rise  under  as  much  em- 
barrassment, or  to  address  the  House  with  as  much  repugnance  as 
I  now  feel.  That  repugnance,  in  part,  grows  out  of  the  necessity  that 
exists  for  my  taking  some  notice,  in  the  course  of  my  observations; 
of  the  argument,  if  argument  it  may  be  called,  of  an  honorable  mem- 
ber of  this  House,  from  Kentucky.  And,  although  I  have  not  the 
honor  to  know,  personally,  or  even  by  name,  a  large  portion  of  the 
members  of  this  House,  it  is  not  necessary  for  me  to  indicate  the 
cause  of  that  repugnance.  But  this  I  may  venture  to  promise  the 
committee,  that,  in  my  notice  of  the  argument  of  that  member,  I 
shall  show,  at  least,  as  much  deference  to  it,  as  he  showed  to  the 
message  of  the  President  of  the  United  States  of  America,  on  re- 
turning a  bill  of  a  nature  analogous  to  that  now  before  us — I  «ay  at 
least  as  much ; .  I  should  regret  if  not  more.  With  the  argument  of 
the  President,  however,  I  have  nothing  to  do.  I  wash  my  hands  of 
it.  and  will  leave  it  to  the  triumph,  the  clemency,  the  mercy  of  the 
honorable  gentleman  of  Kentucky — if,  indeed,  to  use  his  own  lan- 
guage, amid  the  mass  of  words  in  which  it  is  enveloped,  he  has  been 
able  to  find  it.  My  purpose  in  regard  to  the  argument  of  the  gen- 
tleman from  Kentucky  is,  to  show  that  it  lies  in  the  compass  of  a 
nut-shell ;  that  it  turns  on  the  meaning  of  one  of  the  plainest  words 
in  the  English  language.  I  am  happy  to  be  able  to  agree  with  that 
gentleman  in  at  least  one  particular,  to  wit :  in  the  estimate  the  gen- 
tleman has  formed  of  his  own  powers  as  a  grammarian,  philologer. 
and  critic ;  particularly  as  those  powers  have  been  displayed  in  the 
dissertation  with  which  he  has  favored  the  committee  on  the  inter- 
pretation of  the  word  establish. 

"  l  Congress,'  says  the  Constitution, '  shall  have  power  to  establish 
(ergo,  says  the  gentleman,  Congress  shall  have  power  to  construct) 
post-roads.' 

"  One  would  suppose,  that,  if  any  thing  could  be  considered  as 
settled,  by  precedent  in  legislation,  the  meaning  of  the  words  of  the 
Constitution  must,  before  this  time,  have  been  settled,  by  the  uniform 
sense  in  which  that  power  has  been  exercised,  from  the  commence- 
ment of  the  Government  to  the  present  time.  What  is  the  fact? 
Your  statute-book  is  loaded  with  acts  for  the  '  establishment'  of  post- 
roads,  and  the  post-master  general  is  deluged  with  petitions  for  the 
'  establishment'  of  post-offices ;  and  yet,  we  are  now  gravely  debating 
on  what  the  word  '  establish'  shall  be  held  to  mean  !  A  curious  pre- 
dicament we  are  placed  in  :  precisely  the  reverse  of  that  of  Molicre's 
34 


£04:  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

citizen  turned  gentleman,  who  discovered,  to  his  great  surprise,  that 
he  had  been  talking  '  prose'  all  his  life  long  without  knowing  it.  A 
common  case.  It  is  just  so  with  all  prosers,  and  I  hope  I  may  not 
exemplify  it  in  this  instance.  But,  sir,  we  have  been  for  five  and 
thirty  years  establishing  post-roads,  under  the  delusion  that  we  were 
exercising  a  power  specially  conferred  upon  us  by  the  Constitution, 
while  we  were,  according  to  the  suggestion  of  the  gentleman  from 
Kentucky,  actually  committing  treason,  by  refusing,  for  so  long  a 
time,  to  carry  into  effect  that  very  article  of  the  Constitution  ! 

"  To  forbear  the  exercise  of  a  power  vested  in  us  for  the  public 
good,  not  merely  for  our  own  aggrandizement,  is.  according  to  the 
argument  of  the  gentleman  from  Kentucky,  treachery  to  the  Consti- 
tution !  I,  then,  sir,  must  have  commenced  my  public  life  in  trea- 
son, and  in  treason  am  I  doomed  to  end  it.  One  of  the  first  votes* 
that  I  ever  had  the  honor  to  give,  in  this  House,  was  a  vote  against 
the  establishment,  if  gentlemen  please,  of  a  uniform  system  of  bank- 
ruptcy— a  power  as  unquestionably  given  to  Congress,  by  the  Consti- 
tution, as  the  power  to  lay  a  direct  tax.  But,  sir,  my  treason  did 
not  end  there.  About  two  years  after  the  establishment  of  this  uni- 
form system  of  bankruptcy,  I  was  particcps  criminis,  with  almost 
the  unanimous  voice  of  this  House,  in  committing  another  act  of 
treachery  in  repealing  it ;  and  Mr.  Jefferson,  the  President  of  the 
United  States,  in  the  commencement  of  his  career,  consummated  the 
treason  by  putting  his  signature  to  the  act  of  repeal. 

'•  Miserable,  indeed,  would  be  the  condition  of  every  free  people. 
if.  in  expounding  the  charter  of  their  liberties,  it  were  necessary  to  go 
back  to  the  Anglo-Saxon,  to  Junius  and  Skinner,  and  other  black- 
letter  etymologists.  Not,  sir,  that  I  am  very  skilful  in  language : 
although  I  have  learned  from  a  certain  curate  of  Brentford,  whose 
name  will  survive  when  the  whole  contemporaneous  bench  of  Bishops 
shall  be  buried  in  oblivion,  that  ivords — the  counters  of  wise  men, 
the  money  of  fools — that  it  is  by  the  dexterous  cutting  and  shuffling 
of  this  pack,  that  is  derived  one-half  of  the  chicanery,  and  much 
more  than  one-half  of  the  profits  of  the  most  lucrative  profession  in 
the  world — and,  sir,  by  this  dexterous  exchanging  and  substituting 
of  words,  we  shall  not  be  the  first  nation  in  the  world  which  has 
been  cajoled,  u  we  are  to  be  cajoled,  out  of  our  rights  and  liberties. 

"  In  the  course  of  the  observations  which  the  gentleman  from 
Kentucky  saw  fit  to  submit  to  the  committee,  were  some  pathetic 
ejaculations  on  the  subject  of  the  sufferings  of  our  brethren  of  the 
West.  Sir,  our  brethren  of  the  West  have  suffered,  as  our  brethren 
throughout  the  United  States,  from  the  same  cause,  although  with 
them  the  cause  exists  in  an  aggravated  degree,  from  the  acts  of  those 
to  whom  they  have  confided  the  power  of  legislation ;  by  a  departure — 
and  we  have  all  suffered  from  it — I  hope  no  gentleman  will  under- 


INTERNAL  IMPROVEMENTS.  205 

stand  me,  as  wishing  to  make  any  invidious  comparison  between  dif- 
ferent quarters  of  our  country,  by  a  departure  from  the  industry,  the 
simplicity,  the  economy,  and  the  frugality  of  our  ancestors.  They 
have  suffered  from  a  greediness  of  gain,  that  has  grasped  at  the  sha- 
dow while  it  has  lost  the  substance — from  habits  of  indolence,  of  pro- 
fusion, of  extravagance — from  an  aping  of  foreign  manners  and  of 
foreign  fashions — from  a  miserable  attempt  at  the  shabby  genteel, 
which  only  serve  to  make  our  poverty  more  conspicuous.  The  way  to 
remedy  this  state  of  suffering,  is,  to  return  to  those  habits  of  labor 
and  industry,  from  which  we  have  thus  departed; 

"  With  these  few  remarks,"  continued  Mr.  R.,  "permit  me  now  to 
recall  the  attention  of  the  committee  to  the  original  design  of  this 
Government.  It  grew  out  of  the  necessity,  indispensable  and  un- 
avoidable, in  the  circumstances  of  this  country,  of  some  general 
power,  capable  of  regulating  foreign  commerce.  Sir,  I  am  old 
enough  to  remember  the  origin  of  this  Government  ;  and,  though  I 
was  too  young  to  participate  in  the  transactions  of  the  day,  I  have  a 
perfect  recollection  of  what  was  public  sentiment  on  the  subject. 
And  I  repeat,  without  fear  of  contradiction,  that  the  proximate,  as 
well  as  the  remote  cause  of  the  existence  of  the  federal  government, 
was  the  regulation  of  foreign  commerce.  Not  to  particularize  all  the 
difficulties  which  grew  out  of  the  conflicting  laws  of  the  States,  Mr. 
R.  referred  to  but  one,  arising  from  Virginia  taxing  an  article 
which  Maryland  then  made  duty-free ;  and  to  that  very  policy,  may 
be  attributed,  in  a  great  degree,  the  rapid  growth  and  prosperity  of 
the  town  of  Baltimore.  If  the  old  Congress  had  possessed  the  power 
of  laying  a  duty  of  ten  per  cent,  ad  valorem  on  imports,  this  Consti- 
tution would  never  have  been  called  into  existence. 

"  But  we  are  told  that,  along  with  the  regulation  of  foreign  com- 
merce, the  States  have  yielded  to  the  General  Government,  in  as 
broad  terms,  the  regulation  of  domestic  commerce — I  mean  the  com- 
merce among  the  several  States — and  that  the  same  power  is  possessed 
by  Congress  over  the  one  as  over  the  other.  It  is  rather  unfortunate 
for  this  argument,  that,  if  it  applies  to  the  extent  to  which  the  power 
to  regulate  foreign  commerce  has  been  carried  by  Congress,  they 
may  prohibit  altogether  this  domestic  commerce,  as  they  have  here 
toforc,  under  the  other  power,  prohibited  foreign  commerce. 

"  But  why  put  extreme  cases  ?  This  'Government  cannot  go  on 
one  day  without  a  mutual  understanding  and  deference  between  the 
State  and  General  Governments.  This  Government  is  the  breath  of 
the  nostrils  of  the  States.  Gentlemen  may  say  what  th'ey  please  of 
the  preamble  to  the  Constitution  ;  but  this  Constitution  is  not  the 
work  of  the  amalgamated  population  of  the  then  existing  confede- 
racy, but  the  offspring  of  the  States ;  and  however  high  we  may 
carry  our  heads  and  strut  and  fret  our  hour  l  dressed  in  a  little  brief 


206  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

authority,'  it  is  in  the  power  of  the  States  to  extinguish  this  Govern- 
ment at  a  blow.  They  have  only  to  refuse  to  send  members  to  the 
other  branch  of  the  legislature,  or  to  appoint  electors  of  President 
and  Vice-President,  and  the  thing  is  done.  Gentlemen  will  not  un- 
derstand me  as  seeking  for  reflections  of  this  kind ;  but,  like  Fal- 
stafFs  rebellion — I  mean  Worcester's  rebellion — they  lay  in  my  way 
and  I  found  them." 

"  I  remember  to  have  heard  it  said  elsewhere,"  said  Mr.  R.,  '•  that 
when  gentlemen  talk  of  precedent,  they  forget  they  were  not  in  West- 
minster Hall.  Whatever  trespass  I  may  be  guilty  of  upon  the  atten 
tion  of  the  Committee,  one  thing  I  will  promise  them,  and  will  faith- 
fully perform  my  promise.  I  will  dole  out  to  them  no  political  meta- 
physics. Sir,  I  unlearned  metaphysics  almost  as  early  as  Fontenelle, 
and  he  tells  ns,  I  think,  it  was  at  nine  years  old.  I  shall  say  nothing 
about  that  word  municipal.  I  am  almost  as  sick  of  it  as  honest  Fal- 
staff  was  of  '  security ;'  it  has  been  like  ratsbane  in  my  mouth,  ever 
since  the  late  ruler  in  France  took  shelter  under  that  word  to  pocket 
our  money  and  incarcerate  our  persons,  with  the  most  profound 
respect  for  our  neutral  rights.  I  have  done  with  the  word  municipal 
ever  since  that  day.  Let  us  come  to  the  plain  common  sense  con- 
struction of  the  Constitution.  Sir,  we  live  under  a  government  of  a 
peculiar  structure,  to  which  the  doctrines  of  the  European  writers  on 
civil  polity  do  not  apply;  and  when  gentlemen  get  up  and  quote 
Yattel  as  applicable  to  the  powers  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States,  I  should  as  soon  have  expected  them  to  quote  Aristotle  or  the 
Koran.  Our  Government  is  not  like  the  consolidated  monarchies  of 
the  old  world.  It  is  a  solar  system  ;  an  imperium  in  imperio  ;  and 
when  the  question  is  about  the  one  or  the  other,  what  belong  to  the 
imperium  and  what  to  the  imperio,  we  gain  nothing  by  referring  to 
Yattel.  He  treats  of  an  integral  government — a  compact  structure, 
totus  teres  atque  rotundus.  But  ours  is  a  system  composed  of  two  dis- 
tinct governments ;  the  one  general  in  its  nature,  the  other  internal. 
Now,  sir,  a  government  may  be  admirable  for  external,  and  yet  exe- 
crable for  internal  purposes.  And  when  the  question  of  power  in  the 
government  arises,  this  is  the  problem  which  every  honest  man  has 
to  work.  The  powers  of  government  are  divided  in  our  system  be- 
tween the  General  and  State  Governments,  except  such  powers  which 
the  people  have  very  wisely  retained  to  themselves.  With  these 
exceptions,  all  the  power  is  divided  between  the  two  Governments. 
The  given  power  will  not  lie  unless,  as  in  the  case  of  direct  taxes, 
the  power  is  specifically  given  ;  and  even  then  the  State  has  a  con- 
current power.  The  question  for  every  honest  man  to  ask  himself 
is,  to  which  of  these  two  divisions  of  government  does  the  power  in 
contest  belong  ?  This  is  the  problem  we  have  to  settle :  Does  this 
power  of  internal  improvement  belong  to  the  General  or  to  the  State 


INTERNAL  IMPROVEMENTS.  207 

Governments,  or  is  it  a  concurrent  power  ?  Gentlemen  say  we  have,  by 
the  Constitution,  power  to  establish  post-roads ;  and,  having  established 
post-roads,  we  should  be  much  obliged  to  you  to  allow  us  therefore  the 
power  to  construct  roads  and  canals  into  the  bargain.  If  I  had  the  phy- 
sical strength,  sir,  I  could  easily  demonstrate  to  the  committee  that, 
supposing  the  power  to  exist  on  our  part,  of  all  the  powers  that  can  be 
exercised  by  this  House,  there  ?s  no  power  that  would  be  more  sus- 
ceptible of  abuse  than  this  very  power.  Figure  to  yourself  a  commit- 
tee of  this  House  determining  on  some  road,  and  giving  out  the  con- 
tracts to  the  members  of  both  Houses  of  Congress,  or  to  their  friends, 
&c.  Sir,  if  I  had  strength,  I  could  show  to  this  committee  that  the 
Asiatic  plunder  of  Leadenhall-street  has  not  been  more  corrupting 
to  the  British  Government  than  the  exercise  of  such  a  pc  wer  as  this 
would  prove  to  us. 

"  I  said,"  continued  Mr.  R.,  "  that  this  Government,  if  put  io  the 
test — a  test  it  is  by  no  means  calculated  to  endure — as  a  government 
for  the  management  of  the  internal  concerns  of  this  country,  is  one 
of  the  worst  that  can  be  conceived,  which  is  determined  by  the  fact 
that  it  is  a  government  not  having  a  common  feeling  and  common 
interest  with  the  governed.  I  know  that  we  are  told — and  it  is  the 
first  time  the  doctrine  has  been  openly  avowed — that  upon  the  res- 
ponsibility of  this  House  to  the  people,  by  means  of  the  elective  fran- 
chise, depends  all  the  security  of  the  people  of  the  United  States 
against  the  abuse  of  the  powers  of  this  Government. 

"  But,  sir,  how  shall  a  man  from  Mackinaw,  or  the  Yellow  Stone 
River,  respond  to  the  sentiments  of  the  people  who  live  in  New  Hamp- 
shire1? It  is  as  great  a  mockery — a  greater  mockery  than  it  was  to 
talk  to  these  colonies  about  their  virtual  representation  in  the  Bri- 
tish Parliament.  I  have  no  hesitation  in  saying  that  the  liberties  of 
the  colonies  were  safer  in  the  custody  of  the  British  Parliament  than 
they  will  be  in  any  portion  of  this  country,  if  all  the  powers  of  the 
States,  as  well  as  of  the  General  Government,  are  devolved  on  this 
House ;  and  in  this  opinion  I  am  borne  out,  and  more  than  borne  out, 
by  the  authority  of  Patrick  Henry  himself. 

"  It  is  not  a  matter  of  conjecture  merely,  but  of  fact,  of  notoriety, 
that  there  does  exist  on  this  subject  an  honest  difference  of  opinion 
among  enlightened  men ;  that  not  one  or  two,  but  many  States  in 
the  Union  see,  with  great  concern  and  alarm,  the  encroachments  of 
the  General  Government  on  their  authority.  They  feel  that  they 
have  given  up  the  power  of  the  sword  and  the  purse,  and  enabled 
men,  with  the  purse  in  one  hand  and  the  sword  in  the  other,  to 
rifle  them  of  all  they  hold  dear." "  "We  now  begin  to  per- 
ceive what  we  have  surrendered ;  that,  having  given  up  the  power  of 
the  purse  and  the  sword,  every  thing  else  is  at  the  mercy  and  for- 
bearance of  the  General  Government.  We  did  believe  there  were 


208  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH, 

some   parchment   barriers — no  !   what   is  worth  all  the   parchraen 
barriers  in  the  world — that  there  was,  in  the  powers  of  the  States, 
some  counterpoise  to  the  power  of  this  body ;  but,  if  this  bill  passes, 
we  can  believe  so  no  longer." 

"  There  is  one  other  power,"  said  Mr.  R  ,  '•  which  may  be  exercised, 
in  case  the  power  now  contended  for  be  conceded,  to  which  I  ask  the 
attention  of  every  gentleman  who  happens  to  stand  in  the  same  un- 
fortunate predicament  with  myself — of  every  man  who  has  the  mis- 
fortune to  be,  and  to  have  been  born,  a  slaveholder.  If  Congress 
possess  the  power  to  do  what  is  proposed  by  this  bill,  they  may  not  ' 
only  enact  a  sedition  law — for  there  is  precedent — but  they  may 
emancipate  every  slave  in  the  United  States,  and  with  stronger 
color  of  reason  than  they  can  exercise  the  power  now  contended  for. 
And  where  will  they  find  the  power  ?  They  may  follow  the  example 
of  the  gentlemen  who  have  preceded  me,  and  hook  the  power  upon 
the  first  loop  they  find  in  the  Constitution.  They  might  take  the 
preamble,  perhaps  the  war-making  power,  or  they  might  take  a 
greater  sweep,  and  say,  with  some  gentlemen,  that  it  is  not  to  be 
found  in  this  or  that  of  the  granted  powers,  but  results  from  all  of 
them,  which  is  not  only  a  dangerous,  but  the  most  dangerous  doctrine. 
Is  it  not  demonstrable  that  slave  labor  is  the  dearest  in  the  world, 
and  that  the  existence  of  a  large  body  of  slaves  is  a  source  of  danger  ? 
Suppose  we  are  at  war  with  a  foreign  power,  and  freedom  should  be 
offered  them  by  Congress,  as  an  inducement  to  them  to  take  a  part  in 
it ;  or,  suppose  the  country  not  at  war,  at  every  turn  of  this  federal 
machine,  at  every  successive  census,  that  interest  will  find  itself 
governed  by  another  and  increasing  power,  which  is  bound  to  it 
neither  by  any  common  tie  of  interest  or  feeling.  And  if  ever  the 
time  shall  arrive,  as  assuredly  it  has  arrived  elsewhere,  and,  in  all 
probability,  may  arrive  here,  that  a  coalition  of  knavery  and  fanati- 
cism shall,  for  any  purpose,  be  got  up  on  this  floor,  I  ask  gentlemen 
who  stand  in  the  same  predicament  as  I  do,  to  look  well  to  what 
they  are  now  doing,  to  the  colossal  power  with  which  they  are  now 
arming  this  Government.  The  power  to  do  what  I  allude  to  is,  I 
aver,  more  honestly  inferable  from  the  war-making  power  than  the 
power  we  are  now  about  to  exercise.  Let  them  look  forward  to  the 
time  when  such  a  question  shall  arise,  and  tremble  with  me  at  the 
thought  that  that  question  is  to  be  decided  by  a  majority  of  the 
votes  of  this  House,  of  whom  not  one  possesses  the  slightest  tie  of 
common  interest  or  of  common  feeling  with  us." 

The  debate  on  this  important  question  was  kept  up  ten  days 
longer.  On  the  10th  of  February,  Mr.  Randolph  moved  that  the 
bill  be  indefinitely  postponed.  The  motion  was  overruled,  and  the 
bill  was  passed  by  a  majority  of  115  to  86.  So  soon  as  the  vote  was 


SUPREME  COURT.  209 

announced,  it  was  moved  that  the  House  go  into  committee  of  the 
whole  on  the  state  of  the  Union,  with  a  view  of  taking  up  the  bill  for 
a  revision  of  the  tariff.  Mr.  Randolph  exclaimed,  "Sufficient  for  the 
day  is  the  evil  thereof,"  and  hoped  that  the  House  would  do  no  such 
thing ;  they,  however,  did  go  into  committee,  and  made  some  pro- 
gress in  the  bill. 

The  measure  above  adopted  by  the  House,  was  sanctioned  by  the 
President,  thus  furnishing  another  instance  of  a  most  extraordinary 
and  flagrant  abandonment  of  first  principles,  on  a  vital  point  of  the 
Constitution.  Mr.  Madison's  arguments  as  to  the  unconstitution- 
ality  of  the  Bank,  stand  unanswered  and  unanswerable  ;  yet,  in 
1816,  Mr.  Madison,  under  the  pressure  of  circumstances,  the  plea  of 
necessity,  and  the  force  of  precedent,  signed  the  Bank  bill. 

No  man  argued  more  clearly  and  conclusively  than  Mr.  Monroe 
the  unconstitutionality  of  a  system  of  internal  improvement;  yet, 
under  the  influence  of  a  yielding  complacency,  that  was  reluctant  to 
oppose  the  encroaching  spirit  of  the  times,  he  sanctioned  a  measure 
that  adopted  the  system  in  its  broadest  sense,  and  swept  away  every 
barrier  of  the  Constitution. 


CHAPTER   XXIY. 

SUPREME   COURT — DULL  DINNER — HUDDLESFORD's   OAK. 

ABOUT  the  time  the  Roads  and  Canals  bill  was  discussed  in  the  House, 
a  case  was  argued  before  the  Supreme  Court,  involving  the  same  prin- 
ciples. Aaron  Ogden,  under  several  acts  of  the  Legislature  of  the 
State  of  New- York,  claimed  the  exclusive  navigation  of  all  the  waters 
within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  State,  with  boats  moved  by  fire  or 
steam.  Gibbons  employed  two  steamboats  in  running  between  Eliz- 
abethtown,  New  Jersey,  and  New-York,  in  violation  of  the  exclusive 
privilege.  He  was  enjoined  by  the  Chancellor  of  New- York,  and 
in  his  answers  stated,  that  the  boats  were  enrolled  and  licensed,  to  be 
employed  in  carrying  on  the  coasting  trade,  under  the  acts  of  Con- 


210  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

gress — and  insisted  on  his  right,  in  virtue  of  such  licenses,  to  navi 
gate  the  waters  between  Elizabethtown  and  the  city  of  New-York( 
the  acts  of  the  legislature  of  the  State  of  New- York  to  the  contrary 
notwithstanding. 

The  question  was,  whether  the  laws  of  Congress,  passed  in  virtue 
of  the  clause  of  the  Constitution  which  confers  on  them  the  power 
to  regulate  commerce  among  the  several  States,  shall  contravene  and 
supersede  the  laws  of  New-York,  granting  a  monopoly  to  certain  indi- 
viduals to  navigate  steam  vessels  on  the  waters  within  the  jurisdic- 
tion of  that  State. 

The  whole  controversy  turned  on  the  interpretation  of  this  clause 
of  the  Constitution — "  Congress  shall  have  power  to  regulate  com- 
merce with  foreign  nations,  and  among  the  several  States,  and  with 
the  Indian  tribes." 

The  Chief  Justice,  to  arrive  at  his  conclusions,  took  the  broadest 
latitude  of  construction.  "  It  has  been  said,  argues  he,  that  these 
powers"  (powers  enumerated  in  the  Constitution)  "  ought  to  be  con- 
strued strictly.  But  why  ought  they  to  be  so  construed  ?  Is  there 
one  sentence  in  the  Constitution  which  gives  countenance  to  this 
rule  ?  In  the  last  of  the  enumerated  powers,  that  which  grants  ex- 
pressly the  means  for  carrying  all  others  into  execution,  Congress  is 
authorized  '  to  make  all  laws  which  shall  be  necessary  and  proper'  for 
the  purpose."  With  this  broad  principle  as  his  rule  of  construction, 
he  then  goes  on  to  argue  that  the  power  to  regulate  commerce  with 
foreign  nations,  is  full  and  absolute — and  that  it  embraces  the  right 
to  regulate  navigation.  The  next  step  is  to 'prove  that  the  power  to 
regulate  commerce  among  the  States  is  as  broad  and  comprehensive 
as  the  power  to  regulate  it  with  foreign  nations.  "  Commerce  among 
the  States,"  says  he,  "  cannot  stop  at  the  external  boundary  line  of 

each  State,  but  may  be  introduced  into  the  interior." "  The 

genius  and  character  of  the  whole  Government  seem  to  be,  that  its 
action  is  to  be  applied  to  all  the  external  concerns  of  the  nation,  and 
to  those  internal  concerns  which  affect  the  States  generally."  .... 
"  Commerce  among  the  States  must,  of  necessity,  be  commerce 
with  the  States.  In  the  regulation  of  trade  with  the  Indian  tribes, 
the  action  of  the  law,  especially  when  the  Constitution  was  made, 
was  chiefly  within  a  State.  The  power  of  Congress,  then,  whatever 
it  may  be.  must  be  exercised  within  the  territorial  jurisdiction  of  the 


SUPREME  COURT.  211 

several  States."  .  .  .  .  "  This  power,  like  all  others  vested  in  Con- 
gress, is  complete  in  itself,  may  be  exercised  to  its  utmost  extent,  and 
acknowledges  no  limitations,  other  than  are  prescribed  in  the  Consti- 
tution." .....  "  The  power  of  Congress,  then,  comprehends  navi- 
gation within  the  limits  of  every  State  in  the  Union,  so  far  as 
that  navigation  may  be,  in  any  manner,  connected  with  '  commerce 
with  foreign  nations,  or  among  the  several  States,  or  with  the  Indian 
tribes.'  "  -. 

He  goes  on  to  apply  these  principles — self-evident  axiom*  j.s  he 
called  them — to  the  case  before  the  Court,  and  decided  against  the 
exclusive  privilege  of  navigation  granted  by  the  laws  and  sustained 
by  the  Judiciary  of  New- York. 

In  conclusion,  the  Chief  Justice  says :  <;  Powerful  and  ingenious 
minds,  taking,  as  postulates,  that  the  powers  expressly  granted  to  the 
government  of  the  Union,  are  to  be  contracted  by  construction  into  the 
narrowest  possible  compass,  and  that  the  original  powers  of  the  States 
are  retained,  if  any  possible  construction  will  retain  them,  may,  by  a 
course  of  well-digested,  but  refined  and  metaphysical  reasoning,  found- 
ed on  these  premises,  explain  away  the  Constitution  of  our  country, 
and  leave  it,  a  magnificent  structure  indeed  to  look  at,  but  totally 
unfit  for  use." 

But  the  Chief  Justice  did  not  perceive,  that,  by  pursuing  the 
oroad  doctrines  laid  down  by  him,  the  several  departments  of  gov- 
ernment, especially  the  one  over  which  he  presided — the  Judiciary, 
whose  business  it  is  to  construe  and  interpret — might,  step  by  step, 
absorb  all  the  powers  reserved  to  the  States,  and  to  the  people,  and 
make  the  government  a  magnificent  structure  indeed,  not  merely  to 
look  at,  but  one  wielding  all  the  concentrated  powers  of  a  consoli- 
dated empire.  The  true  rule  is  to  go  neither  to  the  one  extreme  nor  to 
the  other,  but  to  give  to  each  and  to  all  that  which  rightfully  belongs 
to  them. 

This  opinion  of  the  Chief  Justice  gave  great  umbrage  to  ths 
States-rights  men.  They  said  he  travelled  out  of  the  record,  to 
make  an  elaborate  argument  in  behalf  of  those  principles  which  were 
then  urged  in  Congress  as  a  justification  of  a  general  system  of  in- 
ternal improvement  among  the  States. 

Mr.  Randolph  says  to  Dr.  Brockenbrough,  the  3d  of  March : 

<;  The  Chief  Justice  yesterday  delivered  a  most  able  opinion  in  the 


212  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

great  New-York  steamboat  case,  fatal  to  the  monopoly.  It  is  said  that 
her  decided  in  favor  of  the  power  of  the  General  Government  to  make 
internal  improvements,  but  I  don't  believe  it.  He  is  too  wise  a 
man  to  decide  any  point  not  before  his  court."  No  man  admired 
Marshall  more  than  John  Randolph ;  he  held  him  up,  as  the  reader 
knows,  as  a  model  to  the  young — to  the  world ;  but  he  did  not  let 
his  partiality  for  the  man  blind  his  judgment  as  to  the  dangerous 
doctrines  of  the  Judge.  When  he  had  read  "  the  opinion,"  he  says : 
"  It  is  the  fashion  to  praise  the  Chief  Justice's  opinion  in  the  case  of 
Ogden  against  Gibbons.  But  you  know  I  am  not  a  fashionable  man; 
I  think  it  is  unworthy  of  him.  Lord  Liverpool  has  set  him  an  ex- 
ample of  caution  in  the  last  speech  of  the  king :  one  that  shames  our 
gasconading  message.  I  said  it  .was  too  long  before  I  read  it.  It 
contains  a  great  deal  that  has  no  business  there,  or  indeed  any  where. 
Mr.  Webster's  phrase, '  unit/  which  he  adopts,  is  a  conceit  (concetto), 
and  a  very  poor  one,  borrowed  from  Dr.  Rush,  who  with  equal  reason 
pronounced  disease  to  be  a  unit.  Now,  as  this  theory  of  the  Doctor 
had  no  effect  whatever  upon  his  practicej  and  that  alone  could  affect  his 
patients,  it  was  so  far  a  harmless  maggot  of  the  brain.  But  when 
that  theory  was  imbibed  at  a  single  gulp  by  his  young  disciples, 
who  were  sent  out  annually  from  Philadelphia,  it  became  the  means 
of  death  not  to  units,  or  tens,  or  hundreds,  but  thousands,  and  tens 
of  thousands. 

"  A  judicial  opinion  should  decide  nothing  and  embrace  nothing 
that  is  not  before  the  court.  If  he  had  said  that '  a  vessel,  having  the 
legal  evidence  that  she  has  conformed  to  the  regulations  which  Con- 
gress has  seen  fit  to  prescribe,  has  the  right  to  go  from  a  port  of  any 
State  to  a  port  of  any  other  with  freight  or  in  quest  of  it,  with  passen- 
gers or  in  quest  of  them,  non  obstante  such  a  law  as  that  of  the  State 
of  New-York  under  which  the  appellee  claims,'  I  should  have  been 
satisfied. 

"  However,  since  the  case  of  Cohen  vs.  Virginia,  I  um  done  with 
th^  Supreme  Court.  No  one  admires  more  than  I  do  the  extraordi- 
nary powers  of  Marshall's  mind :  no  one  respects  more  his  amiable 
deportment  in  private  life.  He  is  the  most  unpretending  and  unas- 
suming of  men.  His  abilities  and  his  virtues  render  him  an  orna- 
ment not  only  to  Virginia,  but  to  our  nature.  I  cannot,  however, 
help  thinking,  that  he  was  too  long  at  the  bar  before  he  ascended  the 
bench ;  and  that,  like  our  friend  T ,  he  had  injured,  by  the  indis- 
criminate defence  of  right  or  wrong,  the  tone  of  his  perception  (if  you 
will  allow  so  quaint  a  phrase)  of  truth  or  falsehood." 

John  Marshall  was,  "  after  the  most  straitest  sect,"  a  Federal- 
ist of  the  Hamilton  school.  The  reader,  doubtless,  well  remembers 
his  attempt  to  play  at  the  game  of  Diplomacy  with  Talleyrand,  and 


SUPREME  COURT.  213 

the  figure  be  cut  in  the  X.  Y.  Z.  business.  Soon  after  his  return  to 
the  United  States  he  was  elected  a  member  of  Congress,  from  the 
Richmond  District,  in  the  spring  of  1799,  after  a  most  violent  and 
bitter  contest,  beating  John  Clopton.  the  old  republican  representa- 
tive. Mr.  Adams,  in  1800,  removed  Timothy  Pickering  from  the 
head  of  his  cabinet,  and  put  General  Marshall  in  his  place ;  and  in 
1801,  as  one  of  the  last  acts  of  his  administration,  made  him  Chiei 
Justice  of  the  United  States. 

The  man  of  great  parts  and  of  upright  principles  will  perfoim 
justly  and  nobly  the  duties  of  whatever  station  he  may  be  placed  in. 
This  maxim  was  well  illustrated  by  Judge  Marshall.  As  a  partisan 
leader  he  was  bold,  fearless,  uncompromising,  and  devoted  to  the 
principles  of  the  cause  he  espoused.  When  elevated  to  tta  Bench 
he  rose  serenely  above  all  party  influences,  and  became  the  enlight- 
ened, wise,  and  upright  Judge.  But  it  is  very  clear,  that  wherever 
the  powers  of  the  Federal  Government  were  concerned,  he  could  not 
rise  above  those  doctrines  which  had  been  so  thoroughly  inculcated 
on  his  mind.  His  federal  principles,  by  long  practice  and  thorough 
digestion,  had  so  completely  become  a  part  of  his  mental  system  as 
to  be  a  law  of  thought  on  all  questions  of  constitutional  interpreta- 
tion. The  tendency  of  the  Supreme  Court  is  now  to  the  opposite 
extreme.  The  S}7stem  of  judicial  reasoning,  like  all  other  moral  sys- 
tems built  on  the  laws  of  the  human  mind,  and  not  the  principles  of  an 
exact  science,  revolves  in  a  c}Tcle ;  and  in  a  series  of  years,  will  find 
itself  occupying  in  regular  succession  the  same  positions  which  it  had 
held  at  some  former  period.  The  mind  progresses,  but  it  is  in  a  circle. 

On  the  20th  of  March,  Mr.  Eandolph  writes  to  his  friend  : 

';  Mr.  King  of  N.  Y.,  his  colleague,  Mr.  Chief  Justice,  Tazewell 
and  some  three  or  four  more  dine  with  me  to-morrow,  so  that  I  shah 
have  good  company,  at  least,  if  not  a  good  dinner."  Two  days  after, 
he  says  :  "  Mr.  Chief  Justice,  Tazewell,  Van  Buren,  Benton,  Morgan, 
of  N.  Y..  and  George  Calvert,  dined  with  me  yesterday  (Mr.  King 
was  sick,  of  his  late  freak  in  the  Senate,  I  shrewdly  suspect)  :  and 
your  '  fat  sail-ion  party'  was  hardly  more  dull  than  we  were.  The 
Chief  Justice  has  no  longer  the  power  '  d'etre  vif  Tazewell  took  to 
prosing  at  the  far  end  of  the  table  to  two  or  three,  who  formed  a  sort 
of  separate  coterie ;  V.  B.  was  unwell,  and  out  of  spirits ;  and  I  was 
obliged  to  get  nearly  or  quite  drunk,  to  keep  them  from  yawning 
outright," 


214:  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

Mr.  Eandolph  was  informed,  about  this  time,  that  Miss  Roaue, 
the  daughter  of  the  late  Judge  Spencer  Roane,  was  expected  to  visit 
Washington. 

{;  If  Miss  Roane,"  says  he,  "  should  honor  our  metropolis  with  her 
presence,  I  shall  make  it  a  point  to  call  upon  her — if  for  no  other 
cause,  from  the  very  high  respect  in  which  I  held  her  father  whilst 
living,  and  hold  his  memory,  being  dead.  I  consider  him  as  a  great 
loss  to  his  country,  not  only  in  his  judicial  character,  but  as  a 
statesman,  who  formed  a  rallying  point  for  the  friends  of  State-rights. 
Besides,  he  had  the  judgment  to  perceive,  and  the  candor  to  acknow- 
ledge, the  consistency  of  my  public  conduct  with  my  avowed  princi- 
ples ;  and  he  had  too  much  greatness  of  mind  to  lend  himself  to  the 
long  and  bitter  persecution  with  which  I  was  assailed  by  two  govern- 
ments, by  the  press,  by  a  triumphant  party  (many  of  whom  were  old 
sedition  law  federalists),  until,  Sertorius  like,  after  having  waged 
a  long  war  upon  my  own  resources,  I  was  vanquished  as  much  by 
treachery  in  my  own  camp,  as  by  the  courage  or  the  conduct  of  the 
enemy.  My  hopes  (plans,  I  never  had  any)  have  been  all  blasted, 
and  here  I  am,  like  Huddlesford's  oak. 

"  'Thou,  who  unmoved  hast  heard  the  whirlwind  chide 

Full  many  a  winter,  round  thy  craggy  bed. 

And  like  an  earth-born  giant  hast  outspread 
Thy  hundred  arms,  and  Heaven's  own  bolts  defied, 
Now  liest  along  thy  native  mountain's  side, 

Uptorn  !  yet  deem  not  that  I  come  to  shed 

The  idle  drops  of  pity  o'er  thy  head, 
Or,  basely,  to  insult  thy  blasted  pride. 

"  :  No,  still  'tis  thine,  though  fallen,  imperial  Oak, 
To  teach  this  lesson  to  the  wise  and  brave — 

That  'tis  far  better,  overthrown  and  broke, 
In  Freedom's  cause  to  sink  into  the  grave, 

Than  in  submission  to  a  tyrant's  yoke, 

Like  the  vile  Reed,  to  bow  and  be  a  slave.' 


CHAPTEE    XXV. 

TARIFF — PROPHECY — LEWIS   McLEAN. 

THE  Tariff  question,  during  the  spring  of  1824,  was  thoroughly 
discussed,  and  for  the  first  time  distinctly  recognized  and  placed  on 
the  footing  of  a  protective  policy.  We  pass  over  this  subject,  and 


TARIFF.  215 

Mr.  Randolph's  great  speech  on  its  leading  principles,  for  the  present. 
Mr.  Randolph,  however,  watched  the  bill  in  all  its  stages,  and  opposed 
many  of  its  most  objectionable  parts  in  the  incipient  stage.  Some  of 
his  best  speeches  are  those  short,  comprehensive,  and  pithy  discourses 
delivered  on  the  spur  of  the  occasion,  on  some  isolated  point  under 
discussion.  On  the  motion  to  reduce  the  duties  on  coarse  woollens, 
Mr.  Randolph  said  : — 

"  I  am  surprised  that  the  votaries  of  humanity — persons  who  Can- 
not sleep,  such  is  their  distress  of  mind  at  the  very  existence  of  negro 
slavery — should  persist  in  pressing  a  measure,  the  effect  of  which  is 
to  aggravate  the  misery  of  that  unhappy  condition,  whether  viewed  in 
reference  to  the  slave,  or  to  his  master,  if  he  be  a  man  possessing  a 
spark  of  humanity  ;  for  what  can  be  more  pitiable  than  the  situation 
of  a  man  who  has  every  desire  to  clothe  his  negroes  comfortably,  but 
who  is  absolutely  prohibited  from  so  doing  by  legislative  enactment  ? 
I  hope  that  none  of  those  who  wish  to  enhance  to  the  poor  slave  (or 
what  is  the  same  thing — to  his  master)  the  price  of  his  annual  blan- 
ket, and  of  his  sordid  suit  of  coarse,  but,  to  him,  comfortable  woollen 
cloth,  will  ever  travel  through  the  southern  country  to  spy  out  the 
nakedness,  if  not  of  the  land,  of  the  cultivators  of  the  soil.  It  is  no- 
torious that  the  profits  of  slave  labor  have  been,  for  a  long  time,  on 
the  decrease ;  and  that,  on  a  fair  average,  it  scarcely  reimburses  the 
expense  of  the  slave,  including  the  helpless  ones,  whether  from  infancy 
or  age.  The  words  of  Patrick  Henry,  in  the  Convention  of  Virginia, 
still  ring  in  my  ears :  '  They  may  liberate  every  one  of  your  slaves. 
The  Congress  possess  the  power,  and  will  exercise  it.'  Now,  sir,  the 
first  step  towards  this  consummation,  so  devoutly  wished  by  many,  is 
to  pass  such  laws  as  may  yet  still  further  diminish  the  pittance  which 
their  labor  yields  to  their  unfortunate  masters,  to  produce  such  a 
state  of  things  as  will  insure,  in  case  the  slave  shall  not  elope  from 
his  master,  that  his  master  will  run  away  from  him.  Sir,  the  blindness, 
as  it  appears  to  me — I  hope  gentlemen  will  pardon  the  expression — 
with  which  a  certain  quarter  of  this  country — I  allude  particularly  to 
the  seaboard  of  South  Carolina  and  Georgia — has  lent  its  aid  to  in- 
crease the  powers  of  the  general  government  on  points,  to  say  the  least, 
of  doubtful  construction,  fills  me  with  astonishment  and  dismay.  And 
I  look  forward,  almost  without  a  ray  of  hope,  to  the  time  which  the 
next  census,  or  that  which  succeeds  it,  will  assuredly  bring  forth, 
when  this  work  of  destruction  and  devastation  is  to  commence  in  the 
abused  name  of  humanity  and  religion,  and  when  the  imploring  eyes 
of  some  will  be,  as  now,  turned  towards  another  body,  in  the  vain 
hope  that  it  may  arrest  the  evil,  and  stay  the  plague." 

April  12,  Mr.  Randolph  said  :  "  If  the  House  would  lend  me  its 


216  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

attention  five  minutes,  I  think  I  can  demonstrate  that  the  argument 
of  the  gentleman  from  Delaware  in  favor  of  the  increased  duty  on 
brown  sugar,  is  one  of  the  most  suicidal  arguments  that  ever  reared 
its  spectral  front  in  a  deliberative  assembly. 

"  The  gentleman  objects  to  reducing  the  duty  on  sugar,  because 
it  will  diminish  the  revenue,  which  he  says  we  cannot  dispense  with*, 
and  yet  he  wishes  to  continue  it  as  a  bounty  of  $3  per  lOOlbs.  (not 
the  long  hundred  of  1 12  Ibs.),  until  the  sugar  planting  and  sugar  ma- 
nufacture should  be  extended,  so  as  to  supply  the  whole  demand  of 
our  consumption.  Then  what  becomes  of  the  revenue  from  sugar, 
that  we  cannot  dispense  with  1  This  is  what  I  call  a  suicidal  argu- 
ment, it  destroys  itself. 

Mr.  McLean,  at  the  commencement  of  his  reply,  appearing  to 
be  much  irritated,  Mr.  Randolph  rose  and  assured  him  that  he  in- 
tended not  the  slightest  disrespect  or  offence — but  Mr.  McLean 
went  on  to  say  that  .the  gentleman  from  Virginia  had  displayed  a 
good  head,  but  he  would  not  accept  that  gentleman's  head,  to  be 
obliged  to  have  his  heart  along  with  it. 

Mr.  Randolph  replied : 

'•'It  costs  me  nothing,  sir,  to  say  that  I  very  much  regret 
that  the  zeal  which  I  have  not  only  felt,  but  cherished,  on  the  sub- 
ject of  laying  taxes  in  a  manner  which,  in  my  judgment,  is  incon- 
sistent, not  merely  with  the  spirit,  but  the  very  letter  of  the  Constitu- 
tion, should  have  given  to  my  remarks,  on  this  subject,  a  pungency, 
which  has  rendered  them  disagreeable,  and  even  offensive  to  the  gen- 
tleman from  Delaware.  For  that  gentleman  I  have  never  expressed 
any  other  sentiment  but  respect — I  have  never  uttered,  or  entertain- 
ed, an  unkind  feeling  towards  that  gentleman,  either  in  this  House 
or  elsewhere,  nor  do  I  now  feel  any  such  sentiment  towards  him.  I 
never  pressed  my  regard  upon  him — I  press  it  upon  no  man.  He 
appears  to  have  considered  my  remarks  as  having  a  personal  applica- 
tion to  himself.  I  certainly  did  not  intend  to  give  them  that  direc- 
tion, and  I  think  that  my  prompt  disclaimer  of  any  such  intention 
ought  to  have  disarmed  his  resentment,  however  justly  it  may  have 
been  excited.  He  has  been  pleased,  sir,  to  say  something,  which, 
no  doubt,  he  thinks  very  severe,  about  my  head  and  my  heart. 

"  How  easy,  sir,  would  it  be  for  me  to  reverse  the  gentleman's 
proposition,  and  to  retort  upon  him,  that  I  would  not,  in  return,  take 
that  gentleman's  heart,  however  good  it  may  be,  if  obliged  to  take 
such  a  head  into  the  bargain. 

"  But,  sir,  I  do  not  think  this — I  never  thought  it — and,  there- 
fore, I  cannot  be  so  ungenerous  'as  to  say  it :  for,  Mr.  Speaker,  who 
made  me  a  searcher  of  hearts?  of  the  heart  of  a  fellow-man,  a  fellow* 


TARIFF.  217 

sinner  ?  Sir.  this  is  an  awful  subject !  better  suited  to  Friday  or 
Sunday  next  (G-ood  Friday  and  Easter  Sunday),  two  of  the  most 
solemn  days  in  the  Christian  calendar — when  I  hope  we  shall  all  con- 
sider it,  and  lay  it  to  heart  as  we  ought  to  do. 

"  But,  sir,  I  must  still  maintain  that  the  argument  of  the  gentle- 
man is  suicidal — he  has  fairly  worked  the  equation,  and  one-half  of 
his  argument  is  a  complete  and  conclusive  answer  to  the  other.  And. 
sir,  if  I  should  ever  be  so  unfortunate  as,  through  inadvertence,  or 
the  heat  of  debate,  to  fall  into  such  an  error,  I  should,  so  far  from 
being  offended,  feel  myself  under  obligation  to  any  gentleman  who 
would  expose  its  fallacy,  even  by  ridicule — as  fair  a  weap  m  as  any 
in  the  whole  Parliamentary  armory.  I  shall  not  go  so  far  as  to 
maintain,  with  my  Lord  Shaftesbury,  that  it  is  the  unerring  test  of 
truth,  whatever  it  may  be  of  temper  ;  but  if  it  be  proscribed  as  a 
weapon  as  unfair  as  it  is  confessedly  powerful,  what  shall  we  say  (I 
put  it,  sir,  to  you  and  to  the  House)  to  the  poisoned  arrow  ? — to  the 
tomahawk  and  the  scalping-knife-?  Would  the  most  unsparing  use 
of  ridicule  justify  a  resort  to  these  weapons'?  "Was  this  a  reason 
that  the  gentleman  sould  sit  in  judgment  on  my  heart  ? — yes,  sir, 
my  heart — which  the  gentleman  (whatever  he  may  say)  in  his  heart 
believes  to  be  a  frank  heart,  as  I  trust  it  is  a  brave  heart.  Sir,  I 
dismiss  the  gentleman  to  his  self-complacency — let  him  go — yes,  sir. 
let  him  go,  and  thank  his  Grod  that  he  is  not  as  this  publican." 

This  is  the  finest  retort  of  the  kind  to  be  found  in  the  English  lan- 
guage. Its  admirable  style  and  temper  cannot  be  too  strongly 
recommended  to  those  who  in  the  heat  of  debate  may  be  tempted  to 
say  severe  and  irritating  things.  This  is  a  model  for  them  to  follow  : 
"  A  soft  answer  turneth  away  wrath."  Mr.  Randolph's  conduct  on 
this  occasion  was  looked  upon  with  admiration  by  all  gentlemen. 

"  Mr.  King,  of  New- York,"  says  he  to  a  friend,  K  came  to  me  yes- 
terday, and  said  that  <  all  the  Georgetown  mess  were  loud  in  their 
praises  of  my  reception  of  McLean  of  Delaware's  attack  upon  me  on 
Monday  (the  day  before  yesterday),  the  12th;  that  the  Patroon  (Van 
Rensselaer)  was  d  lighted,3  &c.,  &c.,  &c.  Tattnall  of  Georgia  (a  preux 
chevalier),  told  Mr.  Macon  that  nothing  could  be  more  dignified  or 
gentlemanly  than  my  reply,  and  that  it  was  just  what  it  ought  to 
have  been.  Many  others  tell  me  that  this  is  the  general  sentiment." 

Mr.  Randolph  frequently  expressed  to  his  friends  his  surprise  at 
this  attack  upon  him,  and  could  not  conceive  the  motive.  .  He  had  a 
true  regard  for  the  gentleman  from  Delaware,  though  he  might  not 
have  been  aware  of  it :  he  pressed  his  regard  upon  no  man.  As  far 
back  as  1820,  when  Mr.  McLean  first  took  his  seat  in  Congress.  Mr, 


218  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

Randolph,  with  characteristic  accuracy  and  penetration,  had  described 
him  to  a  friend,  his  origin  and  history,  and  that  of  his  family,  and 
concluded  by  saying,  "  He  is  the  finest  fellow  I  have  seen  here,  by  a 
double  distance." 

Mr.  Randolph  watched  the  tariff  bill  in  all  its  stages,  and  resisted 
it  so  long  as  there  was  any  hope.  At  length  he  wrote  to  a  friend : 

"  I  am  satisfied  (now)  that  nothing  can  avail  to  save  us.  Indeed 
I  have  long  been  of  that  opinion.  '  The  ship  will  neither  wear  nor 
stay,  and  she  may  go  ashore,  and  be  d — d,'  as  Jack  says." 

Friday,  25th  April,  he  says : 

"  The  tariff  is  finished,  (in  our  House  at  least.)  and  so  am  I.  I 
was  sent  for  on  Tuesday  in  all  haste  to  vote  upon  it ;  when  I  got 
there  the  previous  question  was  taking,  and  the  clerk  reading  the 
yeas  and  nays. 

"  At  the  end,  Gilmore  (a  fine  fellow,  by  the  way,  although  a 
Georgian  and  a  Crawford  man)  moved  for  a  call  of  the  House.  When 
that  was  over,  Wilde,  from  Georgia,  moved  to  amend  the  title.  I,  as 
big  a  fool  as  he,  got  up  to  tell  him  what  an  ass  he  was.  (By  the  way, 
for  '  Smith's  verses  on  the  old  continental  money,'  which  the  reporter 
put  into  my  mouth — why  or  wherefore  he  only  can  tell — read  what 
I  actually  did  say :  Siviffs  verses  on  the  motto  vqwn  Chief  Justice 
WhitshecPs  coach.  So  much  for  reporters.  That  over,  Drayton,  of 
S.  C..  who  is  the  Purge  of  the  House,  got  up  to  make  another  motion 
to  amend.  By  this  time  the  noisome  atmosphere  overcame  me,  and 
JL  left  the  hall.  Mr.  D.  on  his  legs ;  but  a  copious  effusion  of  blood 
from  the  lungs  has  been  the  consequence.  It  came  on  in  about  thirty 
minutes  after  I  got  home ;  so  that  the  debate  on  the  amendment  of 
the  tariff  bill  has  the  honor  of  my  coup  de  grace." 

Mr.  Randolph  was  appointed  on  the  committee  to  investigate  the 
charges  of  mismanagement  brought  by  Ninian  Edwards  against  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury.  In  reference  to  this  subject  he  writes  to 
his  constituents  from  on  board  the  ship  Nestor,  at  sea,  May  1 7 : 

';  Fellow-citizens,  friends,  and  freeholders — A  recurrence  of  the 
same  painful  disease  that  drove  me  from  my  post  some  two  years  ago 
again  compels  me  to  ask  a  furlough,  for  I  cannot  consent  to  consider 
myself  in  the  light  of  a  deserter.  But  no  consideration  whatever 
would  have  induced  me  to  leave  Washington,  so  long  as  a  shadow  of 
doubt  hung  over  the  transactions  of  the  Treasury,  which  I  was  (among 
others)  appointed  to  investigate.  *  *  *  * .  I  confess  that  I  was  not 
without  some  misgivings  that  all  was  not  right.  Holding  myself  aloof 
from  the  intrigues  and  intriguers  of  Washington,  I  bad  remained  a 


SECOND  VOYAGE  TO  EUROPE.  219 

passive  spectator  of  a  scene  such  as  I  hope  never  again  to  witness. 
Not  that  I  was  without  a  slight,  a  very  slight,  preference  in  the 
choice  of  the  evils  submitted  to  us  for  our  acceptance.  I  inclined 
towards  Mr.  Crawford,  for  some  reasons  which  were  private  and  per- 
sonal, and  with  which  it  is  unnecessary  to  trouble  you ;  but,  chiefly, 
because  you  preferred  him  to  his  competitors,  and  because,  if  elected, 
he  would,  in  a  manner,  be  compelled  to  throw  himself  into  the  hands 
of  the  least  unsound  of  the  political  parties  of  the  country ;  that  he 
would,  by  the  force  of  circumstances,  be  compelled  to  act  with  us  (the 
people),  whilst  the  rival  candidates  would,  by  the  same  force  of  cir- 
cumstances, be  obliged  to  act  against  us,  and  with  the  tribe  of  office 
hunters  and  bankrupts  that  seek  to  subsist  upon  our  industry  and 


CHAPTER   XXYI. 

SECOND  VOYAGE    TO  EUKOPE. 

MR.  JACOB  HARVEY,  who  died  in  1848,  was  an  Irishman  by  birth; 
he  emigrated  some  thirty  years  ago  from  his  native  country,  and  made 
the  city  of  New-York  the  place  of  his  residence.  He  was  a  mer- 
chant by  profession,  and  those  who  knew  him  in  his  business  bear  tes- 
timony to  his  extensive  information,  his  skill  and  prudence,  his  integ- 
rity and  liberality.  He  was  a  man  of  refined  literary  tastes,  brilliant 
wit,  genuine  humor,  and  exquisite  delicacy  of  feeling.  These  quali- 
ties rendered  him,  in  the  social  relations  of  life,  an  instructive  and 
fascinating  companion.  The  acquaintance  that  commenced  between 
him  and  Mr.  Randolph,  on  his  first  voyage  to  Europe,  grew  into  an 
unreserved  intimacy  that  lasted  to  the  day  of  his  death.  Speaking 
of  him,  in  a  letter  to  his  niece  from  London,  he  says  :  "  His  name 
is  Jacob  Harvey,  son  of  Joseph  Massey  H.,  a  Limerick  mer- 
chant, attached  to  the  society  of  Friends — what  is  called  a  gay 
Quaker.  His  grandfather,  Reuben  H.,  was  a  merchant  of  Cork,  and 
during  the  war  of  1776  received  a  letter  under  General  "Washington's 
own  hand,  returning  his  thanks  and  those  of  Congress  for  his  kind- 
ness to  our  countrymen  in  Ireland,  prisoners  and  others.  He  was 
introduced  to  me  by  Mr.  Golden,  as  we  left  the  quay." 

Having   assisted   Mr.  Randolph,   says   Mr.  Harvey,  in  making 
35 


220  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

to  her  by  the  nation  in  the  Indian  or  Chinese  seas.  Under  this  im- 
pression the  committee  submit  the  following  resolution :  That  such 
number  of  troops  (not  exceeding )  as  the  President  of  the  Uni- 
ted States  shall  deem  sufficient  to  protect  the  southern  frontier  of  the 
United  States  from  Spanish  inroad  and  insult,  and  to  chastise  the 
same,  be  immediately  raised." 

Mr.  Randolph  explained,  that  the  peculiar  situation  of  the  frontier 
at  that  time  insulted,  had  alone  induced  the  committee  to  recommend 
the  raising  of  regular  troops.  It  was  too  remote  from  the  population 
of  the  country  for  the  militia  to  act,  in  repelling  and  chastising  Span- 
ish incursion.  New  Orleans  and  its  dependencies  were  separated  by 
a  vast  extent  of  wilderness  from  the  settlements  of  the  United  States ; 
filled  with  disloyal  and  turbulent  people,  alien  to  our  institutions, 
language,  and  manners,  and  disaffected  toward  our  government.  Lit- 
tle reliance  could  be  placed  upon  them ;  and  it  was  plain  that  if  "  it 
was  the  intention  of  Spain  to  advance  on  our  possessions  until  she 
should  be  repulsed  by  an  opposing  force,"  that  force  must  be  a  regu- 
lar army,  unless  we  were  disposed  to  abandon  all  the  country  south 
of  Tennessee ;  that  if  the  "  protection  of  our  citizens  and  the  spirit 
and  the  honor  of  our  country  required  that  force  should  be  inter- 
posed," nothing  remained  but  for  the  legislature  to  grant  the  only 
practicable  means,  or  to  shrink  from  the  most  sacred  of  all  its  duties; 
to  abandon  the  soil  and  its  inhabitants  to  the  tender  mercy  of  hostile 
invaders. 

Such  were  the  proposition  and  the  views  of  the  committee,  in  ex 
ict  correspondence,  as  they  conceived,  with  the  wishes  of  the  Presi- 
dent as  expressed  in  his  public  and  secret  message. 

Yet  the  report  of  the  committee,  moderate  as  it  might  seem,  was 
deemed  of  too  strong  a  character  by  the  House.  It  was  rejected.  A 
proposition,  the  avowed  object  of  which  was,  to  enable  the  President 
to  open  a  negotiation  for  Florida,  was  moved  as  a  substitute,  by  Mr. 
Bidwell  of  Massachusetts.  Mr.  Randolph  moved  that  the  sum  to 
be  appropriated  should  be  confined  to  that  object ;  which  was  agreed 
to.  But  afterwards,  when  the  bill  was  formally  brought  in,  this  spe- 
cific appropriation  was  rescinded  by  the  House,  and  the  money  left 
at  the  entire  discretion  of  the  Executive,  to  be  used  "  toward  any  ex- 
traordinary expense  which  might  be  incurred  in  the  intercourse  be- 
tween  the  United  States  and  foreign  nations." 


NINTH  CONGRESS.  221 

Mr.  Randolph  also  moved  to  limit  the  amount  which  the  Govern* 
ment  might  stipulate  to  pay  for  the  territory  in  question ;  upon  the 
ground  that  if  Congress  were  disposed  to  acquire  Florida  by  pur- 
chase, they  should  fix  the  extent  to  which  they  were  willing  to  go, 
and  thereby  furnish  our  ministers  with  a  safeguard  against  the  rapa- 
city of  France ;  that  there  was  no  probability  of  our  obtaining  the 
country  for  less,  but  every  reason  to  believe  that  without  such  a  pre- 
caution on  our  part,  she  would  extort  more.  This  motion  was  over- 
ruled. 

When  the  bill  came  under  discussion,  various  objections  were 
urged  against  it  by  the  same  gentleman  ;  among  others,  that  it  was 
in  direct  opposition  to  the  views  of  the  Executive,  as  expressed  in  the 
President's  official  communication  (it  was  on  this  occasion  that  Gene- 
^al  Varnum  declared  the  measure  to  be  consonant  tc  the  secret 
wishes  of  the  Executive) ;  that  it  was  a  prostration  of  the  national 
honor  at  the  feet  of  our  adversary ;  that  a  concession  so  humiliating 
would  paralyze  our  efforts  against  Great  Britain,  in  case  the  nego- 
tion  then  pending  between  that  government  and  ours,  should 
prove  abortive ;  that  a  partial  appropriation  towards  the  purchase  of 
Florida,  without  limiting  the  President  to  some  specific  amount, 
would  give  a  previous  sanction  to  any  expense  which  he  might  incur 
for  that  object,  and  which  Congress  would  stand  pledged  to  make 
good ;  that  if  the  Executive,  acting  entirely  upon  its  own  responsi- 
bility, and  exercising  its  acknowledged  constitutional  powers,  should 
negotiate  for  the  purchase  of  Florida,  the  House  of  Representatives 
would,  in  that  case,  be  left  free  to  ratify  or  annul  the  contract ;  but 
that  the  course  which  was  proposed  to  be  pursued  (and  which  eventu- 
ally wic  pursued)  would  reduce  the  discretion  of  the  legislature  to  a 
mere  shadow :  that  at  the  ensuing  session  Congress  would  find  itself, 
in  relation  to  this  subject,  a  deliberative  body  but  in  name;  that  it 
could  not,  without  a  manifest  dereliction  of  its  own  principles,  and, 
perhaps,  without  a  violation  of  public  faith,  refuse  to  sanction  any 
treaty  entered  into  by  the  Executive,  under  the  auspices  of  the  legis- 
lature, and  with  powers  so  unlimited  ;  that,  however  great  his  confi- 
dence in  the  Chief  Magistrate,  he  would  never  consent  to  give  any 
President  so  dangerous  a  proof  of  it ;  and  that  he  never  would  pre- 
clude himself,  by  any  previous  sanction,  from  the  unbiassed  exercise 
of  his  judgment  on  measures  which  were  thereafter  to  come  before 


222  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

behind  you,  without  hurting  his  feelings.  You  have  made  the  pool 
fellow  cry." 

"  What,"  said  he  quickly,  "  does  he  shed  tears  ?"  «  He  does,"  re- 
plied I,  "and  you  may  see  them  yourself."  "  Then,"  said  he,  "/^ 
shall  go  with  me !  John,  take  down  your  baggage,  and  let  us  forget 
what  has  passed.  I  was  irritated,  sir.  and  I  thank  you  for  the  re- 
buke." 

Thus  ended  this  curious  scene.  John  instantly  brightened  up, 
soon  forgot  his  master's  anger,  and  was  on  his  way  to  the  boat,  in  a 
few  minutes,  perfectly  happy. 

Just  as  the  boat  was  casting  off,  "Randolph  called  out  to  .tie— • 

"  Good-by,  my  friend,  and  remember,  I  shall  land  at  the  Coi  e  of 
Cork  (the  dangers  of  the  sea  always  excepted),  and  go  over  to  Limer- 
ick, and  spend  a  day  or  two  at  your  father's  house." 

I  did  not  place  much  dependence  upon  this  hasty  promise,  and 
was,  therefore,  agreeably  surprised,  a  few  weeks  afterwards,  by  re- 
ceiving a  letter  from  home,  informing  me  that  "  Randolph  of  Roan- 
oke"  had  really  paid  my  family  a  visit,  of  which  they  had  not  receiv- 
ed the  slightest  intimation,  until  he  entered  the  parlor  and  introduced 
himself.  He  made  himself  extremely  agreeable,  and  they  were  very 
sorry  to  part  with  him  the  next  day. 

"  Sir,"  said  he,  speaking  of  Ireland,  "  much  as  I  was  prepared  to 
see  misery  in  the  South  of  Ireland,  I  was  utterly  shocked  at  the  con- 
dition of  the  poor  peasantry  between  Limerick  and  Dublin.  Why, 
sir,  John  never  felt  so  proud  at  being  a  Virginia  slave.  He  looked 
with  horror  upon  the  mud  hovels  and  miserable  food  of  the  ivhite 
slaves,  and  I  had  no  fear  of  his  running  away.  The  landlords,  and 
the  clergy  of  the  established  church,  have  a  fearful  account  to  give, 
some  day  or  other,  sir,  of  the  five  and  ten  talents  intrusted  to  them. 
I  could  not  keep  silence,  sir,  but  every  where,  in  the  stage-coaches  and 
hotels,  I  expressed  my  opinions  fearlessly.  One  morning,  whilst 
breakfasting  at  Morrison's,  in  Dublin,  I  was  drawn  into  an  argument 
with  half  a  dozen  country  gentlemen,  all  violent  tories,  who  seemed 
to  think  that  all  the  evils  of  Ireland  arose  from  the  disloyalty  of  the 
Catholics.  I  defended  the  latter,  on  the  ground  that  they  were  de- 
nied their  political  rights;  and  I  told  them  very  plainly,  in  the  lan- 
guage of  Scripture,  that  until  they  '  unmuzzled  the  ox  which  treadeth 
out  the  corn,'  they  must  expect  insurrections  and  opposition  to  the 


SECOND  VOYAGE  TO  EUilOPE.  223 

government.  I  had  no  sooner  uttered  these  words  than  they  all  en- 
deavored to  silence  me  by  clamor,  and  one  of  them  insinuated  that 
I  must  be  a  '  foreign  spy.'  I  stood  up  at  once,  sir,  and  after  a  pause, 
said, '  Can  it  be  possible  that  I  am  in  the  metropolis  of  Ireland,  the 
centre  of  hospitality,  or  do  I  dream?  Is  this  the  way  Irish  gentle 
men  arc  wont  to  treat  strangers,  who  happen  to  express  sympathy  for 
the  wrongs  of  their  countrymen  ?  If,  gentlemen,  you  cannot  refute 
my  arguments,  at  least  do  not  drown  my  voice  by  noisy  assertions, 
which  you  do  not  attempt  to  prove.  If  ever  any  of  you  should  visit 
old  Virginia,  I  shall  promise  you  a  fair  hearing,  at  all  events ;  and 
you  may  compare  our  system  of  slavery  with  yours — aye,  and  be  the 
judges  yourselves  !'  This  pointed  rebuke  had  the  desired  effect ;  the 
moment  they  discovered  who  I  was  they  instantly  apologized  for  their 
rudeness,  insisted  upon  my  dining  with  them ;  and  never  did  I  spend 
a  more  jovial  day.  The  instant  politics  were  laid  aside,  all  was  wit 
and  repartee,  and  song.  So  ended  my  first  and  last  debate  with  a 
party  of  Irish  tories." 

Of  England,  he  says,  "  there  never  was  such  a  country  on  the  face 
of  the  earth,  as  England ;  and  it  is  utterly  impossible  that  there  ever 
can  be  any  combination  of  circumstances  hereafter,  to  make  such  an- 
other country  as  old  England  now  is — God  bless  her  !  But  in  Ire- 
land," he  added,  "  the  Government  and  the  Church,  or  the  Lion  and 
the  Jackal,  have  divided  the  spoils  between  them,  leaving  nothing  for 
poor  Pat,  but  the  potatoes.  The  Marquis  of  Wellesley,  sir,  does  his 
best  to  lessen,  the  miseries  of  the  peasantry,  and  yet  he  is  abused  by 
both  factions — a  pretty  good  proof  that  he  acts  impartially  between 
them,  sir." 

From  England,  Mr.  Eandolph  crossed  over  into  France.  From 
Paris,  he  addressed  the  following  letter  to  his  friend,  Dr.  Brocken- 
brough : 

PARIS,  July  24,  1824. 

This  date  says  every  thing.  I  arrived  here  on  Sunday  after- 
noon, and  ani  now  writing  from  the  Grand  Hotel  de  Castile,  rue 
Richelieu  and  Boulevard  des  Italiens — for,  as  the  French  say,  it  gives 
upon  both,  having  an  entrance  from  each. 

I  need  not  tell  either  of  you:  tha-t  it  is  in  the  very  focus  of  gayety 
and  fashion ;  and  if  the  maitre  d'hotel  may  be  credited,  it  is  al- 
ways honored  by  the  residence  of  "  M.  le  Due  de  Davuansaire,"  when- 
ever his  Grace  pays  a  visit  to  his  birthplace.  The  civilities  which, 


224  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

through  the  good  offices  of  my  friend,  Mr.  Foster,  were  tendered  to 
me  two  years  ago,  from  '  Davuansaire  House,'  and  '  Chisonig,'  would 
render  this  circumstance  a  recommendation,  if  the  neatness  and  com- 
fort of  my  apartments  did  not  supersede  all  necessity  for  any  other 
recommendation. 

Here,  then,  am  I,  where  I  ought  to  have  been  thirty  years  ago 
— and  where  I  would  have  been,  had  I  not  been  plundered  and  op- 
pressed during  my  nonage,  and  left  to  enter  upon  life  overwhelmed 
with  a  load  of  DEBT,  which  the  profits  of  a  nineteen  years'  minority 
ought  to  have  more  than  paid ;  and  ignorant  as  I  was  (and  even  yet 
am)  of  business,  to  grope  my  way,  without  a  clue,  through  the  laby- 
rinth of  my  father's  affairs,  and  brought  up  among  Quakers,  an  ardent 
ami  des  noirs^  to  scuffle  with  negroes  and  overseers,  for  something  like 
a  pittance  of  rent  and  profit  upon  my  land  and  stock. 

"  Under  such  circumstances,  that  I  have  not  been  utterly  ruined, 
is  due  (under  Grod)  to  the  spirit  I  inherited  from  my  parents,  and  to  the 
admirable  precepts,  and  yet  more  admirable  example  of  my  revered  mo- 
ther— honored  and  blessed  be  her  memory.  Then  I  had  to  unravel  the 
tangled  skein  of  my  poor  brother's  difficulties  and  debts.  His  sud- 
den and  untimely  death  threw  upon  my  care,  helpless  as  I  was,  his 
family,  whom  I  tenderly  and  passionately  loved,  and  with  whom  I 
might  be  now  living,  at  Bizarre,  if  the  reunion  of  his  widow  with  the 

of  her  husband  had  not  driven  me  to  Roanoke ;  where,  but 

for  my  brother's  entreaty  and  forlorn  and  friendless  condition,  I 
should  have  remained  ;  and  where  I  should  have  obtained  a  release 
from  my  bondage  more  than  twenty  years  ago.  Then  I  might  have 
enjoyed  my  present  opportunities :  but  time  misspent  and  faculties 
misemployed,  and  senses  jaded  by  labor,  or  impaired  by  excess,  can- 
not be  recalled  any  more  than  that  freshness  of  the  heart,  before  it 
has  become  aware  of  the  deceits  of  others,  and  of  its  own. 

"  But  how  do  you  like  Paris  ?  for  all  this  egotism  you  might  have 
poured  out  from  Washington." 

Not  in  the  least.  And  I  stay  here  only  waiting  for  my  letters, 

which  are to  the  return  of  this  day's  post  from  London.  To 

you  I  need  not  say  one  word  of  the  Lions  of  Paris,  but  will,  in  a 
word,  tell  you,  that  crucifixes,  and  paintings  of  crucifixions,  and 
prints  of  Charlotte  Corday  and  Marie  Antoinette,  &c.,  are  the  fashion 
of  the  day.  That  the  present  dynasty,  infirmly  seated  in  the  saddle ; 
and  that  by  little  and  little  every  privilege,  acquired  not  by  the  de- 
signs of  its  authors,  but  by  the  necessary  consequences  of  such  a  revo- 
lution, will  be  taken  from  the  people  ;  nay,  I  am  persuaded  that  the 
lands  will  be  resumed,  or  (what  is  the  same  thing)  an  ample  equiva- 
lent will  be  plundered  from  the  public,  to  endow  the  losers  with.  At 
the  next  session  of  the  deputies,  the  measure  of  reimbursing  the  emi- 
grants— a  measure  the  very  possibility  of  which  was  scouted,  only 


SECOND  VOYAGE  TO  ENGLAND.  225 

three  years  ago.  The  Marquis  de  La  Fayette  had  sailed  for  the 
United  States  about  ten  days  before  my'arrival  here.  I  am  sorry 
he  has  taken  the  step.  It  will  do  no  good  to  his  reputation,  which 
at  his  time  of  life  he  ought  to  nurse.  I  take  it  for  granted,  that 
Ned  Livingston,  or  some  other  equally  pure  patriot,  will  propose 
another  donation  to  him  ;  the  last,  I  think,  was  on  the  motion  of  Beau 
Dawson.  I  hope  I  may  be  there,  to  give  it  just  such  another  recep- 
tion as  M.  Figaro  had  at  my  hands.  Although  it  is  certainly  a  species 
of  madness  (and  I  hear  that  this  malady  is  imputed  to  me)  to  be 
wearing  out  my  strength  and  spirits,  and  defending  the  rights  (whe- 
ther of  things  or  of  persons)  of  a  people  who  lend  their  countenance 
to  them  that  countenance  the  general  plunder  of  the  public,  in  the 
expectation  either  that  they  may  share  in  the  spoil,  or  that  their 
former  peculations  will  not  be  examined  into. 

I  consider  the  present  King  of  France,  and  his  family,  to  be  as 
firmly  seated  on  the  throne  of  the  Tuilleries,  as  ever  Louis  XIV. 
was  at  Versailles ;  all  possibility  of  counter-revolution  is  a  mere  chi- 
mera of  distempered  imagination.  It  would  be  just  as  possible  to  re- 
store the  state  of  society  and  manners  which  existed  in  Virginia  a 
half  a  century  ago ;  I  should  as  soon  expect  to  see  the  Nelsons,  and 
Pages,  and  Byrds,  and  Fairfaxes,  living  in  their  palaces,  and  driving 
their  coaches  and  sixes ;  or  the  good  old  Virginia  gentlemen  on  the 
assembly,  drinking  their  twenty  and  forty  bowls  of  rack  punches,  and 
madeira,  and  claret,  in  lieu  of  a  knot  of  deputy  sheriffs  and  hack  at- 
torneys, each  with  his  cruet  of  whisky  before  him,  and  puddle  of 
tobacco-spittle  between  his  legs. 

But  to  return  to  Paris.  It  is  wonderfully  improved  since  you 
saw  it ;  nay,  since  the  last  restoration,  but  it  is  still  the  filthiest  hole, 
no/  excepting  the  worst  parts  of  the  old  town  of  Edinboro',  that  I 
ever  saw  out  of  Ireland.  I  have  dined,  for  your  sake,  cliez  Beau- 
villierSj  and  had  bad  fare,  bad  wine,  and  even  bad  bread,  a  high 
charge,  and  a  surly  gargon.  Irving,  whom  you 'know  by  character 
(our  ex-minister  at  Madrid),  was  with  me.  He  says  all  the  Traiteurs 
are  bad,  and  the  crack  ones  worst  of  all.  I  have  also  dined  with  Very, 
the  first  restaurateur  of  the  Palais  Royal,  four  times ;  on  one  of 
which  occasions  I  had  a  good  dinner  and  ufair  glass  of  champagne — 
next  door  to  Very,  once,  at  the  Cafe  de  Chartres — with  Pravot — Pas- 
tel ;  all  in  the  Palais  Royal ;  all  bad,  dear,  and  not  room  enough, 
even  at  Beauvilliers1  or  Very's,  to  sit  at  ease.  I  can  have  a  better 
dinner  for  half  a  guitea  at  the  Traveller's,  in  a  saloon  fit  for  a  prince, 
and  where  gentlemen  alone  can  enter,  and  a  pint  of  the  most  exqui- 
site Madeira,  than  I  can  get  here  for  fifteen  francs.  I  have  dined 
like  a  marketman  for  5  fr.  10  sous;  that  is  the  cheapest.  All  the 
wine,  except  le  vin  ordinaire,  is  adulterated  shockingly.  The  Eng- 
lish, that  made  everv  thing  dear,  and  spoiled  the  garcons  and  filles, 


226  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

whose  greediness  is  only  equalled  by  their  impudence.  Crucifixes, 
madonnas,  and  pictures  an'd  prints  of  that  cast,  with  Charlotte  Cor- 
day,  &c.,  &c.,  are  the  order  of  the  day.  Paris  swarms  with  old 
priests,  who  have  been  dug  up  since  the  restoration,  and  they  manu- 
facture young  ones  (Jesuits  especially)  by  hundreds  at  a  single  ope- 
ration. 

Monsieur,  whom  you  saw  at  Edinburgh,  is  remarkable,  as  I  hear, 
for  consuming  a  hat  per  day,  when  one  is  each  morning  put  upon  his 
toilet.  Hats  were  not  so  plenty  then. 

I  made  a  strange  mistake  in  my  order  to  Leigh.  I  intended  to 
have  given  him  control  over  all  my  funds,  except  the  tobacco  sold 
after  that  period,  which  I  wished  to  reserve  as  a  fund,  on  which  to 
play  here— I  mean  in  Europe.  Pray,  let  it  be  so,  deducting  my 
check  for  the  passage  money. 

And  now,  my  good  friend,  let  me  tell  you  that  the  state  of  my 
eyes,  and  of  my  health,  and  of  my  avocations  too — for  I  have  a  great 
deal  of  writing  to  do — may  cause  this  to  be  the  last  letter  that  you 
shall  receive  from  me  until  my  return,  when  we  shall,  I  hope,  chat 
about  these  and  other  matters  once  more. 

In  case  you  should  not  have  gone  to  Kentucky,  I  expect  a  regu- 
lar bulletin  from  you.  There  is  one  subject  very  near  my  heart  that 
you  must  keep  me  informed  about.  I  know  that  women  (with  great 
plasticity  on  other  subjects)  never  will  take  advice  upon  that.  I 
know  that  they  rush  into  ruin  with  open  eyes,  and  spend  the  rest  of 
their  lives  in  cursing,  at  least,  the  happier  lot  of  their  acquaintances, 
who  have  in  the  most  important  concern  of  life  been  governed  by  the 
dictates  of  common  sense.  The  man  is  too  old ;  he  has  not  nous 
enough ;  he  is  helpless.  If  he  had  ten  thousand  a  year,  he  would 
not  be  a  match  for  her.  I  don't  know  who  is  worthy  of  her.  But 
let  him  be  of  suitable  age,  with  mind  and  taste  congenial  with  her 
own,  and  of  an  erect  spirit  as  well  as  carriage  of  body.  They  shall 
have  my  blessing. 

Adieu. 

J.  E.  OF  K. 

Except  a  few  of  the  English,  with  which  people  Paris  swarms, 
I  have  not  seen,  either  in  the  streets  or  elsewhere,  any  thing  that  by 
possibility  might  be  mistaken  for  a  gentleman.  The  contrast  in  this 
respect  with  London  is  most  striking ;  indeed  I  would  as  soon  com- 
pare the  Hottentots  with  the  French  as  these  l^st  with  the  English. 
No  Enquirer  yet  received,  and  I  pine  for  news  from  home. 

The  latter  part  of  the  summer  Mr.  Randolph  spent  among  the 
mountains  of  Switzerland.  August  the  25th  he  says:  "I  was  at 
Lauterbrunnen  gazing  on  the  Stubbach,  or  seeing  •  the  soaring  Jung- 
frau  rear  her  never-trodden  snow.'  " 


PRESIDENTIAL  ELECTION.  227 

He  arrived  in  New- York  the  2d  day  of  December,  when  the  result 
of  the  Presidential  election  was  still  in  doubt,  and  hastened  on  tc 
Washington. 


CHAPTER    XXVII. 

PRESIDENTIAL  ELECTION. 

THE  Presidential  election  of  1824  was  the  legitimate  result  of  the 
preceding  "  era  of  good  feelings."  In  that  contest  there  was  not  one 
political  principle  involved.  In  no  State  in  the  Union,  Delaware 
alone  excepted,  did  the  people  pretend  to  keep  up  their  old  party 
organization.  The  word  federalist  was  not  heard  in  political  circles ; 
it  was  a  mark  of  rudeness  to  attach  that  epithet  to  any  gentleman  ; 
the  measures  it  represented  had  long  since  been  exploded ;  the  word 
itself,  as  calling  up  unpleasant  reminiscences,  had  grown  obsolete ; 
and  every  body  professed  to  belong  to  the  great  republican  family. 
It  was  suspected  there  were  many  federalists  in  disguise,  and  that 
their  profession  of  republicanism  was  merely  a  lip  service ;  but  no 
one  could  point  them  out,  or  identify  them  by  their  political  acts. 
The  party  had  been  dissolved,  the  federalists  themselves  admitted  ; 
but  they  contended  that  it  had  only  been  dissolved  by  the  republi- 
cans embracing  their  doctrines.  And  it  is  very  true  that  all  the 
leading  measures  of  Congress  were  of  a  federal  stamp,  and  that  they 
were  bottomed  on  principles  of  the  most  latitudinous  kind  ;  the  very 
same  that  Hamilton  used  in  defending  his  obnoxious  schemes,  that 
brought  such  discredit  on  the  name  of  federalism.  It  was  impossible 
to  draw  a  line  of  distinction  between  men,  or  to  set  up  any  standard 
by  which  to  judge  their  opinions.  Old  measures  and  the  divisions 
they  occasioned  had  passed  away ;  new  measures,  under  entirely  new 
and  variant  circumstances,  had  been  brought  forward ;  but  they  in- 
volved the  same  principles  of  interpretation,  and  required  the  same 
line  of  argument  in  their  defence,  as  the  old  ones :  but  men  did  not 
divide  upon  them  as  they  had  done  heretofore.  Those  who  professed 
to  abhor  the  doctrines  of  Hamilton,  when  applied  to  the  schemes  of 


228  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

his  day,  now  embraced  them  as  the  only  means  of  defending  and  su» 
taining  their  own  measures.  A  change  of  circumstances  was  thought 
to  justify  a  change  of  political  principle.  In  Hamilton's  day,  and 
down  to  1811,  a  national  bank  was  unconstitutional;  but  now,  in  the 
estimation  of  republicans,  it  had  become  "  necessary  and  proper,'1 
and  therefore  constitutional.  Those  who  came  into  power  with  Mr. 
Jefferson,  professing  hostility  to  a  national  bank,  and  who  refused  it 
1811  to  re-charter  the  old  one,  established  in  1816  a  similar  institu 
tion.  The  latitudinous  construction  of  the  Constitution  by  thb 
Adams  administration  in  1798-99,  and  the  odious  measures  based 
thereon,  such  as  the  alien  and  sedition  laws,  constituted  the  principal 
objection  to  that  administration,  and  were  the  nmn  cause  of  its  over- 
throw ;  and  the  substitution  of  a  party  professing  the  contrary  doc- 
trines— a  party  that  professed  to  interpret  the  Constitution  literally, 
and  that  would  exercise  no  power  that  had  not  been  specifically  given 
by  some  express  grant  in  the  Charter.  This  party  pursued  their 
principles  for  some  years,  and  furnished  a  model  of  a  plain,  just,  and 
economical  government ;  but  in  1816,  while  nominally  in  power,  they 
elected  their  President,  and  for  eight  years  seemed  to  control  the 
measures  of  his  administration ;  and  yet  those  measures,  as  we  have 
abundantly  seen,  were  founded  on  the  same  principles  that  had  been 
so  loudly  condemned  and  unequivocally  repudiated  under  the  Adams 
dynasty :  so  easily  are  men  deceived  by  names  and  appearances  ;  so 
hard  is  it  to  follow  a  rigid  rule  of  abstinence,  when  appetite  and 
opportunity  invite  to  indulgence. 

A  respectable  minority,  with  John  Randolph  at  the  head,  invaria- 
bly opposed  the  consolidating  measures  of  the  times ;  demonstrated 
their  identity  with  the  exploded  doctrines  of  federalism,  and  warned 
the  people  of  the  dangerous  consequences ;  but  it  was  a  sort  of  Cassan- 
dra voice,  that  nobody  heeded :  it  seemed  impossible  to  restore  the  old 
landmarks,  and  to  convince  the  people  that  they  had  gone  backwards, 
and  fallen  into  the  old  paths  they  had  once  abandoned.  All  were  ex- 
expecting  some  special  advantage  from  the  legislation  of  the  day ;  the 
hopes  of  profit  had  stifled  the  remonstrances  of  truth ;  and  the  popular 
leaders  were  constantly  dazzling  the  imaginations  of  the  people  with 
some  magnificent  scheme,  by  which  they  hoped  to  gain  renown  for  them- 
selves, and  to  fasten  to  their  fortunes  by  the  ties  of  a  common  interest, 
•some  class  or  section  of  the  community.  The  presidential  candidates 


PRESIDENTIAL  ELECTION.  229 

were  all  committed,  or  in  some  way  identified  with  those  schemes. 
Mr.  Adams.  Mr.  Calhoun,  and  Mr.  Crawford,  were  members  of  the 
cabinet ;  but  they  had  not  been  slow  in  expressing  themselves  on  all 
occasions,  and  had  given  unequivocal  evidence  of  their  devotion  to 
those  broad  doctrines  that  swept  away  the  barriers  of  the  Constitu- 
tion, and  made  it  a  convenient  instrument  to  sanction  whatever  might 
be  deemed  for  the  time  being  to  be  necessary  and  proper. 

Mr.  Clay,  as  the  leader  in  the  House  of  Representatives,  had  been 
their  most  ardent,  active,  and  eloquent  champion.  His  position  gave 
him  the  advantage  of  the  initiative  in  all  popular  measures,  and  he  never 
failed  to  identify  himself  with  them  by  some  bold  and  eloquent  dis- 
course. Not  content  with  sweeping  away  the  barriers  within  the  narrow 
horizon  of  domestic  politics,  he  embraced  in  the  wide  scope  of  his  phi- 
lanthropic regard  all  the  oppressed  and  struggling  nations  of  the  earth ; 
and,  turning  a  deaf  ear  to  the  warning  of  the  father  of  his  country, 
he  hastened  to  speak  a  word  of  encouragement,  and  to  stretch  out  an 
arm  of  help  without  regard  to  the  consequences  to  his  own  country. 
His  ambition  for  public  display,  his  thirst  for  present  and  personal 
applause,  his  frank  and  manly  character,  his  sanguine  temperament, 
and  bold  imagination,  with  a  quick,  comprehensive,  yet  undisciplined 
mind,  made  him  just  the  character  to  be  led  off  by  any  popular  theme 
that  might  promise  distinction  and  popularity — just  the  man  to  fol- 
low with  undoubting  faith  the  shining  ignis  fatuus  of  the  hour,  and 
to  be  dazzled  by  it  and  deceived. 

General  Jackson  had  not  been  in  political  life,  and  possessed 
great  military  renown ;  this  gave  him  an  advantage  over  his  competi- 
tors :  but  he  was  not  known  to  differ  materially  from  them  in  his 
politfca.  opinions.  There  were  no  public  acts  to  commit  him ;  but 
all  his  correspondence  and  conversations,  so  far  as  they  were  made 
known  to  the  public,  proved  that  at  that  time  he  had  no  clear  con- 
ception of  the  principles  that  divided  the  old  federal  and  republican 
parties,  and  that  he  was  equally  devoted  to  those  new  measures  which 
had  done  so  much  to  bring  back  in  disguise  the  ascendency  of 
federal  doctrines. 

In  this  state  of  things  the  partisans  of  each  of  the  candidates  for 
the  presidency  sought  to  impress  on  the  public  mind  the  idea  that 
*heir  friend  was  par  excellence  the  true  republican  candidate.  But 
it  was  impossible  to  persuade  the  people  to  this  belief,  when  there 


230  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

was  no  political  principle  dividing  them — no  platform  of  doctrine  on 
which  they  were  called  to  stand,  so  as  to  be  separated  and  distin- 
guished from  those  around  them.  The  consequence  was,  the  whole 
country  was  divided  into  sectional  and  personal  factions.  The  West 
and  Southwest  voted  for  a  western  and  southwestern  man;  New- 
York  and  New  England  voted  for  a  New  England  man ;  while  the 
Southern  and  Middle  States  were  divided  between  a  northern,  a 
southsrn,  and  a  western  man.  There  was  no  principle  to  bring  the 
discordant  sections  together,  and  to  cause  them  to  sacrifice  their 
friend  on  the  altar  of  the  public  good ;  there  was  no  such  publi'* 
good — nothing  in  the  whole  controversy  that  would  justify  any  such 
immolation.  What  advantage  had  Mr.  Adams  over  Mr.  Clay,  or 
Mr.  Crawford,  or  General  Jackson  ?  or  what  advantage  had  either  of 
these  over  him,  so  as  to  induce  the  friends  of  one  to  surrender  him 
that  they  might  thereby  secure  the  success  of  the  other  ?  It  was  not 
publicly  pretended  that  one  was  sounder  in  his  political  opinions  than 
the  other ;  and  they  all  stood  on  their  own  personal  merits  as  having 
done  some  service  to  the  country  and  to  the  republican  cause.  The 
friends  of  Mr.  Crawford  endeavored  to  gain  an  advantage  for  him 
by  procuring  a  "  regular  nomination,"  according  to  the  usages  of  the 
party.  It  had  been  usual  for  a  convention,  or,  as  it  was  called,  a 
caucus,  of  republican  members  at  the  proper  time  to  assemble  to- 
ggther,  and  to  designate  some  suitable  person  for  the  presidency  or 
whom  the  people  might  concentrate  their  votes,  so  as  to  prevent  the 
triumph  of  those  principles  which  they  regarded  as  so  obnoxious  :  so 
long  as  federalism  continued  in  organked  opposition,  this  concentra- 
tion was  the  only  means  of  securing  the  ascendency  to  the  republican 
party.  But  federalism  had  long  ceased  to  exist  as  an  opposing  force. 
This  party  machinery,  therefore,  in  the  absence  of  those  higher  mo- 
tives of  combination,  could  only  be  made  to  subserve  the  purposes  of 
faction,  and  to  give  an  undue  advantage  where  none  was  deserved. 

The  friends  of  Mr.  Ciawford,  however,  being  mostly  from  Vir- 
ginia and  New-York,  and  considering  themselves  as  the  true  stand- 
ards of  republican  orthodoxy,  persisted  in  their  course,  notwith- 
standing a  formidable  opposition,  and  called  together  their  conven 
tion  the  14th  of  February,  1824.  Out  of  two  hundred  and  sixty-one 
members  of  Congress,  only  sixty-four  attended  the  meeting  in  person, 
and  two  by  proxy.  The  two  proxies  and  sixty-two  members  present 


PRESIDENTIAL  ELECTION.  231 

voted  for  Mr.  Crawford.  Of  the  sixty-two  votes,  one-half  were  from 
New-York  and  Yirginia.  This  convention  did  not  exceed  one-fourth 
of  the  members  of  Congress,  and  was  composed  entirely  of  the  friends 
of  one  only  of  the  candidates — there  was  no  comparison  of  opinions — 
no  sacrifices  of  perponal  preferences  and  mutual  concessions  for  the 
good  of  a  common  cause.  Under  such  circumstances,  it  is  obvious 
that  the  meeting  could  make  no  pretensions  to  nationality,  not  even 
to  a  full  and  fair  party  organization.  Yet  it  was  proclaimed  as  "  the 
regular  nomination  "  according  to  the  usages  of  the  party,  and  the 
republicans  called  on  to  sustain  it  as  such.  In  Virginia,  the  people 
gave  it  their  support,  because  Mr.  Crawford  was  their  choice  under 
all  circumstances.  But  in  New-York  it  met  with  a  very  different 
fate.  Mr.  Crawford  was  not  a  favorite  with  the  people  of  New- York, 
though  her  delegation  voted  for  him  in  the  caucus  of  1816  in  oppo- 
sition to  Mr.  Monroe,  and  came  near  defeating  by  their  skilful  and 
secret  management  the  only  person  seriously  spoken  of  by  the  peo- 
ple. Finding  that  the  "regular  nomination,"  according  to  party 
usage,  which  carried  such  a  potent  spell  with  it  heretofore,  had  lost 
its  influence,  and  that  if  the  people  were  left  to  themselves,  Mr. 
Crawford  was  certain  of  defeat,  his  friends  took  refuge  in  the  legis- 
lature, and  determined  to  gain  their  point  by  keeping  the  election 
from  the  people.  Up  to  this  time  the  electors  of  President  and 
Vice-President  had  been  nominated  by  the  legislature.  The  people 
now  determined  to  take  the  election  in  their  own  hands.  A  bill  to  that 
effect  passed  the  lower  House  with  only  four  dissenting  voices,  such 
was  the  unanimity  on  the  subject ;  but  it  was  defeated  in  the  Senate, 
where  there  were  a  majority  of  Mr.  Crawford's  friends.  So  great 
was  the  excitement  in  the  State,  that  the  Governor  called  an  extra- 
session  of  the  legislature  to  execute  the  will  of  the  people.  But  the 
Senate  again  defeated  the  bill,  and  the  Assembly  adjourned  without 
doing  any  thing.  All  this  was  done  in  the  name  of  liberty.  The 
majority  of  the  Senate  assumed  to  be  the  only  true  exponents  of  re- 
publicanism, and  Mr.  Crawford  as  its  only  true  representative,  and 
in  order  to  carry  their  measures,  committed  great  violence  on  their 
own  principles.  But  even  the  legislature  would  not  sustain  this 
violent  effort  to  force  the  State  to  cast  her  vote  for  one  she  did  not 
prefer. 


232  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

When  the  nominations  were  made,  Mr.  Crawford  got  only  four 
out  of  the  thirty-six  electoral  votes  of  New- York. 

The  events  of  this  presidential  campaign  furnish  an  instructive 
page  of  history,  which  should  be  well  considered  by  the  people.  It 
was  just  the  combination  of  circumstances  to  tempt  ambitious  men 
to  form  coalitions  for  their  own  personal  ends,  and  to  make  a 
regular  bargain  and  sale  of  the  rights  of  the  people.  '  In  the  absence 
of  all  political  principle — in  a  mere  contest  between  individuals  for 
power — what  was  to  prevent  a  union  of  the  North  and  the  South,  or 
the  East  and  the  West,  in  a  regular  contract  for  a  division  of  the 
spoils?  There  was  no  election  by  the  people.  Adams,  Crawford. 
Clay  and  Jackson,  were  all  voted  for,  but  no  one  obtained  a  majority 
of  the  electoral  colleges.  The  duty  of  making  a  choice  between  the 
three  highest  candidates  now  devolved  on  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives. For  a  long  time  Mr.  Clay  was  expected  to  be  one  of  the  three. 
The  vote  of  Louisiana,  which  his  friends  expected,  being  given 
against  him,  caused  Mr.  Crawford  to  have  a  few  more  votes  than  he. 
and  the  contest  was  between  Jackson,  who  had  the  highest  number 
of  votes  in  the  electoral  colleges,  Adams,  and  Crawford.  Mr.  Clay, 
from  his  great  influence,  had  entire  control  of  the  election.  He  de- 
cided in  favor  of  Mr.  Adams,  and  immediately  accepted,  at  his  hands, 
the  office  of  Secretary  of  State.  He  was  openly  charged  in  the  House 
of  Representatives  with  bargain  and  corruption.  He  repelled  the 
charge  with  becoming  indignation.  The  reasons  he  gave  for  voting 
for  Mr.  Adams  were  just — situated  as  he  was,  he  could  not  have 
voted  otherwise — but  the  fact  of  his  accepting  office  from  the  man  he 
himself  had  elevated  into  the  seat  of  power,  condemned  him.  He 
should  have  given  the  vote,  but  declined  the  office.  His  own  con- 
sciousness of  innocence  may  have  sustained  him  in  the  performance 
of  the  deed,  but  it  could  not  screen  him  from  the  inferences  that 
would  be  drawn  from  it  by  a  censorious  world.  Men's  motives  artf 
known  only  to  themselves ;  language,  says  Talleyrand,  was  given  to 
conceal  them  ;  and  that  which  is  avowed,  is  rarely  the  true  cause  of 
any  action.  Knowing  these  things,  it  is  not  surprising  that  a 
jealous  and  censorious  world  will  at  least  suspect  the  motive,  where 
the  act  and  the  circumstances  might  justify  the  imputation  of  a  bad 
one. 

During  the  time  of  the  ballotting,  an  incident  took  place  that  was 


HIS  CONSTITUENTS.  233 

very  characteristic  of  John  Randolph ;  it  showed  his  great  accuracy  in 
the  statement  of  a  fact,  at  the  same  time  his  jealous  observance  not 
only  of  the  rights  of  the  States,  but  even  of  the  forms  and  expres- 
sions in  which  those  rights  might  be  involved.  Mr.  Webster  was 
appointed  by  the  tellers  who  sat  at  one  table,  and  Mr.  Randolph  by 
those  at  the  other,  to  announce  the  result  of  the  ballotting.  After  the 
oallots  were  counted  out,  Mr.  "Webster  rose,  and  said :  Mr.  Speaker, 
the  tellers  of  the  votes  at  this  table  have  proceeded  to  count  the  bal- 
lots contained  in  the  box  set  before  them  ;  the  result  they  find  to  be, 
that  there  are  for  John  Quincy  Adams,  of  Massachusetts,  13  votes; 
for  Andrew  Jackson,  of  Tennessee,  7  votes ;  for  "Wm.  H.  Crawford,  of 
Georgia,  4  votes. 

Mr.  Randolph,  from  the  other  table,  made  a  statement  corres- 
ponding with  that  of  Mr.  "Webster,  in  the  facts,  but  varying  in  the 
phraseology,  so  as  to  say  that  Mr.  Adams,  Mr.  Jackson,  and  Mr. 
Crawford,  had  received  the  votes  of  so  many  States,  instead  of  so 
many  votes. 


CHAPTER    XXVIII. 

"SUCH  CONSTITUENTS  AS  MAN  NEVER  HAD  BEFORE,  AND 


FROM  Charlotte  Court-house,  Tuesday,  April  5th,  1825,  Mr.  Ran- 
dolph writes  to  Dr.  Brockenbrough  :  <:  Much  against  my  will — I 
do  not  deceive  myself — I  am  involved  in  another  election.  Two 
more  years,  if  I  live  as  long,  in  that  bear  garden,  the  House  of 
Representatives !  You  ask  after  my  health,  it  is  wretched  in  the 
extreme.  Nothing  but  an  earnest  desire  to  avoid  the  imputation  of 
giving  myself  airs,  brought  me  here  yesterday."  He  was  at  Prince 
Edward  Court-house,  also,  on  Monday,  the  18th — the  day  of  elec- 
tion in  that  county.  It  was  the  first  time  the  writer  of  this  memoir 
had  the  pleasure  of  seeing  Mr.  Randolph  among  his  constituents,  or 
hearing  him  on  the  hustings.  He  was  then  a  lad  at  the  neighboring 
college — Hanipden  Sydney.  That  day  was  given  as  a  holiday  to 
the  students,  and  they  all  repaired  at  an  early  hour  to  .the  Court- 


234  I'IFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

house  to  see  the  wonderful  man  of  whom  they  had  heard  so  much. 
I  saw  Mr.  Randolph  when  he  arrived  on  the  "  court  green ;"  he 
alighted  from  his  sulky  some  distance  from  the  Court-house,  an^ 
handed  over  the  reins  to  Johnny,  who  was  in  an  instant  by  his  side 
He  was  dressed  in  his  old  "  uniform  of  blue  and  buff,"  with  knee 
buckles,  and  long  fair-top  boots.  He  seemed  to  limp  slightly  in  hk 
gait,  which  only  added  dignity  and  gravity  to  his  carriage.  The 
moment  his  arrival  was  known,  the  people  came  flocking  from  all 
directions  towards  him.  The  tavern-porches,  the  shops,  and  offices,  were 
soon  emptied,  and  every  body  went  running  towards  the  great  object 
of  attraction.  His  old  acquaintances  (and  who  were  not  old  acquaint- 
.ances  there?)  were  eager  to  take  him  by  the  hand  ;  they  pressed  for- 
ward without  ceremony,  and  their  greetings  were  most  cordially  re- 
ciprocated. To  all  the  old  men  he  had  something  to  say,  pointed 
and  appropriate,  that  seemed  to  give  them  infinite  satisfaction — a 
word  of  recognition,  that  meant  more  than  it  expressed,  and  went 
home  to  the  heart.  He  marched  slowly  towards  the  Court-house, 
still  greeting  and  talking  with  his  friends,  as  they  came  up  to  take 
him  by  the  hand.  Many  followed  him,  doubtless,  from  curiosity  ;  but 
much  the  largest  portion  of  the  crowd  that  hovered  around  him. 
were  men  who  had  known  him  all  their  lives,  and  had  seen  him  a 
hundred  times  before ;  yet  they  followed  him  with  as  much  interest 
as  the  youngest  school-boy  there,  and  their  eyes  could  not  be  sated  by 
gazing  upon  him.  Such  is  the  magic  influence  of  genius  and  of 
true  greatness  on  the  human  mind.  'Tis  said  that  Robert  Burns 
could  not  arrive  at  an  inn,  at  midnight,  without  its  being  known  to 
all  the  inmates,  who  would  come  flocking,  even  in  their  night  gar- 
ments, to  see,  for  the  twentieth  time,  perhaps,  the  enchanting  coun- 
tenance of  Scotland's  noblest  bard,  who,  like  Randolph,  from  his 
earliest  youth,  had  no  other  thought  but  to  serve  and  adorn  his  na- 
tive land. 

"  E'n  then  a  wish  (I  mind  its  power). 
A  wish,  that  to  my  latest  hour 

Shall  strongly  heave  my  breast- 
That  I,  for  poor  auld  Scotland's  sake, 
Some  usefu'  plan  or  book  could  make. 

Or  sing  a  sang  at  least." 

Mr.  Randolph  was  pressed  to  make  a  speech.     He  pleaded  his 
wretched  health,  and  begged  to  be  excused.     But  no  excuse  would  be 


HIS  CONSTITUENTS.  235 

taken  ;  his  old  friends  wanted  to  hear  him  ;  it  was  a  long  time  since 
they  had  that  pleasure ;  great  changes  had  taken  place  in  politics ; 
they  had  heard  much  about  them,  but  wanted  to  hear  from  his  own 
lips  how  the  matter  stood.  Finding  that  no  apology  would  be  taken, 
that  such  men  as  the  Mortons,  the  Prices,  the  "Watkins'  and  the  Ven- 
ables,  were  urging  on  him  to  say  something  to  gratify  the  people,  he 
at  length  consented ;  and  retiring  from  the  multitude,  he  sat  down 
on  an  oaken  bench  in  the  corner  of  the  Court-house  yard,  and  rested 
his  head  on  the  end  of  his  umbrella.  No  one  approached  or  dis- 
turbed him.  After  sitting  some  ten  or  fifteen  minutes,  he  arose,  and 
asked  the  sheriff  to  make  proclamation  that  he  would  address  the 
people.  There  was  no  need  of  that ;  they  were  all  there,  pressing 
around,  and  waiting  patiently  his  pleasure  to  speak  to  them.  As  he 
approached  the  stile,  the  crowd  receded,  and  opened  a  way  for  him 
to  pass.  I  followed  in  his  wake,  unconscious  of  what  I  was  doing, 
and  stood  near  his  left  side,  where  I  could  hear  every  word  that  was 
uttered,  and  see  every  motion  of  every  muscle  of  the  whole  man.  I 
was  too  young  to  remember  what  was  said,  at  this  distance  of  time. 
The  newspapers  said  he  "addressed  his  constituents  in  a  manner  and 
with  natter  which  gave  great  and  universal  satisfaction.  He  des- 
canted, with  great  eloquence  and  power,  on  the  alarming  encroach- 
ments of  the  General  Government  upon  the  rights  of  tJie  States"  I 
have  no  doubt  that  was  the  theme  of  his  discourse.  But  what  I  saw 
I  shall  never  forget— the  manner  of  the  man.  The  tall,  slender  fig- 
ure, swarthy  complexion,  animated  countenance ;  the  solemn  glance, 
that  passed  leisurely  over  the  audience,  hushed  into  deep  silence  be- 
fore him,  and  bending  forward  to  catch  every  look,  every  motion  and 
every  word  of  the  inspired  orator;  the  clear,  silver  tones  of  his 
voice ;  the  distinct  utterance — full,  round  expression,  and  emphasis 
of  his  words ;  the  graceful  bend  and  easy  motion  of  the  person,  as  he 
turned  from  side  to  side;  the  rapid,  lightning-like  sweep  of  the 
hand  when  something  powerful  was  uttered ;  the  earnest,  fixed  gaze, 
that  followed,  as  if  searching  into  the  hearts  of  his  auditors,  while 
his  words  were  telling  upon  them  ;  then,  the  ominous'  pause,  and  the 
twinkling  of  that  long,  slender  forefinger,  that  accompanied  the 
keen,  cutting  sarcasm  of  his  words — all  these  I  can  never  forget. 
My  beau  ideal  of  the  orator  was  complete.  What  I  had  read  of  De- 
mosthenes and  Cicero,  aided  by  the  lights  of  Longinus  and  Quinctil- 
36 


236  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

ian,  was  fulfilled  in  this  man.  I  have  heard  him  several  times  since 
from  the  same  place.  Those  who  have  heard  him  elsewhere  concur 
in  the  opinion,  that  before  the  people  of  Prince  Edward  he  was  pecu- 
liarly free  and  happy.  These  were  the  people  that  stood  by  him  in 
the  darkest  hour  of  his  fortunes ;  "  when  two  administrations"  and 
the  whole  political  press  made  war  upon  him,  they  shielded  him  from 
the  assaults  of  his  enemies,  and  cheered  him  in  the  desolate  and  dan- 
gerous path  he  had  to  tread,  by  the  light  of  their  countenance  and 
the  voice  of  their  approbation.  It  is  not  wonderful,  then,  that  in 
the  presence  of  such  a  people,  the  reminiscences  of  the  olden  time 
should  rekindle  the  slumbering  fires  of  his  heart,  and  inspire  his 
thoughts  with  more  than  their  wonted  force  and  brilliancy. 

From  the  stand,  Mr.  Randolph  retired  to  the  bench  in  the  Court- 
house. The  polls  were  opened,  and  the  voting  commenced.  Each 
one,  as  he  came  up,  pronounced  with  a  clear  and  audible  voice  the 
name  of  John  Randolph  as  the  person  voted  for  for  Congress.  There 
was  not  a  dissenting  voice.  When  any  one  of  the  old  men  gave  his 
vote,  Mr.  Randolph  partly  rose  from  his  seat,  and  in  the  most  bland 
and  affecting  manner  thanked  him  for  his  vote.  He  seemed  to  say, 
I  am  grateful,  sir,  and  proud  to  have  the  approbation  of  a  man  of 
your  independence,  understanding,  integrity,  and  weight  of  character. 
The  old  man  returned  the  salutation  with  a  look  that  said,  I  am 
proud,  also,  to  have  the  privilege  of  voting  for  you,  Mr.  Randolph. 
There  was  no  pretence,  no  affectation  in  all  this  ;  it  was  natural, 
spontaneous,  and,  to  those  who  knew  the  history  of  the  parties  and 
their  relations  to  each  other,  it  was  truly  affecting.  No  one  could 
look  upon  the  scene  without  exclaiming,  that  with  such  constituents 
and  such  representatives,  no  danger  or  harm  could  befall  the  Repub- 
lic. They  were  men,  for  the  most  part,  owners  of  the  soil,  and  living 
by  its  cultivation ;  men  who,  from  their  youth  up,  by  the  daily  read- 
ing of  the  best  conducted  political  journals,  and  their  monthly  con- 
versations and  discussions  at  the  Court-house  on  political  topics,  had 
become  familiar  with  the  institutions  of  their  country  and  the  man- 
ner in  which  they  had  been  conducted — who  knew  the  characters  of 
all  public  men  that  had  risen  above  a  neighborhood  reputation,  and 
could  judge  dispassionately  and  without  enthusiasm  of  their  objects 
and  the  tendency  of  their  measures — they  were  models  of  republican 
simplicity,  intelligence,  and  virtue.  The  same,  for  the  most  part 


HIS  CONSTITUENTS.  237 

may  be  said  of  all  Mr.  Randolph's  district.  He  bad  represented 
them  for  five  and  twenty  years ;  they  all  knew  him — men,  women, 
and  children — and  he  knew  them.  These  are  the  people  of  whom  ho 
spoke,  when  he  said,  on  a  memorable  occasion  in  the  House  of  Rep- 
resentatives : 

"  I  will  go  back  to  the  bosom  of  my  constituents — to  such  con- 
stituents as  man  never  had  before,  and  never  will  have  again — and  I 
shall  receive  from  them  the  only  reward  that  I  ever  looked  for,  but 
the  highest  that  man  can  receive — the  universal  expression  of  their 
approbation — of  their  thanks.  I  shall  read  it  in  their  beaming  faces  ; 
I  shall  feel  it  in  their  gratulating  hands.  The  very  children  will 
climb  around  my  knees,  to  welcome  me.  And  shall  I  give  up  them, 
and  this  1  And  for  what  ?  For  the  heartless  amusements  and  va- 
pid pleasures  and  tarnished  honors  of  this  abode  of  splendid  misery, 
of  shabby  splendor  ?  for  a  clerkship  in  the  war  office,  or  a  foreign  mis- 
sion, to  dance  attendance  abroad,  instead  of  at  home — or  even  for  a 
Department  itself?  Sir,  thirty  years  make  sad  changes  in  man. 
When  I  first  was  honored  with  their  confidence,  I  was  a  very  young 
man,  and  my  constituents  stood  almost  in  parental  relation  to  me,  and 
I  received  from  them  the  indulgence  of  a  beloved  son.  But  the  old 
patriarchs  of  that  day  have  been  gathered  to  their  fathers — some  adults 
remain,  whom  I  look  upon  as  my  brethren :  but  the  far  greater  part 
were  children — little  children — or  have  come  into  the  world  since  my 
public  life  began.  I  know  among  them,  grand-fathers,  and  men  mus- 
ter-free, who  were  boys  at  school  when  I  first  took  my  seat  in  Con- 
gress. Time,  the  mighty  reformer  and  innovator,  has  silently  and 
slowly,  but  surely  changed  the  relation  between  us  ;  and  I  now  stand 
to  them  in  loco  parentis — in  the  place  of  a  father — and  receive  from 
them  a  truly  filial  reverence  and  regard.  Yes,  sir,  they  are  my  chil- 
dren— who  resent,  with  the  quick  love  of  children,  all  my  wrongs, 
real  or  supposed.  Shall  I  not  invoke  the  blessings  of  our  common 
Father  upon  them.  Shall  I  deem  any  sacrifice  too  great  for  them  ? 
To  them  I  shall  return,  if  we  are  defeated,  for  all  of  consolation  that 
awaits  me  on  this  side  of  the  grave.  I  feel  that  I  hang  to  existence 
but  by  a  single  hair — the  sword  of  Damocles  is  suspended  over  me." 

Mr.  Randolph  spent  the  summer  in  his  usual  solitude  at  Roan- 
oke.  In  June,  he  says  to  Dr.  Brockenbrough : 

*:  You  are  very  good  in  taking  time  to  write  to  me,  but  I  hope 
you  will  continue  to  do  so,  notwithstanding  the  drudgery  of  penman- 
ship that  you  are  subjected  to — for  your  letters  constitute  the  only 
link  between  me  and  the  world,  at  present — a  world  where  I  have 
but  a  little  while  longer  to  stay.  I  feel  those  internal  monitions  (of 
which  the  patient  alone  is  sensible)  that  convince  me  that  I  cannot 


238  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

hold  out  muck  longer,  and  although  life  has  no  one  attraction  left  foi 
me,  I  cannot  but  look  towards  its  point  of  dissolution,  with  some  mis- 
givings of  mind.  We  shall  probably  never  meet  again  on  this  sida 
of  the  grave :  beyond  it,  all  is  involved  in  obscurity.  I  have  just  as 
much  expectation  of  living  to  the  end  of  the  century,  as  to  the  close 
of  the  year.  There  is  nothing  left  now  for  regimen  or  medicine  to 
act  upon.  I  have  never  been  in  such  a  condition  ;  not  even  in  1817." 

July  8th,  he  says : — "  Your  kind  letter  of  the  3d  has  just  arrived 
to  throw  a  cheerful  ray  over  my  clouded  mind.  Although  I  stood  in 
no  need  of  any  such  assurance,  yet  the  declaration  it  contained  at  the 
outset  gave  me  most  sensible  gratification.  I  believe  we  ha,re  dealt 
as  little  in  professions  as  any  persons  similarly  circumstanced  ever 
did ;  and  for  a  plain  reason — neither  of  us  distrusted  the  sincerity 
of  his  sentiments  towards  the  other.  My  dear  friend,  my  strength 
ebbs  apace.  My  health  (like  the  stocks)  fluctuates,  but  gets  worse. 
I  have  lost  my  grasp  upon  the  world.  If  it  be  not  mad — then  I  am. 
Its  political,  religious  and  commercial  relationships  are,  in  my  view, 
irrational  and  contemptible ;  but  I  still  cherish  a  warm  feeling  of 
regard  and  of  interest  in  the  welfare  of  those  who  have  manifested 
kindly  dispositions  towards  me.  Indeed,  I  wish  well  to  all — I  must 
except  a  few  '  caitiffs' — and  would  do  good  to  all,  if  it  was  in  my 
power.  Among  those  who  have  shown  me  favor,  I  set  high  value  upon 
the  attachment  of  Frank  Gilmer ;  and  I  too  had  a  very  strong  desire  for 
his  sake,  that  he  would  take  the  professorship.  I  was  concerned  to 
learn  by  a  late  letter  from  Mr.  Barksdale,  that  he  looked  very  ill,  and 
was  more  desponding  than  when  B.  saw  him  in  March.  When  you 
write  to  him,  name  me  among  those  who  think  often  and  always  kind- 
ly of  him. 

<;  The  rains  have  destroyed  our  crops  of  every  description  but  In- 
dian corn,  and  that  is  much  injured.  If  I  live  as  long,  which  I  do 
not  at  all  look  forward  to,  I  shall  assuredly  take  the  voyage  you 
mention.  It  is  dreary  enough  to  be  in  a  land  of  strangers,  a  cipher 
and  at  sufferance ;  but  any  thing  is  better  than  the  horrors  of  this 
climate,  and  indeed  our  state  of  society  and  manners  is  so  changed, 
that  were  I  to  remain  here,  it  must  be  in  a  sort  of  dreamy  existence, 
among  my  books'  and  shades,  ignorant  of  what  might  be  passing  in 
the  world  around  me. 

"  Jarvis,  I  remember,  some  fourteen  years  ago,  made  me  laugh 
very  heartily  at  poor  Nicholson's  table  in  Baltimore ;  but  I  might 
defy  him  now  to  raise  even  a  smile,  except  of  l  such  a  sort '  as  Ju- 
lius Caesar  could  not  endure,  You  are  right  to  be  as  convivial  as 
you  can;  soberly,  as  Lady  Grace  says.  Dulce  est  desipere.  I  am 
persuaded  that  our  self-righteous  denouncers  of  our  old-fashioned 
sports  and  pastimes  have  added  nothing  to  the  stock  of  our  morali- 
ty ;  our  young  men  and  boys  have  exchanged  the  five's-court,  and 


HIS  CONSTITUENTS.  239 

other  athletic  exercises,  for  the  tavern-bench,  squirting  tobacco-juice, 
and  drinking  whisky-grog.  The  girls,  instead  of  balls  and  dress, 
&c.,  discourse  of  original  sin — 'fixed  fate,  free  will,  foreknowledge 
absolute.'  But  after  all,  we  shall  look  in  vain  for  the  worth  or  man- 
ners of  the  last  generation. 

"  I  read  little  but  Dr.  Barrow,  and  not  much  of  him.  I  have 
sometimes  thought  of  attacking  Atterbury  and  South ;  but  after  a 
short  application,  my  eyes  become  dim  and  my  head  swims,  and  I 
have  to  take  a  turn  or  two  about  the  room  to  recover  myself.  I 
would  not  trouble  you  with  this  long  (for  such  it  is)  and  stupid  letter, 
but  for  the  assurance  that  it  is  gratifying  to  you  to  hear  from  me  in 
my  present  reduced  condition.  You  may  judge  what  it  is,  when  I 
tell  you  that  I  have  not  seen  my  plantation  since  my  return  from 
Europe. 

"  Butler's  Reminiscences  I  read  two  years  ago,  and  was  much  dis- 
appointed in  them.  Do  you  note  an  article  in  the  Edinburgh  Review 
on  the  subject  of  the  West  Indies  ?  It  is  written  in  a  most  fero- 
cious spirit  of  philanthropy.  My  infirmity  admonishes  me  to  lay 
down  my  pen." 

The  monotony  and  tedium  of  his  solitary  life  were  greatly  re- 
lieved by  a  visit  from  his  friends,  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Brockenbrough,  in 
the  month  of  October.  They  spent  a  week  with  him.  Most  of  his 
correspondence,  before  and  after,  was  in  reference  to  this  visit.  It 
was  an  important  era  in  the  chronicles  of  Roanoke.  November  25th, 
he  writes,  "  I  am  truly  glad  the  agues  fled  before  the  thing  with  the 
hard  name.  Old  Mrs.  D.  says  of  you,  any  body  may  see  from  his 
face  that  he  is  a  mighty  clever  man.  What  say  you  to  that,  my  dear 
madam  ?  *  *  *  *  You  know  me  well ;  '  distrust '  is  a  sin  that  I 
cannot  easily  forgive.  I  can  truly  say  that  the  pleasantest  week  by 
far  that  I  have  spent  for  years,  was  that  that  you  and  Mrs.  B. 
spent  here." 

Mr.  Randolph  was  detained  at  home  on  business  till  late  in  De- 
cember. He  did  not  arrive  in  Washington — "  Babylon,"  as  he  called 
it — till  Christmas.  In  the  mean  time,  he  had  been  elected  to  the 
Senate  of  the  United  States,  to  fill  the  vacancy  occasioned  by  the  re- 
signation of  Gov.  James  Barbour,  who  had  been  appointed,  by  Mr. 
Adams,  Secretary  of  War. 

The  election  took  place  the  17th  of  December.  The  candidates 
nominated  were  Judge  Henry  St.  George  Tucker,  the  half-brother 
of  Mr.  Randolph,  William  B.  Giles,  John  Floyd,  and  John  Ran- 
dolph. On  the  first  ballot,  the  vote  stood  :  Tucker  65.  Randolph 


240  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

63,  Giles  58,  Floyd  40.  According  to  the  rule  of  the  House,  Mr. 
Floyd  was  dropped,  and  the  second  ballot  stood:  Tucker  87,  Randolph 
79,  Giles  60.  Mr.  Giles  being  likewise  dropped  under  the  rules,  and 
the  members  having  prepared  and  deposited  their  ballots  in  the 
boxes,  Mr.  Jackson  on  the  part  of  the  friends  of  Mr.  Tucker,  rose 
and  stated  to  the  House,  that  it  was  the  desire  of  Mr.  Tucker,  in 
no  event,  to  be  placed  in  competition  with  Mr.  Randolph.  Con- 
sidering that  Mr.  R.  had  no  chance  of  being  elected,  they  had  on 
their  own  responsibility,  put  Mr.  Tucker  in  nomination.  But  as  the 
collision  was  now  between  these  two  gentlemen,  they  thought  it  due 
to  Mr.  Tucker's  feelings  and  request  to  withdraw  his  name.  Some 
conversation  then  ensued,  in  which  it  was  suggested  that  the  ballot- 
boxes  ought  to  be  emptied  and  the  ballots  again  collected.  Mr. 
Jackson  declared  he  did  not  know  the  ballots  had  been  put  in  the 
boxes,  or  he  should  have  withdrawn  Mr.  Tucker  sooner.  One  gen- 
tleman remarked  that  the  person  who  had  been  last  dropped,  ought, 
under  these  circumstances,  to  be  again  before  the  House.  But  the 
chair  decided,  that  as  the  ballots  had  been  all  deposited  in  the  boxes, 
and  there  being  no  mistake  or  irregularity,  they  must  be  counted 
under  the  rule  of  the  House.  This  was  accordingly  done,  and  the 
ballots  stood,  Randolph  104,  Tucker  80.  Mr.  Randolph,  having  a 
majority,  was  declared  duly  elected. 

On  the  reception  of  the  news  of  this  election,  through  a  letter 
from  Dr.  Brockenbrough,  Judge  Tucker  thus  responds :  "  I  have 
barely  time  before  the  closing  of  the  mail  to  acknowledge  the  receipt 
of  your  friendly  letter,  and  to  express  my  hearty  concurrence  in  the 
gratification  you  feel  at  the  election  of  my  brother.  I  could  wish  in- 
deed that  my  name  had  been  withheld,  yet  hope  that  its  withdrawal 
even  at  the  time  it  took  place,  was  not  too  late  to  manifest  my  de- 
ference to  him.  God  preserve  him  long  as  an  honor  to  his  station 
and  the  Old  Dominion.  I  cannot  but  think  that  this  occurrence  will 
reanimate  his  spirit,  and  restore  him  to  that  activity  in  the  public 
councils  for  which  he  was  always  remarkable,  until  he  thought  him- 
self unkindly  treated  by  his  native  State.  He  will  now,  I  trust,  see 
in  himself  her  favorite  son." 


THE  ADAMS  ADMINISTRATION.  241 

CHAP TEE    XXIX. 

THE  ADAMS  ADMINISTRATION. 

THE  reader  is  already  aware  that  Mr.  Randolph  took  no  interest  in 
the  late  Presidential  contest.  There  were  xjircumstances  that  inclined 
him  to  favor  the  pretensions  of  Mr.  Crawford ;  but  it  was  a  mere 
personal  preference  ;  and  as  there  were  no  principles  involved  in  the 
controversy,  he  left  the  country  with  rather  a  feeling  of  indifference 
as  to  the  result  of  the  election.  But  no  sooner  was  the  contest  de- 
cided by  the  election  of  John  Quincy  Adams  in  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives, than  Mr.  Randolph  gave  unequivocal  evidences  of  hos 
tility  to  the  new  administration.  For  this  he  has  been  blamed  by 
many  persons.  It  seemed  like  a  pre-determination  to  condemn  men 
when  they  as  yet  had  perpetrated  no  act  worthy  of  condemnation. 
But  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  we  have  a  Written  Constitution, 
containing  the  fundamental  law  of  all  our  political  institutions.  We 
have  a  Federal  Government  and  State  Governments,  each  with 
limited  and  specified  powers,  and  acting  as  mutual  checks  and  balances 
to  each  other.  An  over-action  on  the  part  of  the  one  or  the  other 
would  destroy  the  equilibrium,  and  endanger  the  existence  of  our 
complicated  and  nicely-adjusted  system  of  Government.  Hence  the 
necessity  of  a  scheme  of  doctrine,  or  rules  of  interpretation,  by  which 
the  Constitution  was  to  be  construed,  and  the  different  departments 
guided  in  their  administration  of  the  Government.  Our  statesmen 
have  something  more  to  do  than  advise  measures.  They  have  to 
show  that  those  measures  are  sanctioned  by  the  Constitution,  and 
that,  in  their  final  result,  they  will  not  disturb  the  harmony  of  the 
system. 

In  consequence  of  this  necessity  imposed  on  our  public  men,  there 
had  grown  up  at  a  very  early  period  two  distinct  schools  of  politicians, 
differing  widely  in  their  doctrines  and  rules  of  interpretation.  But, 
during  the  recent  administration,  as  the  reader  is  aware,  these  dis- 
tinctions were  effaced,  and  men  seemed  to  stand  on  the  same  platform, 
professing  a  general,  vague,  undefined  belief  in  the  doctrines  of  repub- 
licanism. Mr.  Adams,  having  acted  a  conspicuous  part  under  Mr. 


242  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

Monroe,  had  now  to  take  an  independent  position,  and  to  mark  out  a 
,ine  of  policy  for  himself.  Rising  from  a  subaltern  station  into  the 
chief  magistracy  of  the  Republic,  where  he  could  not  be  restrained 
by  the  authority  of  superiors,  one  would  naturally  suppose  that  his 
mind  would  take  the  direction  of  its  early  thoughts  and  associations. 
Mr.  Adams's  early  education  unfitted  him  to  associate  with  those 
statesmen  who  looked  with  jealousy  on  the  Federal  Government,  who 
deprecated  its  over-action  as  dangerous  to  the  Union,  and  who  abste- 
miously exercised  those  powers  that  had  been  actually  delegated  to 
it.  Being  the  son  of  the  late  President  John  Adams,  he  received  his 
education  mostly  abroad,  while  his  father,  as  Minister  of  the  United 
States,  attended,  the  various  courts  of  Europe.  At  a  very  early 
period,  before  he  had  performed  any  public  service  whatever,  General 
Washington,  doubtless,  in  compliment  to  his  father,  appointed  him 
Minister  Plenipotentiary  to  the  Hague.  During  the  eventful  period 
of  his  father's  administration,  he  continued  abroad  in  daily  connec- 
tion with  the  habits-  opinions,  and  associations  of  the  royal  courts  to 
which  he  was  successively  transferred  as  Minister  of  the  United 
States. 

After  the  political  revolution  of  1800  had  condemned  the  admin- 
istration of  John  Adams,  and  driven  him  from  the  helm  of  affairs, 
one  of  his  last  acts  was  the  recall  of  his  son,  to  save  him  from  the 
mortification  of  being  dismissed  by  Mr.  Jefferson. 

Soon  after  his  return,  John  Quincy  Adams  was  elected  to  the 
Senate  of  the  United  States  from  Massachusetts.  He  was  elected 
as  a  federalist  by  a  federalist  Legislature ;  and  one  of  his  first  acts 
in  the  Senate  was  to  oppose  the  purchase  of  Louisiana,  then  the  favo- 
rite measure  of  the  republican  party.  But  he  had  not  been  in  the 
Senate  long  before  an  eventful  and  radical  change  took  place  in  his 
public  conduct.  The  restrictive  policy  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  as  the  reader 
is  aware,  was  very  much  opposed  in  New  England.  It  crippled  their 
commerce,  on  which  they  were  mainly  dependent  for  support.  The 
embargo,  in  1808,  capped  the  climax  of  restriction  ;  and  the  opposi- 
tion in  New  England,  led  on  by  the  old  federal  leaders,  knew  no 
bounds  in  their  denunciations  of  those  measures,  which  they  regarded 
as  so  destructive  of  their  interests. 

Mr.  Adams  conceived  the  idea,  or  was  informed  by  what  he 
deemed  good  authority,  that  his  old  friends  and  associates  were  about 


THE  ADAMS  ADMINISTRATION.  243 

to  commit  an  act  of  treason  to  the  country  ;  that  so  deep  was  their 
hostility  to  the  measures  of  the  Government,  and  so  great  their  deter- 
mination to  get  rid  of  the  burthen,  that  they  contemplated  a  separa- 
tion from  the  Union.  Through  the  interposition  of  a  distinguished 
Senator,  he  called  en  the  President,  and  communicated  to  him  his 
apprehensions. 

He  spoke  of  the  dissatisfaction  of  the  eastern  portion  of  our  Con- 
federacy with  the  restraints  of  the  embargo.  That  there  was  nothing 
which  might  not  be  attempted  to  rid  themselves  of  it.  That  he  had 
information  of  the  most  unquestionable  certainty,  that  certain  citizens 
of  the  Eastern  States  (naming  Massachusetts  particularly)  were  in 
negotiation  with  agents  of  the  British  Government,  the  object  of  which 
was  an  agreement  that  the  New  England  States  should  take  no  further 
part  in  the  proceedings  of  the  Federal  Government ;  that,  without  form- 
ally declaring  their  separation  from  the  union  of  the  States,  they  should 
withdraw  from  all  aid  and  obedience  to  them  ;  that  their  navigation  and 
commerce  should  be  free  from  restraint  or  interruption  by  the  British ; 
that  they  should  be  considered  and  treated  by  them  as  neutrals,  and 
as  such  might  conduct  themselves  towards  both  parties.  He  assured 
Mr.  Jefferson  that  there  was  imminent  danger  that  a  separation 
would  take  place  ;  that  the  temptations  were  such  as  might  debauch 
many  from  their  fidelity  to  the  Union.  The  course  of  Mr.  Adams 
brought  upon  him  the  hostility  of  his  own  legislature :  another  per- 
son was  elected  to  succeed  him,  and  he  was  instructed,  during  the 
remnant  of  his  term,  to  oppose  the  measures  of  the  administration. 
He  retired  from  a  position  he  could  no  longer  hold  with  honor.  The 
purity  of  his  motives  was  defended  in  the  Senate  by  a  member  of 
the  administration  party  against  the  denunciations  of  his  late  col- 
league, who  manifested  feelings  of  the  deepest  hostility  towards 
him. 

Soon  after  his  retirement,  Mr.  Adams  was  tendered  a  mission  to 
the  court  of  St.  Petersburg,  but  the  Senate  did  not  think  such  a  mis- 
sion at  that  time  was  necessary,  and  did  not  confirm  the  appointment. 
He  was  renominated  by  Mr.  Madison  on  his  accession  to  the  Presi- 
dency, and  the  appointment  was  confirmed  by  the  Senate.  Mr. 
Adams  continued  abroad  in  various  diplomatic  capacities  till  the 
summer  of  1817,  when  he  was  recalled  by  Mr.'  Monroe,  and  placed  at 
the  head  of  his  administration  as  Secretary  of  State. 


244  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

During  this  "  era  of  good  feelings"  nothing  occurred  to  develops 
the  opinions  of  Mr.  Adams  as  to  the  true  construction  of  tho  Consti- 
tution. He  is  known  to  have  favored  the  magnificent  schemes  of  that 
day,  and  is  thought  to  have  had  much  influence  over  the  mind  of 
Mr.  Monroe  in  producing  the  great  change  of  sentiment  on  the  sub- 
ject of  internal  improvement.  Thus  we  perceive  that  the  early  edu- 
cation, and  the  diplomatic  career  of  Mr.  Adams  in  the  midst  of  royal 
courts,  and  the  strongly  concentrated  and  despotic  governments  of 
an  hereditary  aristocracy,  illy  fitted  him  to  appreciate  tho  unpretend- 
ing and  abstemious  doctrines  of  that  republican  school  for  which  he 
abandoned  his  old  friends,  and,  as  they  say,  basely  calumniated  them. 
His  change  of  position  did  not  involve  a  change  of  politics.  He 
merely  exchanged  a  broken  and  divided  party  for  one  in  the  ascend- 
ant. There  never  was  an  occasion  to  test  the  sincerity  of  this  change 
until  he  was  elected  President  of  the  United  States.  In  this  ex- 
alted station,  unrestrained  by  the  routine  of  office,  he  was  not  long 
in  manifesting  the  bold  and  ardent  aspirations  of  his  mind.  Endowed 
with  a  poetic  genius  and  an  ardent  imagination,  possessing  a  quick, 
irascible,  and  obstinate  temper,  a  man  of  the  closet,  wholly  unused 
to  the  restraints  and  the  caution  of  legislative  experience,  he  mounted 
the  chair  of  state  with  the  boldness  and  the  confidence  of  Phaeton 
into  the  chariot  of  the  sun. 

The  great  idea  that  filled  the  mind  and  kindled  the  imagination 
of  Mr.  Adams  was  a  magnificent  scheme  of  internal  improvement,  to 
be  constructed  by  the  General  Government.  In  his  inaugural  address 
he  recurs  to  the  subject,  as  he  says,  with  peculiar  satisfaction.  "  It 
is  that,"  he  continues,  "  from  which  I  am  convinced  that  the  unborn 
millions  of  our  posterity  who  are  in  future  ages  to  people  this  conti' 
nent,  will  derive  their  most  fervent  gratitude  to  the  founders  of  the 
Union  ;  that  on  which  the  most  beneficent  action  of  its  Government 
will  be  most  deeply  felt  and  acknowledged.  The  magnificence  and 
splendor  of  their  public  works  are  among  the  imperishable  glories  of 
the  ancient  republics.  The  roads  and  aqueducts  of  Rome  have  been 
the  admiration  of  all  after  ages;  and  have  survived  thousands  of 
years  after  all  her  conquests  have  been  swallowed  up  in  despotism, 
or  become  the  spoil  of  barbarians."  Mr.  Adams  did  not  doubt  the 
power  of  Congress  to  enter  in  this  field  of  rivalry  with  the  ancient 
republics ;  and  to  surpass  even  the  Roman  empire,  with  the  spoils  of 


THE  ADAMS  ADMINISTRATION.  245 

a  world  in  its  treasury,  in  the  magnificence  and  splendor  of  their 
roads  and  aqueducts.  He  impatiently  rejects  the  contrary  proposi- 
tion as  unworthy  of  consideration,  and  boldly  and  dogmatically  an- 
nounces "  that  the  question  of  the  power  of  Congress  to  authorize 
the  making  of  internal  improvements  is,  in  other  words,  a  question 
whether  the  people  of  this  Union,  in  forming  their  common  social 
compact  as  avowedly  for  the  purpose  of  promoting  the  general  wel- 
fare, have  performed  their  work  so  ineffably  stupid  as  to  deny  them- 
selves the  means  of  bettering  their  own  condition.  I  have  too  much 
respect  for  the  intellect  of  my  country  to  believe  it." 

In  his  annual  message,  the  President  again  dilates  on  this  subject 
with  his  peculiar  animation  and  earnestness :  "  The  spirit  of  improve- 
ment is  abroad  upon  the  earth.  It  stimulates  the  heart,  and  sharp- 
ens the  faculties,  not  of  our  fellow-citizens  alone,  but  of  the  nations 
of  Europe,  and  of  their  rulers.  While  dwelling  with  pleasing  satisfac- 
tion upon  the  superior  excellence  of  our  political  institutions,  let  us 
not  be  unmindful  that  liberty  is  power ;  that  the  nation  blessed  with 
the  largest  portion  of  liberty,  must,  in  proportion  to  its  numbers,  be 
the  most  powerful  nation  upon  earth ;  and  that  the  tenure  of  power 
by  man  is.  in  the  moral  purposes  of  his  Creator,  upon  condition  that 
it  shall  be  exercised  to  ends  of  benificence,  to  improve  the  condition 
of  himself  and  his  fellow-man.  While  foreign  nations,  less  blessed 
with  that  freedom  which  is  power,  than  ourselves,  are  advancing  with 
gigantic  strides  in  the  career  of  public  improvement,  were  we  to  slum- 
ber in  indolence,  or  fold  up  our  arms  and  proclaim  to  the  world  that 
we  are  palsied  by  the  will  of  our  constituents ;  would  it  not  be  to  cast 
away  the  bounties  of  Providence,  and  doom  ourselves  to  perpetual 
inferiorit}-  ?" 

But  the  President  was  surpassed,  if  possible,  in  his  ideas  of  a 
magnificent  and  all-powerful  Government,  by  the  Secretaries  whom  he 
had  gathered  around  him,  as  constitutional  advisers.  The  Secretary 
of  State,  while  a  popular  orator  on  the  floor  of  Congress,  had  never 
-tidied,  when  occasion  offered,  to  describe  in  glowing  terms,  the  bene- 
fits to  be  derived  from  a  free  and  unrestrained  exercise  of  all  those 
powers  that  Congress,  in  its  wisdom,  might  deem  necessary  and  pro- 
per to  promote  the  common  good  and  general  welfare.  But  the  Sec- 
retary of  the  Treasury  went  beyond  them  both  in  defining  the  object 
and  the  duties  of  Government.  In  his  annual  report  he  says  the 


246  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

duty  of  a  provident  Government  is  "  to  augment  the  number  and  va 
riety  of  occupations  for  its  inhabitants ;  to  hold  out  to  every  degree 
of  labor,  and  to  every  modification  of  skill,  its  appropriate  object 
and  inducement ;  to  organize  the  whole  labor  of  a  country ;  to  entico 
into  the  widest  ranges  its  mechanical  and  intellectual  capacities,  in- 
stead of  suffering  them  to  slumber ;  to  call  forth,  wherever  hidden, 
latent  ingenuity,  giving  to  effort  activity,  and  to  emulation  ardor ;  to 
create  employment  for  the  greatest  amount  of  numbers,  by  adapting 
it  to  the  diversified  faculties,  propensities,  and  situations  of  men,  so 
that  every  particle  of  ability,  every  shade  of  genius,  may  come  into 
requisition." 

In  the  eye  of  these  political  economists,  Government  is  every 
thing,  the  people  nothing.  In  their  estimation,  Government  is  a 
unit,  having  absolute  control  over  the  property  and  the  industry  of 
the  people ;  directing  the  resources  of  the  one  and  the  energies  of 
the  other,  into  this  or  that  channel,  as  may  seem  best  to  its  sovereign 
and  omnipotent  will. 

Doctrines  like  these  were  not  ventured  even  in  the  palmiest  days 
of  federalism.  John  Adams,  the  father,  and  Hamilton,  the  Secretary, 
could  not  hold  a  light  to  the  son,  and  those  luminaries  around  him, 
who  drew  their  inspiration  from  some  modern  political  philosophy, 
which  taught  that  the  prosperity  of  the  people  must  be  based  upon, 
and  measured  by,  the  omnipotent  and  unlimited  powers  conferred  on 
the  Government.  It  is  not  surprising  that  the  people  awoke  from 
their  long  dream  of  security,  and  that  they  were  alarmed  at  the  bold- 
ness and  the  confidence  with  which  these  extraordinary  doctrines 
were  announced  by  the  highest  authorities  known  to  the  Constitu- 
tion. It  is  not  surprising,  that  John  Randolph,  the  champion  of 
State-rights,  should  sound  the  tocsin  to  warn  the  people,  and  that  in 
the  midst  of  so  much  error  of  doctrine,  and  bold  usurpation  of  au- 
thority, he  should  express  doubts  of  a  long  continuance  of  our  fede- 
rative Government,  as  designed  and  constructed  by  our  forefathers: 

-  We  are  now  making  an  experiment,"  says  he,  "  which  has  never 
yet  succeeded  in  any  region  or  quarter  of  the  earth,  at  any  time,  from 
the  deluge  to  this  day.  With  regard  to  the  antediluvian  times,  his- 
tory is  not  very  full ;  but  there  is  no  proof  that  it  has  ever  succeeded, 
even  before  the  flood.  One  thing,  however,  we  do  know,  that  it  has 
never  succeeded  since  the  flood  ;  and,  as  there  is  no  proof  of  its  haY- 


THE  ADAMS  ADMINISTRATION.  247 

ing  succeeded  before  the  flood,  as  de  non  apparentibus  et  non  existcn- 
tibus  eadem  est  ratio;  it  is  good  logic  to  infer,  that  it  has  never  suc- 
ceeded, and  never  can  succeed  any  where.  In  fact  the  onusprobandi 
lies  on  them  that  take  up  the  other  side  of  the  question  ;  for  although 
post  hoc  ergo  propter  hoc  be  not  good  logic,  yet,  when  we  find  the  same 
consequences  generally  following  the  same  events,  it  requires  nothing 
short  of  the  skepticism  of  Mr.  Hume,  to  deny  that  there  is  no  con- 
nection between  the  one  and  the  other  j  whatever,  metaphysically 
speaking,  there  may  be  of  necessary  connection  between  cause  and 
effect. 

"  I  say,  then,  that  we  are  here  making  an  experiment  which  has 
never  succeeded  in  any  time  or  country,  and  which — as  Gcd  shall 
judge  me  at  the  great  and  final  day — I  do  in  my  heart  believe  will 
here  fail ;  because  I  see  and  feel  that  it  is  now  failing.  It  is  an  in- 
firmity of  my  nature ;  it  is  constitutional ;  it  was  born  with  me ;  it 
has  caused  the  misery  (if  you  will)  of  my  life  ;  it  is  an  infirmity  of 
my  nature  to  have  an  obstinate  constitutional  preference  of  the  true 
over  the  agreeable ;  and  I  am  satisfied,  that  if  I  had  an  only  son,  or. 
what  is  dearer,  an  only  daughter — which  God  forbid ! — I  say,  God 
forbid  !  for  she  might  bring  her  father's  gray  hairs  with  sorrow  to  the 
grave  ;  she  might  break  my  heart ;  but,  worse  than  that,  what !  Can 
any  thing  be  worse  than  that?  Yes,  sir,  I  might  break  hers.  I 
should  be  more  sharp-sighted  to  her  foibles  than  any  one  else 

"  I  say,  in  my  conscience  and  in  my  heart,  I  believe  that  this  ex- 
periment will  fail.  If  it  should  not  fail,  blessed  be  the  Author  of 
all  Good  for  snatching  this  people  as  a  brand  from  the  burning, 
which  has  consumed  as  stubble  all  the  nations — all  the  fruitfulness 
of  the  earth — which,  before  us,  have  been  cut  down,  and  cast  into  the 
£re.  Why  cum bereth  it  the  ground  ?  Why  cum bereth  it  ?  Cut  it 
down  !  Cut  it  down  ! 

"  I  believe  that  it  will  fail ;  but,  sir,  if  it  does  not  fail,  its  success 
will  be  owing  to  the  resistance  of  the  usurpation  of  one  man,  by  a 
power  which  was  not  unsuccessful  in  resisting  another  man,  of  the 
same  name,  and  of  the  same  race.  And  why  is  it  that  I  think  it  will 
fail?  Sir,  with  Father  Paul,  I  may  wish  it  to  be  perpetual,  esto 
perpetua}  but  I  cannot  believe  that  it  will  be  so.  I  do  not  believe  that 
a  free  republican  government  is  compatible  with  the  apery  of  Euro- 
pean fashions  and  manners — is  compatible  with  the  apery  of  Euro- 
pean luxury  and  habits  ;  but  if  it  were,  I  do  know  that  it  is  entirely 
incompatible  with  what  I  have  in  my  hand — a  base  and  baseless 
paper  system  of  diplomacy,  and  a  hardly  better  paper  system  of 
exchange. 

"  Now,  sir,  John  Quincy  Adams,  coming  into  power  under  these 
inauspicious  circumstances,  and  with  these  suspicious  allies  and  con- 
nections, has  determined  to  become  the  apostle  of  liberty,  of  un'Versai 


248  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH.' 

liberty,  as  his  father  was,  about  the  time  of  the  formation  of  the 
Constitution,  known  to  be  the  apostle  of  monarchy.  It  is  no  secret. 
I  was  in  New-York  when  he  first  took  his  seat  as  Vice-President.  I 
recollect — for  I  was  a  schoolboy  at  the  time — attending  the  lobby  of 
Congress,  when  I  ought  to  have  been  at  school.  I  remember  the 
manner  in  which  my  brother  was  spurned  by  the  coachman  of  the 
then  Vice-President,  for  coming  too  near  the  arms  emblazoned  on 
the  scutcheon  of  the  vice-regal  carriage.  Perhaps  I  may  have  some 
of  this  old  animosity  rankling  in  my  heart,  and,  coming  from  a  race 
who  are  known  never  to  forsake  a  friend  or  forgive  a  foe,  I  am  taught 
to  forgive  my  enemies ;  and  I  do,  from  the  bottom  of  my  heart,  most 
sincerely,  as  I  hope  to  be  forgiven ;  but  it  is  my  enemies,  not  the 
enemies  of  my  country,  for,  if  they  come  here  in  the  shape  cf  the 
English,  it  is  my  duty  to  kill  them ;  if  they  come  here  in  a  worse 
shape — wolves  in  sheeps1  clothing,  it  is  my  duty  and  my  business  to 
tear  the  sheep-skins  from  their  backs,  and,  as  Windham  said  to  Pitt, 
open  the  bosom,  and  expose  beneath  the  ruffled  shirt  the  filthy  dow- 
las. This  language  was  used  in  the  House  of  Commons,  where  they 
talk  and  act  like  men ;  where  they  eat  and  drink  like  men  ;  and  do 
other  things  like  men,  not  like  Master  Bettys.  Adams  determined 
to  take  warning  by  his  father's  errors ;  but  in  attempting  the  perpen- 
dicular, he  bent  as  much  the  other  way.  Who  would  believe  that 
Adams,  the  son  of  the  sedition-law  President,  who  held  office  under 
his  father — who,  up  to  December  6,  1807,  was  the  undeviating. 
stanch  adherent  to  the  opposition  to  Jefferson's  administration,  then 
almost  gone — who  would  believe  he  had  selected  for  his  pattern  the 
celebrated  Anacharsis  Cloots,  'orator  of  the  human  race?'  As 
Anacharsis  was  the  orator  of  the  human  race,  so  Adams  was  de- 
termined to  be  the  President  of  the  human  race,  when  I  am  not  wil- 
ling that  he  should  be  President  of  my  name  and  race ;  but  he  is, 
and  must  be,  till  the  third  day  of  March,  eighteen  hundred  and — 
I  forget  when.  He  has  come  out  with  a  speech  and  a  message,  and 
with  a  doctrine  that  goes  to  take  the  whole  human  family  under  his 
special  protection.  Now,  sir.  who  made  him  his  brother's  keeper  ? 
Who  gave  him,  the  President  of  the  United  States,  the  custody  of 
the  liberties,  or  the  rights,  or  the  interests  of  South  America,  or  any 
other  America,  save,  only,  the  United  States  of  America,  or  any  other 
country  under  the  sun  ?  He  has  put  himself,  we  know,  into  the  way 
and  I  say,  God  send  him  a  safe  deliverance,  and  God  send  the  coun- 
try a  safe  deliverance  from  his  policy — from  his  policy." 


THE  PANAMA  MISSION.  249 


CHAPTEE    XXX. 

THE  PANAMA  MISSION — BLIFIL  AND  BLACK  GEORGE. 

THE  American  system  of  Mr.  Clay  was  not  confined  to  the  mere  do- 
mestic affairs  of  the  United  States,  it  contemplated  a  wider  range, 
and  embraced  within  its  scope  an  intimate  political  relationship  with 
all  the  republics  and  empires  of  North  and  South  America.  On 
the  floor  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  in  1820,  he  gave  the  first 
outline  of  this  American  policy.  "  What  would  I  give,"  says  he. 
"  could  we  appreciate  the  advantages  of  pursuing  the  course  I  pro- 
pose. It  is  in  our  power  to  create  a  system  of  which  we  shall  be 
the  centre,  and  in  which  all  South  America  will  act  with  us.  Im- 
agine the  vast  power  of  the  two  continents,  and  the  value  of  the  in- 
tercourse between  them,  when  we  shall  have  a  population  of  forty, 
and  they  of  seventy  millions.  In  relation  to  South  America,  the 
people  of  the  United  States  will  occupy  the  same  position  as  the 
people  of  New  England  do  to.  the  rest  of  the  United  States.  "We 
shall  be  the  centre  of  a  system,  which  would  constitute  the  rallying 
point  of  human  freedom  against  all  the  despotism  of  the  old  world. 
Let  us  no  longer  watch  the  nod  of  any  European  politician.  Let  us 
become  real  and  true  Americans,  and  place  ourselves  at  the  head  of 
the  American  system." 

So  soon  as  Mr.  Clay  took  possession  of  the  Department  of  State,  he 
had  an  ample  field  for  the  exercise  of  his  passion  for  diplomacy.  He 
not  only  instilled  his  doctrines  into  the  minds  of  our  public  function- 
aries abroad,  but  he  immediately  commenced  a  line  of  policy  which 
must  soon  consummate  his  cherished  schemes,  and  place  himself  at 
the  head  of  an  American  Holy  Alliance,  to  defend  human  freedom 
against  the  despotism  of  the  old  world. 

The  Spanish  American  Republics,  by  various  treaties  among  them- 
selves, had  determined  to  appoint  delegates  to  meet  in  Congress  at 
Panama,  for  the  purpose  of  devising  means  more  effectually  to  prose- 
cute the  war  with  Spain,  who  had  not  yet  acknowledged  their  inde- 
pendence ;  to  settle  some  principles  of  international  law ;  and  to  di- 
gest some  plan  of  co-operation  with  the  United  States,  to  prevent  the 


250  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

interference  of  any  other  nation  in  the  present  war,  on  behalf  of 
Spain,  and  to  resist  the  further  colonization  of  the  American  xgoast 
by  the  nations  of  Europe.  There  were  many  and  serious  difficulties 
in  the  way  of  any  participation  on  the  part  of  the  United  States  in 
the  deliberations  and  decisions  of  this  Congress.  Nor  was  their  pre- 
sence at  first  anticipated.  But  this  Assembly  furnished  too  favorable 
an  opportunity  for  Mr.  Clay  to  accomplish  his  schemes,  to  let  it  escape, 
He,  as  Secretary  of  State,  intimated  to  the  resident  Ministers  at 
Washington,  in  the  name  of  the  Government,  that  the  United  States, 
if  formally  invited,  would,  on  their  part,  appoint  a  person  to  repre- 
sent them.  The  invitation  of  course  was  extended  ;  but  before  ac- 
cepting it,  the  President  thought  that  certain  important  preliminary 
questions  should  be  settled.  It  appeared  to  him  to  be  necessary,  be- 
fore the  assembling  of  such  a  Congress,  to  settle  between  the  differ- 
ent powers  to  be  represented,  several  preliminary  points ;  such  as  the 
subjects  to  which  the  attention  of  the  Congress  should  be  directed ; 
the  substance  and  the  form  of  the  powers  to  be  given  to  the  respect- 
ive [Representatives;  and  the  mode  of  organizing  the  Congress. 
These  subjects  were  discussed  for  many  months  in  verbal  conferences. 
They  were  not  merely  preliminary,  but  vital  as  to  the  propriety  of 
accepting  the  invitation. 

They  were  never  settled.  But  the  Secretary  of  State,  and  the 
President,  whose  imagination  had  now  become  inflamed  with  the  same 
brilliant  theme,  were  not  to  be  diverted  from  their  purpose  by  these 
grave  difficulties.  Two  such  ardent  and  obstinate  tempers  united  on 
the  same  object,  were  not  to  be  balked  by  ordinary  obstacles. 

But  a  few  days  before  the  meeting  of  Congress,  the  30th  of  No- 
vember, 1825,  the  Secretary  wrote  to  the  several  Spanish  American 
Ministers,  residing  at  Washington.  After  expressing  his  regret  that 
these  subjects  had  not  been  arranged,  he  proceeds :  "  But  as  the  want 
of  the  adjustment  of  these  preliminaries,  if  it  should  occasion  any 
inconvenience,  could  be  only  productive  of  some  delay,  the  President 
has  determined,  at  once,  to  manifest  the  sensibility  of  the  United 
States  to  whatever  concerns  the  prosperity  of  the  American  hemis- 
phere, and  to  the  friendly  motives  which  have  actuated  your  Govern- 
ments in  transmitting  the  invitation  which  you  have  communicated. 
He  has,  therefore,  resolved,  should  the  Senate  of  the  United  States, 
now  expected  to  assemble  in  a  few  days,  give  their  advice  and  consent 


THE  PANAMA  MISSION.  251 

to  send  Commissioners  to  the  Congress  at  Panama."  Accordingly, 
in  his  annual  message,  the  6th  of  December,  the  President  announces 
to  Congress  that  "  the  invitation  has  been  accepted,  and  ministers  on 
the  part  of  the  United  States  will  be  commissioned  to  attend  at  those 
deliberations." 

New  offices  were  to  be  created,  and  the  whole  policy  of  the  coun- 
try, in  despite  of  the  warning  of  the  father  of  his  country,  was  to  be 
changed,  by  mere  Executive  will,  without  the  advice  and  consent  of 
the  Representatives  of  the  States,  or  of  the  people. 

This  extraordinary  measure  was  deemed  by  the  President  to  be 
within  the  constitutional  competency  of  the  Executive ;  and,  before 
ascertaining  the  opinion  of  the  Legislature  as  to  its  expediency,  by 
first  obtaining  a  creation  of  the  offices  proposed  to  be  filled,  and  then 
an  appropriation  for  the  salaries,  he  nominated  Richard  C.  Anderson, 
of  Kentucky,  and  John  Sergeant,  of  Pennsylvania,  to  be  Envoys 
Extraordinary  and  Ministers  Plenipotentiary  to  the  Assembly  of 
American  Nations,  at  Panama. 

Mr.  Randolph  took  his  seat  in  the  Senate  a  few  days  after  the 
message  containing  these  nominations  was  communicated  to  that  body. 

On  the  4th  of  January,  1826,  he  writes  to  a  friend,  "We  are 
here,  as  dull  as  the  i  Asphaltic  Pool.'  Yet  I  think  it  possible  (not 
to  say  probable)  that  we  shall  not  continue  so  during  the  remainder 

of  the  session If  any  check  can  be  given  to  the  Ex.  Power,  I 

have  long  believed  that  the  Senate  alone  had  the  reins.  The  H.  of 
R.,  from  its  character  and  composition,  can  never  be  formidable  to  a 
P.  who  has  common  sense."  The  "  Asphaltic  Pool"  was  soon  driven 
and  tossed  by  a  mighty  tempest. 

After  repeated  calls  on  the  President  for  fuller  information, 
which  he  very  mincingly  dealt  out  to  them,  the  Senate  at  length  com- 
menced in  conclave  to  discuss  the  Panama  question. 

Mr.  Van  Buren,  on  the  15th  of  February,  submitted  a  resolu- 
tion, "That upon  the  question, whether  the  United  States  shall  be  rep- 
resented in  the  Congress  of  Panama,  the  Senate  ought  to  act  with 
open  doors ;  unless  it  shall  appear  that  the  publication  of  documents 
necessary  to  be  referred  to  in  debate  will  be  prejudicial  to  existing 
negotiations." 

He  submitted  a  further  resolution,  "  That  the  President  be  re- 
spectfully requested  to  inform  the  Senate  whether  such  objection  ex- 
37 


252  LIFE  OF  JOIIN  RANDOLPH. 

isted  in  the  publication  of  the  documents  communicated  by  the  Ex- 
ecutive, or  any  portion  of  them  ;  and,  if  so,  to  specify  the  parts  the 
publication  of  which  would,  for  that  reason,  be  objectionable." 

Mr.  Randolph  opposed  these  resolutions.  He  protested  against 
opening  the  doors,  and  contended  that  the  President  was  a  co-ordin- 
ate branch  of  the  Government,  and  was  entitled  to  all  possible  respect 
from  the  Senate,  "  It  is  his  duty,"  said  he,  "  to  lay  before  us  infor- 
mation on  which  we  must  act ;  if  he  does  not  give  us  sufficient  informa- 
tion, it  is  not  our  business  to  ask  more."  The  resolutions,  however,  were 
adopted ;  and  the  next  day,  the  President  sent  the  following  message 
in  reply :  "  In  answer  to  the  two  resolutions  of  the  Senate,  of  the  15th 
instant,  marked  (Executive)  and .  which  I  have  received,  I  state  re- 
spectfully, that  all  the  communications  from  me  to  the  Senate,  relat- 
ing to  the  Congress  at  Panama,  have  been  made,  like  all  other  com- 
munications upon  Executive  business,  in  confidence,  and  most  of  them 
m  compliance  with  a  resolution  of  the  Senate,  requiring  them  confi- 
dentially. Believing  that  the  established  usage  of  free  confidential 
communications  between  the  Executive  and  the  Senate  ought,  for  the 
public  interest,  to  be  preserved  unimpaired,  I  deem  it  my  indispensa- 
ble duty  to  leave  to  the  Senate,  itself,  the  decision  of  a  question  in- 
volving a  departure,  hitherto,  so  far  as  I  am  informed,  without  exam- 
ple, from  that  usage,  and  upon  the  motives  for  which,  not  being  in- 
formed of  them,  I  do  not  feel  myself  competent  to  decide." 

This  message  changed  the  tone  of  Mr.  Randolph  towards  the 
President.  Some  weeks  afterwards,  when  addressing  the  Senate  with 
open  doors,  he  alluded  to  this  subject. 

"  I  did  maintain,"  said  he,  "  the  rights  of  the  President ;  but  from 
the  moment  he  sent  us  this  message,  from  that  moment  did  my  tone 
and  manner  to  him  change;  from  that  moment  was  I  an  altered  man, 
and,  I  am  afraid,  not  altered  for  the  better. 

"  Sir,  if  he  would  leave  to  the  Senate  the  decision  of  the  question, 
I  would  agree  with  him  ;  but  the  evil  genius  of  the  American  house 
of  Stuart  prevailed.  He  goes  on  to  say  that  the  question  '  involves 
a  departure,  hitherto,  so  far  as  I  am  informed,  without  example,  from 
that  usage,  and  upon  the  motives  for  which,  not  being  informed  of 
them,  I  do  not  feel  myself  competent  to  decide.'  If  this  had  been 
prosecuted  for  a  libel,  what  jury  would  have  failed  to  have  found  a 
verdict  on  such  an  inuendo  ?  That  we  were  breaking  up  from  our 
own  usages  to  gratify  personal  spleen?  I  say  nothing  about  our 
movements,  because  he  was  not  informed  of  them.  The  inuendo  was, 


THE  PANAMA  MISSION.  253 

that  our  motives  were  black  and  bad.  That  moment  did  I  put,  like 
Hannibal,  my  hand  on  the  altar,  and  swear  eternal  enmity  against 
him  and  his,  politically.  From  that  moment  I  would  do  any  thing 
within  the  limits  of  the  Constitution  and  the  law ;  for,  as  Chatham 
said  of  Wilkes,  '  I  would  not,  in  the  person  of  the  worst  of  men,  vio- 
late those  sanctions  and  privileges  which  are  the  safeguard  of  the 
rights  and  liberties  of  the  best ;  but,  within  the  limits  of  the  Consti- 
tution and  the  law,  if  I  don't  carry  on  the  war,  whether  in  the  Penin- 
sula or  any  where  else,  it  shall  be  for  want  of  resources.' " 

After  further  observations  on  the  resolutions  moved  in  conclave, 
Mr.  Randolph  repeated  what  he  had  then  said  in  reference  to  the 
message  of  the  President. 

':  Who  made  him  a  judge  of  our  usages  ?  Who  constituted  Lim  ? 
He  has  been  a  professor,  I  understand.  I  wish  he  had  left  off  the 
pedagogue  when  he  got  into  the  Executive  chair.  Who  made  him 
the  censor  morum  of  this  body  ?  Will  any  one  answer  this  question  ? 
Yes  or  no?  Who?  Name  the  person.  Above  all,  who  made  him 
the  searcher  of  hearts,  and  gave  him  the  right,  by  an  inuendo  black 
as  hell,  to  blacken  our  motives  ?  Blacken  our  motives  !  I  did  not 
say  that  then.  I  was  more  under  self-command ;  I  did  not  use  such 
strong  language.  I  said,  if  he  could  borrow  the  eye  of  Omniscience 
himself,  and  look  into  every  bosom  here  ;  if  he  could  look  into  that 
most  awful,  calamitous,  and  tremendous  of  all  possible  gulfs,  the 
naked  unveiled  human  heart,  stripped  of  all  its  covering  of  self-love, 
exposed  naked,  as  to  the  eye  of  Grod — I  said  if  he  could  do  that,  he  was 
not,  as  President  of  the  United  States,  entitled  to  pass  upon  our 
motives,  although  he  saw  and  knew  them  to  be  bad.  I  said,  if  he 
had  converted  us  to  the  Catholic  religion,  and  was  our  father  confes- 
sor, and  every  man  in  this  House  at  the  footstool  of  the  confessional 
had  confessed  a  bad  motive  to  him  by  the  laws  of  his  church,  as  by 
this  Constitution,  above  the  law  and  above  the  church,  he,  as  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States,  could  not  pass  on  our  motives,  though  we 
had  told  him  with  our  own  lips  our  motives,  and  confessed  they  were 
bad.  I  said  this  then,  and  I  say  it  now.  Here  I  plant  my  foot ; 
here  I  fling  defiance  right  into  his  teeth  before  the  American  people  : 
here  I  throw  the  gauntlet  to  him  and  the  bravest  of  his  compeers,  to 
come  forward  and  defend  these  miserable  lines  :  '  Involving  a  depar- 
ture, hitherto,  so  far  as  I  am  informed,  without  example,  from,  that 
usage,  and  upon  the  motives  for  which,  not  being  informed  of  them, 
I  do  not  feel  myself  competent  to  decide.'  Amiable  modesty !  I 
wonder  we  did  not,  all  at  once,  fall  in  love  with  him,  and  agree  una 
voce  to  publish  our  proceedings,  except  myself,  for  I  quitted  the 
Senate  ten  minutes  before  the  vote  was  taken.  I  saw  what  was  to 


254:  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

follow  ;  I  knew  the  thing  would  not  be  done  at  all,  or  would  be  done 
unanimously.  Therefore,  in  spite  of  the  remonstrances  of  friends, 
I  went  away,  not  fearing  that  any  one  would  doubt  what  my  vote 
would  have  been,  if  I  had  staid.  After  twenty-six  hours'  exertion, 
it  was  time  to  give  in.  I  was  defeated,  horse,  foot,  and  dragoons — 
cut  up,  and  clean  broke  down  by  the  coalition  of  Blifil  and  Black 
George — by  the  combination,  unheard  of  till  then,  of  the  puritan  with 
the  blackleg." 


CHAPTEK    XXXI. 

DUEL  WITH  HENRY  CLAY, 

THE  remarks  contained  in  the  closing  paragraph  of  the  preceding 
chapter,  were  made  in  reference  to  the  coalition  between  Mr.  Clay 
and  Mr.  Adams.  Mr.  Randolph  was  fully  persuaded  that  it  was  the 
result  of  corrupt  motives ;  and  being  so  persuaded,  he  did  not  hesi- 
tate to  express  himself  in  the  strongest  terms  of  denunciation.  But, 
on  the  present  occasion,  he  so  far  forgot  himself  as  to  indulge  in  Ian 
guage  of  the  grossest  personal  insult.  We  do  not  believe  that  this 
was  a  premeditated  and  malicious  assault  on  the  private  reputation 
of  an  absent  rival.  In  the  heat  of  debate,  Randolph  often  used  ex- 
pressions that  in  cooler  moments  he  regretted.  Concentration  of 
thought  and  intensity  of  expression  were  characteristic  of  his  mind. 
Few  men  could  say  more  pithy  or  pungent  things.  His  sentences 
were  aphorisms,  without  a  superfluous  ornament,  and  pregnant  with 
meaning.  On  the  present  occasion,  while  the  blood  was  up,  and  the 
mind  glowing  with  intense  action,  we  are  persuaded  that  he  looked 
only  to  the  vividness  of  his  illustrations  and  the  aptness  of  his  allu- 
sions. He  felt  only  the  strength  of  the  orator  giving  intensity  to  his 
expressions ;  he  perceived  only  the  effect  on  his  audience,  and  did 
not  consider  the  wound  he  might  inflict  on  the  feelings  of  the  subject 
of  his  allusions.  If  the  thought  flashed  across  his  mind  at  the  mo- 
ment, it  was  too  late ;  while  "  at  the  top  of  his  bent,"  and  in  the  eye 
of  the  Senate,  he  could  not  pause  to  weigh  consequences.  When,  per- 
haps, in  the  next  hour  after  taking  his  seat,  he  may  have  regretted 
that  any  offensive  words  had  escaped  his  lips.  So  conscious  was  lie 


DUEL  WITH  HENRY  CLAY.  255 

of  his  proneness  to  this  license  in  the  heat  of  debate,  that  he  not  un~ 
frequently  asked  pardon  of  the  House,  or  of  the  Senate,  while  a  mem- 
ber of  that  body,  for  any  unguarded  and  injurious  expressions  he 
may  have  uttered.  We  can  readily  fancy  that  when  his  attention 
was  called  to  the  subject  by  a  friend,  he  would  exclaim,  "  Grod  for- 
give me  !  but  it  is  too  late  now ;  it  can't  be  helped."  Baring  flung 
down  the  gauntlet,  and  challenged  the  boldest  champion  of  the  admin- 
istration to  take  it  up,  he  was  not  the  man  to  take  back  any  insulting 
expressions  that  might  provoke  an  acceptance  of  his  challenge.  Hav- 
ing offered  the  insult,  he  calmly  awaited  the  consequences,  not  doubt- 
ing what  those  consequences  would  be.  Mr.  Clay  was  not  a  man  of 
such  forbearance  and  Christian  virtue  as  to  permit  a  gross  im- 
putation on  his  motives  to  pass  unnoticed.  The  circumstances  by 
which  he  was  surrounded,  and  the  quarter  from  which  it  came,  for- 
bade it  on  this  occasion.  He  was  compelled  to  act.  He  had  reached 
a  crisis  in  his  public  career ;  a  vast  suspicion  hung  upon  the  integrity 
of  his  late  conduct ;  the  public  had  fixed  a  jealous  eye  on  his  move- 
ments ;  had  he  then  quailed,  or  even  been  silent,  under  the  charge  of 
bankruptcy  in  morals,  both  public  and  private,  his  political  fortunes 
would  have  been  ruined  beyond  the  hope  of  redemption.  Randolph, 
too,  was  the  man  to  confront.  He  had  been  the  evil  genius  that  from 
the  beginning  stood  in  the  way  of  his  aspirations ;  not  as  the  weird 
sisters  in  the  path  of  Macbeth,  to  cheer  him  on  with  prophecies  of 
future  greatness,  but  as  the  angel  with  the  naming  sword,  that 
checked  the  presumptuous  Baalam  as  he  went  up  to  curse  the  chil- 
dren of  God. 

He  strode  from  the  vestibule  to  the  speaker's  chair,  and  from  that 
elevated  position  fixed  his  eye  on  a  still  more  lofty  seat.  Randolph's 
keen  and  practised  perception  saw  the  dangerous  and  the  vaulting 
ambition  of  the  man,  and  from  that  moment  marked  him  as  an 
object  of  especial  notice.  While  the  country  yet  paused,  and  her 
fate  still  hung  balanced  between  peace  and  war,  Clay,  with  burning 
zeal,  urged  on  to  strife,  Randolph's  voice  was  heard  for  peace.  On 
the  political  arena  they  met,  and  with  ethereal  weapons  fought. 
When  the  trophies  of  victory  reared  on  the  bloody  field  of  combat 
shall  have  mouldered  into  dust,  the  intellectual  conflicts  of  these 
great  orators  shall  live  in  the  memory  of  coming  ages.  Soon  they 
parted:  one  to  the  shades  and  the  solitude  of  Roanoke,  the  other  to  the 


256  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

achievement  of  still  higher  exploits  in  the  cabinet  of  diploma  17 
Again  they  met  on  the  same  arena.  Peace  had  returned,  and  with 
it  a  tide  of  prosperity  that  maddened  the  minds  of  the  multitude, 
and  filled  the  imaginations  of  gravest  statesmen  with  schemes  of 
magnificence  and  grandeur  that  brooked  no  constitutional  restraint 
in  the  way  of  their  complete  and  immediate  execution.  But  the 
towering  genius  of  the  young  Apollo  soared  above  them  all,  and 
bore  away  the  crown  of  victory,  while  the  people  stood  charmed 
with  the  melodious  tones  of  his  persuasive  voice,  and  enchanted  by 
the  magic  spell  he  had  thrown  about  their  bewildered  minds.  But 
the  eagle,  towering  in  his  pride,  was  doomed  to  fall.  The  keen 
archer  sped  an  arrow,  plumed  with  feathers  fallen  from  his  own  wing, 
that  brought  him  wounded  to  the  earth.  "  From  the  time  that  I  en- 
tered upon  the  subject  of  his  conduct  in  relation  to  the  Bank,  in 
1811  (renewal  of  the  old  charter)  and  in  1816  (the  new  Bank),  and 
on  internal  improvements,  &c ,  (quoting  his  own  words  in  his  last 
speech  that l  this  was  a  limited  cautiously  restricted  government^)  and 
held  up  the  '  compromise'  in  its  true  colors,  he  never  once  glanced 
his  eye  upon  me  but  to  withdraw  it,  as  if  he  had  seen  a  basilisk." 
But  the  glance  of  the  basilisk,  nor  the  archer's  shaft,  could  quell  his 
aspiring  mind.  Borne  up  on  the  popular  breeze,  he  still  mounted 
aloft,  and  waved  defiance  to  his  enemies.  Scorning  meaner  things, 
his  wide  vision  stretched  across  the  continent,  and  embraced  far  dis- 
tant republics  in  the  scope  of  his  philanthropy.  A  halo  of  glory 
seemed  to  hover  about  his  brow,  and  he  rode  like  a  sun,  eclipsing  the 
beams  of  lesser  luminaries.  But  his  hour  had  come  ;  the  fatal  blun- 
der had  been  committed.  Proud  and  confident,  he  had  never  mis- 
trusted his  own  infallibility.  The  averted  countenance  of  retiring 
friends,  the  chilling  breath  of  cold  suspicion,  taught  him  when  too 
late  that  he  also  was  mortal.  In  this  hour  of  abandonment  and 
peril,  his  old-enemy  dealt  him  a  deadly  blow.  He  had  no  right  to 
complain ;  he  could  not  exclaim  et  tu,  Brute !  for  no  friendship  had 
ever  been  professed :  on  the  contrary,  Randolph  had  ever  deprecated 
his  ambition  as  dangerous,  and  felt  justified  in  the  use  of  any  weapon 
that  might  curb  its  career.  Embittered  by  the  denunciations  heaped 
upon  him  on  every  hand,  and  chafed  by  the  prospect  of  falling  for- 
tunes, Clay  only  saw  in  his  ancient  rival  a  cunning  Mephistopheles, 
heaping  scornful  words  upon  him,  and  smiling  in  triumph  at  his  over- 


DUEL  WITH  HENRY  CLAY.  257 

throw.  Stung  to  desperation,  he  sought  revenge  in  the  Wood  of  hia 
adversary.  Pity  he  knew  no  other  mode  of  vindicating  an  injured 
character  than  a  resort  to  mortal  combat.  It  is  a  reproach  to  civili- 
zation, if  not  to  Christianity,  that  they  have  found  no  other  means 
of  wiping  away  the  stains  of  dishonor  than  that  which  is  exacted  by 
the  bloody  code  of  a  barbarous  age. 

These  two  remarkable  men,  so  often  meeting  in  the  arena  of  de- 
bate, and  now  for  the  first  time  on  the  bloody  field,  were  born  within 
a  day's  ride  of  each  other.  One  in  the  baronial  halls  of  his  an- 
cestors, on  the  lofty  banks  of  the  Appomattox,  the  other  in  an  hum- 
ble dwelling  amidst  the  slashes  of  Hanover.  While  the  poor  depu- 
ty clerk,  in  the  intervals  of  toil,  picked  up  his  scanty  crumbs  of 
knowledge,  the  proud  son  of  fortune  enjoyed  the  richest  repasts  in 
the  highest  seminaries  of  learning.  While  the  one  yet  a  youth,  was 
borne  into  the  halls  of  Congress  by  the  sweet  voices  of  the  people, 
the  other  was  still  fighting  his  uncouth  way  to  fame  and  fortune 
among  the  hunters  of  Kentucky. 

Born  to  command,  each  was  reared  in  that  school  that  best  fitted 
him  to  perform  the  part  Providence  had  assigned  him.  In  daily 
contact  with  his  fellows,  the  one  became  affable,  courteous,  winning 
in  his  ways,  and  powerful  in  his  influence  over  the  mind  and  the  will 
of  the  admiring  multitude ;  the  other,  in  retirement  and  solitude, 
cherished  those  sterner  virtues  that  made  him  the  unbending  advo- 
cate of  truth,  the  unwavering  defender  of  the  Constitution,  and 
the  intrepid  leader  of  those  who  rallied  around  the  rights  of  the 
States  as  the  only  sure  guarantee  of  the  rights  of  the  people. 

The  acknowledged  champions  of  the  two  great  political  parties 
again  reorganized,  and  with  the  hopes  of  the  whole  country  resting 
upon  them,  these  two  men  were  about  to  meet  for  the  purpose  of  ex- 
tinguishing the  lives  of  each  other.  Sad  end  to  a  bright  career  !  But 
encompassed  as  they  were  by  a  false  sense  of  honor,  which  they  them- 
selves had  cherished,  there  was  no  other  alternative  but  to  fight. 
With  a  laudable  desire  to  terminate  the  difference  between  the  parties 
in  a  manner  alike  honorable  to  both.  General  Jesup  and  Colonel 
Tattnall  mutually  agreed  to  suspend  the  challenge  and  acceptance, 
in  order  that,  if  possible,  satisfactory  explanations  might  be  entered 
into. 

General  Jesup,  as  the  friend  of  Mr.  Clay,  stated  that  the  injury 


258  J-IFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

of  which  that  gentleman  complained  consisted  in  this  :  that  Mr.  Ran- 
dolph had  charged  him  with  having  forged  or  manufactured  a  paper 
connected  with  the  Panama  mission  ;  also,  that  he  had  applied  to  him 
the  epithet  black  legs.  G-eneral  Jesup  considered  it  necessary  that 
Mr.  Randolph  should  declare  that  he  had  no  intention  of  charging 
Mr.  Clay,  either  in  his  public  or  private  capacity,  with  forging  or 
falsifying  any  paper,  or  misrepresenting  any  fact ;  and  also,  that  the 
term  black  legs,  if  used,  was  not  intended  to  apply  to  him. 

Colonel  Tattnall  made  the  communication  to  Mr.  Randolph.  His 
reply  cut  off  all  hope  of  any  satisfactory  adjustment  of  the  diffi- 
culty ;  "  I  have  gone,  says  he,  as  far  as  I  could  in  waiving  my  pri- 
vilege to  accept  a  peremptory  ehallenge  from  a  minister  of  the 
Executive  Government,  under  any  circumstances,  and  especially  un- 
der such  circumstances.  The  words  used  by  me  were,  that  I  thought 
it  would  be  in  my  power  to  show  evidence,  sufficiently  presumptive, 
to  satisfy  a  Charlotte  jury,  that  this  invitation  was  "  manufactured  " 
here — that  Salagar's  letter  struck  me  as  being  a  strong  likeness  in 
point  of  style,  &c.,  to  the  other  papers.  I  did  not  undertake  is  prove 
this,  but  expressed  my  suspicion  that  the  fact  was  so.  I  applied  to 
the  administration  the  epithet,  "  puritanic,  diplomatic,  black-legged 
administration." 

"  I  have  no  explanations  to  give — I  will  not  give  any — I  am  called 
to  the  field — I  have  agreed  to  go  and  am  ready  to  go." 

"  The  night  before  the  duel,"  says  General  James  Hamilton,  of 
South  Carolina,  "  Mr.  Randolph  sent  for  me.  I  found  him  calm,  but 
in  a  singularly  kind  and  confiding  mood.  He  told  me  that  he  had 
something  on  his  mind  to  tell  me.  He  then  remarked,  '  Hamilton, 
I  have  determined  to  receive,  without  returning,  Clay's  fire  ;  nothing 
shall  induce  me  to  harm  a  hair  of  his  head ;  I  will  not  make  his  wife 
a  widow,  or  his  children  orphans.  Their  tears  would  be  shed  over 
his  grave ;  but  when  the  sod  of  Virginia  rests  on  my  bosom,  there  is 
not  in  this  wide  world  one  individual  to  pay  this  tribute  upon  mine.' 
His  eyes  filled,  and  resting  his  head  upon  his  hand,  we  remained 
some  moments  silent.  I  replied,  'My  dear  friend  (for  ours  was  a  sort 
of  posthumous  friendship,  bequeathed  by  our  mothers),  I  deeply  re- 
gret that  you  have  mentioned  this  subject  to  me ;  for  you  call  upon 
me  to  go  to  the  field  and  to  see  you  shot  down,  or  to  assume  the  re- 
sponsibility, in  regard  to  your  own  life,  in  sustaining  your  determina- 


DUEL  WITH  HENRY  CLAY.  259 

tion  to  throw  it  away.  But  on  tins  subject,  a  man's  own  conscience 
and  his  own  bosom  are  his  best  monitors.  I  will  not  advise,  but  un- 
der the  enormous  and  unprovoked  personal  insult  you  have  offered 
Mr.  Clay.  I  cannot  dissuade.  I  feel  bound,  however,  to  communi- 
cate to  Colonel  Tattnall  your  decision.'  He  begged  me  not  to  do  so, 
and  said  '  he  was  very  much  afraid  that  Tattnall  would  take  the 
studs  and  refuse  to  go  out  with  him.'  I,  however,  sought  Colonel 
Tattnall,  and  we  repaired  about  midnight  to  Mr.  Randolph's  lodg- 
ings, whom  we  found  reading  Milton's  great  poem.  For  some  mo- 
ments he  did  not  permit  us  to  say  one  word  in  relation  to  the  ap. 
proaching  duel ;  and  he  at  once  commenced  one  of  those  delightful 
criticisms  on  a  passage  of  this  poet,  in  which  he  was  wont  so  enthu- 
siastically to  indulge.  After  a  pause,  Colonel  Tattnall  remarked, 
*  Mr.  Randolph.  I  am  told  you  have  determined  not  to  return  Mr. 
Clay's  fire  ;  I  must  say  to  you,  my  dear  sir,  if  I  am  only  to  go  out 
to  see  you  shot  down,  you  must  find  some  other  friend.'  Mr.  Ran- 
dolph remarked  that  it  was  his  determination.  After  much  conver- 
sation on  the  subject,  I  induced  Colonel  Tattnall  to  allow  Mr.  Ran- 
dolph to  take  his  own  course,  as  his  withdrawal,  as  one  of  his  friends, 
might  lead  to  very  injurious  misconstructions.  At  last,  Mr.  Ran- 
dolph, smiling,  said,  '  Well,  Tattnall,  I  promise  you  one  thing,  if  I 
see  the  devil  in  Clay's  eye.  and  that  with  malice  prepense  he  means 
to  take  my  life,  I  may  change  my  mind.'  A  remark  I  knew  he  made 
merely  to  propitiate  the  anxieties  of  his  friend. 

"  Mr.  Clay  and  himself  met  at  4  o'clock  the  succeeding  evening,  on 
the  banks  of  the  Potomac.  But  he  saw  '  no  devil  in  Clay's  eye,'  but 
a  man  fearless,  and  expressing  the  mingled  sensibility  and  firmness 
which  belonged  to  the  occasion. 

"  I  shall  never  forget  this  scene,  as  long  as  I  live.  It  has  been  my 
misfortune  to  witness  several  duels,  but  I  never  saw  one,  at  least  in 
its  sequel,  so  deeply  affecting.  The  sun  was  just  setting  behind  the 
blue  hills  of  Randolph's  own  Virginia  Here  were  two  of  the  most 
extraordinary  men  our  country  in  its  prodigality  had  produced,  about 
to  meet  in  mortal  combat.  Whilst  Tattnall  was  loading  Randolph's 
pistols  I  approached  my  friend,  I  believed,  for  the  last  time  ;  I  took 
his  hand  ;  there  was  not  in  its  touch  the  quivering  of  one  pulsation. 
He  turned  to  me  and  said,  <  Clay  is  calm,  but  not  vindictive — I  hold 
my  purpose.  Hamilton,  in  any  event ;  remember  this.'  On  handing 


260  LIFE  OF  JOH1S1  RANDOLPH. 

him  his  pistol.  Colonel  Tattnall  sprung  the  hair-trigger.  Mr.  Ran- 
dolph said,  '  Tattnall,  although  I  am  one  of  the  best  shots  in  Vir- 
ginia, with  either  a  pistol  or  gun,  yet  I  never  fire  with- the  hair-trigger ; 
besides,  I  have  a  thick  buckskin  glove  on,  which  will  destroy  the  de- 
licacy of  my  touch,  and  the  trigger  may  fly  before  I  know  where  I 
am.'  But,  from  his  great  solicitude  for  his  friend,  Tattnall  insisted 
upon  hairing  the  trigger.  On  taking  their  position,  the  fact  turned 
out  as  Mr.  Randolph  anticipated  ;  his  pistol  went  off  before  the  word, 
with  the  muzzle  down. 

"  The  moment  this  event  took  place,  General  Jesup,  Mr.  Clay's 
friend,  called  out  that  lie  would  instantly  leave  the  ground  with  his 
friend,  if  that  occurred  again.  Mr.  Clay  at  once  exclaimed,  it  was 
entirely  an  accident,  and  begged  that  the  gentleman  might  be  allowed 
to  go  (n.  On  the  word  being  given,  Mr.  Clay  fired  without  effect, 
Mr.  Randolph  discharging  his  pistol  in  the  air.  The  momeit  Mr. 
Clay  saw  that  Mr.  Randolph  had  thrown  away  his  fire,  with  a  gush  of 
sensibility,  he  instantly  approached  Mr.  Randolph,  and  said  with  an 
emotion  I  never  can  forget : — •'  I  trust  in  God,  my  dear  sir,  you  are 
untouched  ;  after  what  has  occurred,  I  would  not  have  harmed  you 
for  a  thousand  worlds.'  " 

Thus  ended  this  affair.  None  but  the  uncharitable  will  believe, 
after  what  passed  on  the  field,  that  Randolph  had  any  malicious  mo- 
tive in  the  words  that  fell  from  him  on  the  floor  of  the  Senate.  Had 
a  bloodthirsty  spirit  burned  in  his  bosom, '  the  best  shot  in  Virginia' 
would  not  have  permitted  this  opportunity  to  escape  of  levelling  his 
weapon  at  the  breast  of  an  old  rival,  whose  ponderous  blows  he  had 
felt  for  fifteen  years,  and  whose  political  opinions  he  considered  so 
dangerous  to  the  country.  The  true  character  of  the  man  shone  forth 
when  he  declared  his  intention  not  to  injure  a  hair  of  Mr.  Clay's 
head — and  a  gush  of  sensibility  came  over  him  at  the  thought  of  his 
forlorn  condition.  Mr.  Clay  had  a  wife  and  children  to  mourn  his 
loss ;  but  there  was  not  one  to  shed  a  tear  over  his  solitary  grave. 
He  knew  the  safety  of  his  adversary — but  with  the  immediate  pros- 
pect of  death  before  him,  the  sublime  strains  of  the  godlike  Milton 
attuned  his  heart  to  softest  influences  ;  and  the  cords  of  affection  so 
long  silent  and  rusted  by  the  chilling  breath  of  a  cold  world,  awak- 
ened by  the  soft  echoes  of  long  past  memories,  now  vibrated  a  sweet, 
though  mournful  melody,  that  mingled  its  harmonious  notes  with  the 
divine  song  of  the  poet : 


NEGRO  SLAVERY.  261 

"How  mournfully  sweet  are  the  echoes  that  start 
When  Memory  plays  an  old  tune  on  the  heart." 

John  Randolph  was  not  understood.      Many  who  professed  to 
know  him,  and  who  considered  themselves  his  friends,  could  not  com 
prehend  "  the  hair-trigger"  sensibility  of  the  man. 

A  few  days  after  this  affair,  "  Friday  morning,  April  14,  1826," 
he  wrote  thus  to  his  friend,  Dr.  Brockenbrough : 

"  I  cannot  write — I  tried  yesterday  to  answer  your  letter,  b'&t  I 
could  not  do  it.  My  pen  choked.  The  hysteria  passio  of  poor  old 
Lear,  came  over  me.  I  left  a  letter  for  you  in  case  of  the  worst.  It 
now  lies  on  my  mantel-piece.  Perhaps  you  may,  one  time  or  other, 
see  it.  I  am  a  fatalist.  I  am  all  but  friendless.  Only  one  human 
being  ever  knew  me.  She  only  knew  me.  Benton  begins  to  under- 
stand and  to  love  me.  Nothing  has  stood  in  his  way.  No  lions  in 
his  path.  Had  I  suffered  it,  he  would  have  gone  with  me,  as  my 
friend.  In  that  case  I  should  not  have  violated  the  laws  of  Virginia. 

It  was  not  my  intention  to  do  so and  ....  were  ardent, 

honorable,  devoted  to  my  cause,  but  obtuse,  wanted  tact.  I  am  a  fatal- 
ist— on  no  one  occasion  of  my  life  have  I  ever  been  in  extremity,  that 
they,  to  whom  my  heart  yearned  and  turned  for  aid,  or  at  least  for 
comfort,  have  not  appeared  to  hold  aloof  from  me.  I  say  appeared. 
I  am  assured  that  it  was  appearance,  only,  in  both  instances,  on  the 
part  of  the  two  persons  in  Virginia,  who  shared  highest  in  my  confi- 
dence and  regard.  But  when  a  man  comes  home  from  the  strife  and 
conflict  of  this  wicked  world,  and  its  vile  and  sinful  inhabitants,  it  is 
then  that  a  certain  tone  of  voice — an  averted  look — or  even  the  sweet 
austere  composure  of  our  first  mother,  cuts  him  to  the  heart  in  the 
reception  of  the  wife  of  his  bosom.  The  words  are  nothing — the 
countenance  and  the  tone  of  voice,  the  last  especially,  every  thing. 

"  I  again  repeat,  that  I  cannot  write.  But  I  shall  be  thankful  for 
your  letters  ;  as  long  as  I  could,  I  gave  you  what  I  had.  I  too  am 
bankrupt,  and  have  as  good  a  right  to  break  as  the  rest.  God  bless 
you  both.' 


CHAPTEE     XXXII. 

]STEGEO     SLAVERY. 

MP..  RANDOLPH  participated  largely  in  the  debates  of  the  present  ses- 
sion, The  absence  and  illness  of  his  colleague,  Mr.  Tazewell,  im- 
posed a  double  duty  upon  him.  The  extraordinary  state  of  affairs 


262  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

acting  on  a  nervous  sensibility,  at  all  times  acute—  -exasperated  now 
by  long  protracted  disease,  made  him  more  than  commonly  animated 
and  eccentric  in  his  manner  and  style  of  speaking.  "  The  fever," 
says  he,  Feb.  27,  1826,  "  and  the  toast  and  water  (I  touch  nothing  else), 
keeps  me  more  intoxicated  (exhilarated,  rather)  than  two  bottles  of 
champagne."  Many  thought  him  mad ;  but  there  was  a  method  in 
his  madness.  All  his  speeches  had  a  purpose  bearing  on  the  past 
history  and  the  future  destiny  of  the  obnoxious  incumbents  in  office. 
While  many  thought  he  was  scattering  sparks  and  even  firebrands 
around  him  in  wanton  sport,  he  was  forging  weapons  to  be  used  in 
the  coming  contest  with  the  men  in  power.  Many  of  his  speeches 
on  these  occasions  were  truly  characteristic,  some  of  them  far-seeing 
and  prophetic,  especially  the  one  delivered  March  2,  on  "Negro 
Slavery  in  South  America." 

"  I  know  there  are  gentlemen,"  said  Mr.  Randolph,  "  not  only 
from  the  Northern,  but  from  the  Southern  States,  who  think  that 
this  unhappy  question — for  such  it  is — of  negro  slavery,  which  the 
Constitution  has  vainly  attempted  to  blink,  by  not  using  the  term, 
should  never  be  brought  into  public  notice,  more  especially  into  that 
of  Congress,  and  most  especially  here.  Sir,  with  every  due  respect 
for  the  gentlemen  who  think  so,  I  differ  from  them,  toto  c&la.  Sir, 
it  is  a  thing  which  cannot  be  hid — it  is  not  a  dry-rot  that  you  can 
cover  with  the  carpet,  until  the  house  tumbles  about  your  ears — you 
might  as  well  try  to  hide  a  volcano  in  full  operation — it  cannot  be 
hid  ;  it  is  a  cancer  in  your  face,  and  must  be  treated  secundum  artem ; 
it  must  not  be  tampered  with  by  quacks,  who  never  saw  the  disease 
or  the  patient — it  must  be,  if  you  will,  let  alone ;  but  on  this  very 
principle  of  letting  it  alone,  I  have  brought  in  my  resolution.  I 
am  willing  to  play  what  is  called  child's  play — let  me  alone  and 
I  will  let  you  alone ;  let  my  resolution  alone,  and  I  will  say  no- 
thing in  support  of  it ;  for  there  is  a  want  of  sense  in  saying  any 
thing  in  support  of  a  resolution  that  nobody  opposes.  Sir,  will  the 
Senate  pardon  my  repeating  the  words  of  a  great  man,  which  cannot 
be  too  often  repeated  ?  '  A  small  danger,  menacing  an  inestimable 
object,  is  of  more  importance,  in  the  eyes  of  a  wise  man,  than  the 
greatest  danger  which  can  possibly  threaten  an  object  of  minor  con- 
sequence.' I  do  not  put  the  question  to  you,  sir.  I  know  what  your 
answer  will  be.  I  know  what  will  be  the  answer  of  every  husband, 
father,  son,  and  brother,  throughout  the  Southern  States  ;  I  know  that 
on  this  depends  the  honor  of  every  matron  and  maiden — of  every  ma- 
tron (wife  or  widow)  between  the  Ohio  and  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  I  know 
that  upon  it  depends  the  life's  blood  of  the  little  ones  which  are  lying 


NEGRO  SLAVERY.  263 

in  their  cradles,  in  happy  ignorance  of  what  is  passing  around  them  ; 
and  not  the  white  ones  only,  for  shall  not  we  too,  kill — shall  we  not 
react  the  scenes  which  were  acted  in  Guatamala,  and  elsewhere,  except, 
1  hope,  with  far  different  success ;  for  if,  with  a  superiority  in  point  of 
numbers,  as  well  as  of  intelligence  and  courage,  we  should  suffer  our- 
selves to  be,  as  them,  vanquished,  we  should  deserve  to  have  negroes 
for  our  task-masters,  and  for  the  husbands  of  our  wives.  This,  then, 
is  the  inestimable  object,  which  the  gentleman  from  Carolina  views  in 
the  same  light  that  I  do,  and  that  you  do  too,  sir,  and  to  which  every 
Southern  bosom  responds  5 — a  chord  which,  when  touched,  even  by 
the  most  delicate  hand,  vibrates  to  the  heart  of  every  man  in  our 
country.  I  wish  I  could  maintain,  with  truth,  that  it  came  within  the 
other  predicament — that  it  was  a  small  danger,  but  it  is  a  great  dan- 
ger ;  it  is  a  danger  that  has  increased,  is  increasing,  and  must  be  di- 
minished, or  it  must  come  to  its  regular  catastrophe." 

But  it  is  not  our  purpose  to  make  further  allusion  to  Mr.  Ran- 
dolph's public  acts  during  the  present  excited  session.  Let  us  turn 
to  the  inner  man,  and  view  him  seated  by  his  solitary  fireside,  com- 
muning with  almost  the  only  friend  to  whom  he  felt  at  liberty  to  un- 
veil the  secret  workings  of  his  heart.  Friday,  January  6,  1826,  he 
writes  to  Dr.  Brockenbrough  : 

Your  letter,  addressed  to  Petersburg,  has  just  hove  in  sight;  I 
should  like  "  to  have  a  word  with  you  touching  a  certain  subject." 
When  I  first  heard  of  it  I  was  thunderstruck.  For  that  was  the 
only  person  who  had  (repeatedly)  urged  this  matter  upon  me,  by  the 
strongest  expressions  that  our  language  affords.  At  first  it  revived 
very  strongly  the  recollection  of  the  '•  ratting"  (as  the  English  phrase 
it)  among  the  "  minority-men,7'  some  twelve  or  fourteen  years  ago ; 
when  this  very  person  (and  long  before  his  seceding  from  us)  wrote 
to  me  somewhat  in  this  strain — "  Let  Monroe  go  over  to  the  ministry, 
if  he  will — as  for  us,"  &c.,  &c.  Well,  what  of  all  this ;  I  have  seen 
and  conversed  with  the  party,  in  the  most  familiar  manner,  without 
one  bitter  feeling.  The  event  was  too  recent  to  be  forgotten,  but  it 
did  not  tinge,  in  the  slightest  degree,  the  kindly  intercourse  between 
us.  Am  I  to  blame  a  man  for  being  what  nature  and  education  made 
him  ?  In  this  case,  I  am  persuaded  that  all  the  blame  lies  at  the  door 
of  the  latter.  What  could  be  expected  from  such  an  example  (to  say 
nothing  of  the  precepts)  as  this  poor  fellow  had  always  before  him, 
And  again,  is  it  not  more  than  an  even  wager,  that  I  have  defects  at 
least  as  great,  although  not  of  the  same  character?  My  horse  Mark 
Anthony  is  fleeter  than  Janus,  but  Janus  is  the  better  horse.  Why 
should  I  curse  twenty  poor  devils  that  I  could  name,  because  they  are 
mean?  They  can't  help  it.  The  leopard  cannot  change  his  spots. 


264  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

Now,  after  ;ill  this  philosophy,  if  it  may  be  called  such,  do  not 
suppose  that  I  mean  to  compromise  with  fraud,  and  falsehood,  and 
villany,  in  any  shape.  I  only  mean  not  to  run  a  tilt  against  wind- 
mills or  flocks  of  sheep.  Yesterday  I  took  a  good  long  ride  of  eight 
or  nine  miles,  and  am  now  going  to  do  likewise.  J.  E-.  OF  R. 

To  the  same. 

Saturday,  January  14th,  1820. 

Your  letter  of  Thursday  gives  me  very  great  relief:  continue,  I  pray 
you,  to  write,  if  it  be  but  a  line.  I  noted  Giles's  "  discovery ;"  but, 
this  absurdity  notwithstanding,  it  is  a  stinging  piece.  If  he  were  not 
himself  ••  particeps  criminis,"  he  would  touch  upon  the  libel  against 
the  whole  West,  in  the  case  of  John  Smith,  of  Ohio ;  and  above  all, 
the  suspension  of  the  habeas  corpus. 

On  the  whole,  I  am  firmly  persuaded  that  nothing  but  a  paper, 
such  as  he  would  manage  (and  the  vocation  is  as  creditable  as  school- 
keeping),  can  arrest  (if  it  can)  the  present  current  of  affairs. 

Your  questions  relating  to  the  Senate  I  cannot  (agreeably  to  our 

rule)  answer.     As  to  Mr.  M ,  I  did  not  know,  until  I  heard  it 

from  you,  that  he  had  been  in  the  lachrymatory  mood  at  all. 

Poor  Gilmer  !  He  is  another  of  the  countless  victims  of  calomel. 
I  had  indulged  a  hope  that  he  would  at  least  live  to  finish  his  life  of 
Fabricius.  He  told  me  some  years  ago,  that  if  he  survived  me  he 
meant  to  write  a  biography  of  me.  But  what  he  would  have  found 
to  say  that  is  not  in  the  newspapers,  I  cannot  conjecture. 

You  are  right  to  like  the  Ch.  J.'s  Madeira,  or  any  body's,  if  it  be 
old  and  good.  I  ride  every  day  from  six  to  ten  miles.  A  friend  has 
just  told  me  that  M.'s  pathos  excited  great  laughter  in  the  House. 

J.  R.  OF  K. 
To  the  same. 

WASHINGTON,  January  30th,  1826. 

Your  letter  of  the  28th — Jam  satis  terris  nivis.  It  began  to  snow 
about  an  hour  before  day,  and  continues  to  fall  fast  and  furious,  re- 
minding me  of  schoolboy  and  snow-bird  days,  "  departed,  never  to 
return."  I  rode  out  yesterday  some  six  or  eight  miles,  and  the  day 
before  as  far  (when  I  paid  my  devoirs  to  Madame  la  Presidente.  I 
could  do  no  less).  I  have  even  attended  two  days  in  the  Senate,  but 
if  ever  man  was  dying,  I  am.  It  does  not  take  more  than  one  hour 
for  food,  &c.,  to  pass  from  my  esophagus  through  the  rectum,  un- 
changed. This  I  have  proved  with  various  substances.  The  coffee 
passes  off  (not  by  the  bladder)  without  a  change  of  hue  or  smell. 
The  least  mental  fatigue,  above  all,  the  jabber  of  Congress,  prostrates 

me.     My  old  friend,  Mr.  M .  comes  "  to  keep  me  company,"  with 

the  most  amiable  disposition  in  the  world,  and  leaves  me  exhausted 
and  worn  down.  If  some  one  would  sit  by  and  say  nothing,  I  could 
bear  it  j  but  conversation — no,  no,  no. 


NEGRO  SLAVERY.  265 

I  have  always  believed  that  St.  Thomas  of  Cantingbury's  jewels 
were  Bristol  stones — in  other  words,  that  he  was  insolvent.  What 
else  could  be  expected  from  his  gimcracks  and  crack-brained  notions 
and  "  improvements  ?"  Ah  !  that  La  Fayette  business.  Do  you  re- 
member my  Cassandra  voice  from  Paris,  about  the  time  of  his  em 
barkation  for  the  U.  S.  ?  I  am  more  and  more  set  against  all  new 
things.  I  only  wanted  to  know  who  C.  Of.  was,  because  in  the  En- 
auirer,  of  October  the  25th  last,  F.  Key  published  an  answer  to  him ; 
1  have  seen  neither.  I  am  against  all  Colonization,  &c.,  societies — 
am  for  the  good  old  plan  of  making  the  negroes  work,  and  thereby 
enabling  the  master  to  feed  and  clothe  them  well,  and  take  care  of 
them  in  sickness  and  old  age. 

To  tlie  same. 

Wednesday  Mcming,  February  ]  st,  1826. 

Yesterday  we  had  a  very  interesting  debate  in  the  Senate,  in  which 
I  took  part.  I  verily  believe  it  assisted  the  determination  of  my 
disease  to  the  surface,  for  I  was  never  more  animated.  A  superficial 
speech,  you  will  say.  Be  that  as  it  may,  it  drew  upon  me  a  great 
many  handsome  and  nattering  compliments  ;  and  from  one  quarter, 
my  friend  Benton  (for  I  was  on  his  side),  I  believe  sincere.  We  dif- 
fered from  the  presiding  officer  upon  what  Mr.  J.  would  call  a 
"  speck"  in  the  political  horizon  ;  but  it  turned  out  to  be  of  vital  con- 
sequence as  we  probed  it.  It  was  laid  over  for  mature  consideration. 
After  the  debate,  and  while  some  Indian  treaties  were  being  read, 
Mr.  C.  sent  for  me,  and  said,  that  the  question  had  assumed  a  new 
and  important  aspect — required  solemn  consideration  and  decision — 
my  views  were  strong  and  important,  &c..  &c.  He  then  sent  for  B. 
and  told  him  much  the  same.  He  electioneers  with  great  assiduity. 
Although  it  has  no  influence  on  the  marked  attention  that  I  have  re- 
ceived from  him,  yet  the  civilities  of  the  palace  have  produced  an 
evident  effect  on  the  manner  of  some  others  towards  your  humble 
servant.  Indeed,  since  my  call  on  Mrs.  A  (in  return  for  her  civility 
while  I  was  confined),  M.,  of  Massachusetts,  who  is  the  ear-trumpet 
and  mouthpiece  of  the  palace  in  our  House,  has  changed  his  de- 
meanor from  (not  "  sweet")  "  austere  composure"  to  officious  cor- 
diality. 

Your  letter  of  Monday — my  God  !  where  will  all  this  end?  It 
will  soon  be  disgraceful  to  be  honest  and  pay  one's  debts.  It  is  bit- 
t3r  cold,  and  I  am  suffering  with  it  and  erysipelas.  Adieu ! 

To  the  same. 

Monday  Morning-,  February  G,  1826. 

Your  letters  are  my  only  comfort :  that  of  the  4th  was  brought  in 
just  now  on  my  breakfast  tray.  I  can't  help  being  sorry  for  that 
poor  man  -to  whom  you  were  called  the  morning  you  wrote,  although 


266  LfFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

he  did.  some  twenty  or  thirty  years  ago  (how  time  passes  !)  attempt 
by  a  deep-laid  scheme  of  to  beggar  a  family  that  I  was  much 

attached  to ;  one,  too,  with  which  he  was  nearly  connected,  and  that 
he  kept  upon  the  most  friendly  terms  with — his  debts  have  floored 
him.  It  is  strange,  passing  strange — people  will  get  in  debt ;  and 
instead  of  working  and  starving  out,  they  go  on  giving  dinners,  keep- 
ing carriages,  and  covering  aching  bosoms  with  smiling  faces,  go 
about  greeting  in  the  market-places,  &c.  I  always  think  that  I  can 
see  the  anguish  under  the  grin  and  grimace,  like  old  mother  Cole's 
dirty  flannel  peeping  out  beneath  her  Brussel's  lace.  This  killed 
poor  II.  H.,  and  is  killing  like  a  slow  poison  all  persons  so  circum- 
stanced, who  possess  principle  or  pride.  I  never  see  one  of  these 
martyrs  to  false  pride  writhing  under  their  own  reflections,  that  I  am 
not  in  some  degree  reconciled  to  the  physical  fire  that  I  carry  in  my 

bosom.     The  man  whom  H 's  fall  will  probably  prostrate,  would 

himself  have  been  no  better  off  than  his  principal,  but  for 
speculation  and  a  lucky  sale,  just  as  the  tide  began  to  fall,  a  few 
years  ago. 

I  send  you  the  "  Citizen."  The  schoolmaster  writes  better  than 
his  employer.  J.  R.  OF  R. 

To  the  same. 

Monday,  the  20th  February,  1826. 

For  the  first  time  during  the  last  four  or  five  days,  I  got  a  little 
ride  yesterday,  sick  as  I  was  and  am.  I  called  on  the  Ch.  J.,  and 
told  him  what  you  said-about  L.,  and  he  joined  me,  in  a  hearty  appro- 
bation of  his  refusal  to  become  a  candidate  for  the  Assembly,  or  any 
thing  else,  until  he  shall  have  secured  "  a  competence,  however  mode- 
rate, without  which  no  man  can  be  independent,  and  hardly  honest." 
The  words  are  Junius's  to  Woodfall,  when  he  declined  sharing  any 
part  of  the  profits  of  his  celebrated  letters. 

I  told  him,  also,  of  my  firm  and  positive  refusal  to  present  to  the 
Senate  the  petition  of  the  Colonization  Society,  although  earnestly 
entreated  to  do  so,  by  F.  Key.  That  I  thought  the  tendency  of  it 
bad  and  mischievous ;  that  a  spirit  of  morbid  sensibility,  religious 
fanaticism,  vanity,  and  the  love  of  display,  were  the  chief  moving 
causes  of  that  society. 

That  true  humanity  to  the  slave  was  to  make  him  do  a  fair  day's 
work,  and  to  treat  him  with  all  the  kindness  compatible  with  due 
subordination.  By  that  means,  the  master  could  afford  to  clothe  and 
feed  him  well,  and  take  care  of  him  in  sickness  and  old  age  ;  while 
the  morbid  sentimentalist  could  not  do  this.  His  slave  was  unpro- 
vided with  necessaries,  unless  pilfered  from  his  master's  neighbors ; 
because  the  owner  could  not  furnish  them  out  of  the  profits  of  the 
negro's  labor — there  being  none.  And  at  the  master's  death,  the 
poor  slaves  were  generally  sold  for  debt  (because  the  philanthropist 


NEGRO  SLAVERY.  267 

had  to  go  to  BANK,  instead  of  drawing  upon  his  crop),  and  were  dis- 
persed from  Carolina  to  the  Balize ;  so  that  in  the  end  the  superfine 
master  turned  out,  like  all  other  ultras^  the  worst  that  could  be  for 
the  negroes. 

This  system  of  false  indulgence,  too.  educates  (I  use  the  word  in 
its  strict  and  true  meaning)  all  those  pampered  menials  who,  sooner 
or  later,  find  their  way  to  some  Fulcher,  the  hand-cuffs,  and  the  Ala- 
bama negro  trader's  slave-chain.  How  many  such  have  I  met  within 
the  different  "  comes  "  (Mungo  Park)  of  slaves  that  I  had  known  living 
on  the  fat  of  the  land,  and  drest  as  well  as  their  masters  and  mistresses. 
I  wished  all  the  free  negroes  removed,  with  their  own  consent,  out  of  the 
slave  States  especially  ;  but  that,  from  the  institution  of  the  Passover 
to  the  latest  experience  of  man,  it  would  be  found,  that  no  two  dis- 
tinct people  could  occupy  the  same  territory,  under  one  government, 
but  in  the  relation  of  master  and  vassal. 

The  Exodus  of  the  Jews  was  effected  by  the  visible  and  miracu- 
lous interposition  of  the  hand  of  God ;  and  that  without  the  same 
miraculous  assistance,  the  Colonization  Society  would  not  remove  the 
tithe  of  the  increase  of  the  free  blacks,  while  their  proceedings  and 
talks  disturbed  the  rest  of  the  slaves.  Enough ;  enough.  Rain — 
sleet — drizzle.  J.  R.  OF  R. 

To  the  same. 

Monday  morning,  February  27th,  1826. 

Gaillard  died  yesterday,  at  4  o'clock,  P.  M.  Although,  on  this 
account,  the  Senate  will  transact  no  business  to-day,  yet,  as  I  yester- 
day received  from  H.  T.  the  sad  news  of  his  son's  death,  and  have 
Tazewell  to  keep  up  with  us,  I  can  only  acknowledge  your  letter  of 
this  morning  (written  on  Saturday).  Poor  Gilmer  !  he  is  only  gone 
a  little  while  before  all  that  he  loved  or  cared  for.  I  am  proud  that 
I  was  one  of  the  number. 

As  Dr.  says,  "I  take"  what  you  say  about  V.  B.'s  "  address." 
I  do  assure  you  he  has  not  warmed  himself  into  my  good  graces  by 
flattery,  to  which,  like  all  men,  I  am  accessible,  and  perhaps  more  so 
than  men  generally  are,  although  I  begin  to  think,  that  if  they  go  on 
much  longer  as  they  do  at  present,  I  shall,  like  Louis  Quatorze,  not 
know  when  I  am  flattered.  As  to  V.  B.  and  myself,  we  have  been  a 
little  cool ;  it  was  under  that  state  of  things  that  I  mentioned  him. 
He  has  done  our  cause  disservice  by  delay,  in  the  hope  of  getting 
first  Gaillard,  then  Tazewell  (while  he  was  sick  here),  and  since,  while 
absent  at  Norfolk,  and  some  other  aid.  I  was  for  action,  knowing 
that  delay  would  only  give  time  for  the  poison  of  patronage  to  do  its 
office.  His  extreme  delicacy  upon  all  matters  of  money  (upon  which 
he  never  bestows  a  thought),  having  (as  Junius  says)  secured  a  com- 
petency however  moderate,  his  scorn  of  debt  or  obligation,  won  him 
tirst  my  good  opinion.  But  if  he  has  not.  others  have  poured  "  the 
38 


268  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

leprous  distilment  into  the  porches  of  mine  ears."  The  V.  P.  has 
actually  made  love  to  me  ;  and  my  old  friend,  Mr.  Macon,  reminds 
me  daily  of  the  old  major,  who  verily  believed  that  I  was  a  nonesuch 
of  living  men.  In  short,  Friday's  affair  has  been  praised  on  all 
hands,  in  a  style  that  might  have  gorged  the  appetite  of  Cicero  him- 
self. Mr.  M.  returned  on  Saturday  from  Lloyd's  (he  gave  a  party  on 
that  day,  and  had  invited  Mr.  M.  three  times  before,  who  had  ex- 
cused himself),  and  asked  me  if  my  face  did  not  burn.  I  really  did 
not  comprehend  the  question.  It  was  a  saying,  when  I  was  a  boy,  that 
when  backbitten  the  ears  burned.  He  went  on  in  a  way  that  I  shall 
not  repeat,  as  the  sentiments  of  every  man  at  table. 

To  tlie,  same. 

March  4th,  1826  ;  WASHINGTON.  Saturday  morn.,  four  o'clock. 

I  have  been  up  an  hour  and  a  half,  trying  to  kindle  a  fire,  and  have 
at  last  succeeded.  I  cannot  sleep.  Death  shakes  hie  dart  at  me  ; 
but  I  do  not,  cannot  fear  liim.  He  has  already  killed  my  friends — 
G-ilmer — Tazewell.  I  fear  that  I  shall  never  see  the  last  again.  The 
first  is  removed  for  ever.  This  February  and  these  ides  of  March 
will  live  in  future  times,  as  the  black  year  does  yet  in  the  North  of 
Europe — in  Iceland  particularly ;  that  it  depopulated  of  its  enligh- 
tened, virtuous,  and  pious  inhabitants  ;  poor  indeed,  but  pious  and 
good,  and  therefore  happy ;  happy  as  mortality  can  be.  And  what, 
is  that? 

This  cold  black  plague  has  destroyed  the  only  two  men  that  Vir- 
ginia has  bred  since  the  Revolution,  who  had  real  claims  to  learning  : 
the  rest  are  all  shallow  pretenders ;  they  were  scholars,  and  ripe  and 
good  ones,  and  the  soil  was  better  than  the  culture.  Here  the  mate- 
rial surpassed  the  workmanship,  tasteful  and  costly  as  it  was. 

I  had  read  "Burns  and  Byron"  before  I  received  the  Compiler. 
I  am  a  passionate  admirer  of  both.  I  shall  not  pretend  to  decide 
between  them  in  point  of  genius.  They  were  the  most  extraordinary 
men  that  England  and  Scotland  have  produced  since  the  days  of  Mil- 
ton and  Napier  of  Merchiston,  although  there  be  no  assignable  rela- 
tion between  logarithms  and  poetry.  They  are  incommensurable. 

"Write  ;  but  do  not  expect  bulletins  for  some  days.  I  have  no 
phthisis,  nor  fear  of  it.  My  cough  is  symptomatic,  or  sympathetic, 
or  some  other  "  sym." 

McNaught  is  not  the  only  suicide,  even  in  Richmond.  Now, 
when  too  late,  I  am  a  confirmed  toast-and-water  man.  My  convivial- 
ities for  fifteen  years  (1807-1822)  are  now  telling  upon  me.  If  man- 
kind had  ever  profited  even  by  their  own  experience  !  Now  that  poor 
Frank  is  gone,  and  cannot  execute  his  threat  of  writing  my  life,  I 
would  turn  autobiographer.  But  he  meant  to  dedicate  to  Tazewell ! 
That  word,  that  name  seems  to  petrify  me.  If  living,  blind  like 


LETTERS  FROM  ABROAD.  269 

K  Thamyris  and  blind  Meonides,"  and  like  a  greater  than  they — he 
who  achieved  "  things  unattempted  yet  in  prose  or  rhyme." 

I  am  really  ill;  the  whole  machine  is  rotten;  the  nails  and 
screws  that  I  drive  will  not  take  hold,  but  draw  out  with  the  decayed 
wood,  J.  R.  OP  R. 


CHAPTER    XXXIII. 

LETTERS   FROM    ABROAD. 

EARLY  in  May,  before  the  adjournment  of  Congress,  Mr.  Randolph 
sailed  from  the  Delaware  Bay  on  his  third  voyage  to  Europe.  He 
arrived  in  Liverpool  about  the  middle  of  June.  "  I  have  barely  time 
to  tell  you,"  says  he  to  a  friend,  "  that  I  had  a  very  disagreeable  pas- 
sage, finding  B n,  the  master  of  the  Alexander,  to  be  the  most 

conceited  and  insufferable  tyrant  of  the  quarter-deck  that  I  ever  saw, 
and  I  have  been  to  sea  going  on  these  three  and  forty  years." 

He  remained  in  Liverpool  for  some  time,  enjoying  the  hospitali- 
ties of  the  place.  '•!  am  arrived  in  time  for  elections,"  says  he. 
'•<•  You  will  see  a  lame  report  of  an  aquatic  excursion,  in  which  I  bore 
a  part,  yesterday.  Mr.  Huskisson  and  Mr.  John  Bolton  are  just 
arrived  to  take  me  to  the  Mayor's  to  dinner."  From  Liverpool  Mr. 
Randolph  travelled  extensively  in  England,  Wales,  and  on  the  Con- 
tinent. We  are  happy  to  have  it  in  our  power  to  allow  him  to  speak 
of  those  travels  in  his  own  words. 

To  Dr.  Brockenbrough, 

HOLKHAM,  Sunday,  July  16th,  1826. 

A  month  has  now  elapsed  since  I  landed  in 'England,  during  which 
time  I  have  not  received  a  line  from  any  friend,  except  Benton,  who 
wrote  to  me  on  the  eve  of  his  departure  from  Babylon  the  Great  to 
Missouri.  Missouri !  and  here  am  I  writing  in  the  parlor  of  the  New 
Inn,  at  the  gate  of  Mr.  Coke's  park,  where  art  has  mastered  nature 
in  one  of  her  least  amiable  moods.  To  say  the  truth,  he  that  would 
see  this  country  to  advantage  must  not  end  with  the  barren  sands 
and  flat  infertile  healths  (strike  out  the  /,  I  meant  to  write  heaths) 
of  the  east  country,  but  must  reserve  the  Yale  of  Severn  and  Wales 
for  a  bonne  bouche.  Although  I  was  told  at  Norwich  that  Mr.  Coke 
was  at  home  (and  by  a  particular  friend  of  his  too),  yet  I  find  that 


270  T-IFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

he  and  Lady  Anne  are  gone  to  the  very  extremity  of  this  huge  county 
to  a  wool  fair,  at  Thetford,  sixty-five  miles  off;  and  while  my  com- 
panion, Mr.  Williams,  of  S.  C.  (son  of  David  K.  W.),  is  gone  to  the 
Hall,  I  am  resolved  to  bestow,  if  not  "  all,"  a  part  at  least  of  "  my 
tediousness"  upon  you.  Tediousness,  indeed,  for  what  have  I  to 
write  about,  unless  to  tell  you  that  my  health,  so  far  from  getting  bet- 
ter, was  hardly  ever  worse.  Like  the  gallant  General  H.,  I  am 
"pursued  by  a  diarrhoea"  that  confines  me  to  my  quarters,  and  may 
deprive  my  native  land  of  the  "honor"  of  my  sepulchre.  The  mis- 
chief is,  that  in  this  age  of  fools  and  motions  in  Congress,  my  ashes 
can  have  no  security  that  some  wiseacre  may  not  get  a  vote  (because 
no  one  will  oppose  him  through  mere  vis  inertia  and  ennui),  that  my 
ct  remains  "  too  may  be  removed  to  their  parent  earth. 

Mr.  Williams  has  been  very  attentive  and  kind  to  me.  I  have 
been  trying  to  persuade  him  to  abandon  me  to  the  underwriters  as  a 
total  loss,  but  he  will  not  desert  me  ;  so  that  I  meditate  giving  him 
the  slip  for  his  own  sake.  We  saw  Dudley  Inn  and  a  bad  race  at 
Newmarket  on  our  way  to  Norwich.  There  we  embarked  on  the 
river  Yare,  and  proceeded  to  Yarmouth  by  the  steam  packet.  We 
returned  to  Norwich  by  land,  and  by  different  routes ;  he  by  the 
direct  road,  and  I  by  Beccles,  fifteen  miles  further;  and  yet  I 
arrived  first.  Through  Lord  Suffield's  politeness,  who  gave  me  a 
most  hearty  invitation  to  Gunton,  I  was  enabled  to  see  the  Castle  (now 
the  county  jail)  to  the  best  advantage.  His  lordship  is  a  great  pri- 
son discipline  financier,  and  was  very  polite  to  me  when  I  was  in 
England  four  years  ago.  I  met  him  by  mere  accident  at  the  inn  at 
Norwich,  where  the  coach  from  Beccles  stopped. 

At  this  distance  of  time  and  place,  our  last  winter's  squabbles, 
over  Panama  itself,  seem  somewhat  diminished  in  importance.  Foi 
my  part  if  I  can  get  rid  of  that  constitutional  disease,  which  certain 
circumstances  brought  on  last  winter  with  symptoms  of  great  aggra- 
vation, I  shall  care  very  little  about  the  game,  and  nothing  about  them 
that  play  it. 

With  some  of  these  circumstances,  you  are  unacquainted — the 
chief  one  was  the  long  absence  of  my  coadjutor,  which  flung  upon 
my  shoulders  a  load  that  Atlas  could  not  have  upheld. 

I  see  that  Ritchie  has  come  out  against  me.  I  looked  for  nothing 
better.  But  why  talk  of  such  things.  M.  H.  knows  more  than  he 
cares  to  tell.  I  was  detained  in  town  to  attend  the  funeral  of  Mrs. 
Marx  of  Croydon.  She  was  a  charming  woman,  and  her  attention  to 
poor  Tudor,  on  his  death  bed,  laid  me  under  heavier  obligations 
than  this  (equivocal)  mark  of  respect  to  her  memory  can  repay. 
God  willing,  I  shall  return  to  the  United  States  with  De  Cost,  who 
leaves  Liverpool  on  the  24th  of  October,  in  the  York.  It  is  possi- 
ble that  I  may  be  taken  with  a  fit  of  longing  to  see  Roanoke. 


LETTERS  FROM  ABROAD.  271 

(where  I  heartily  wish  that  I  now  could  be)  that  may  accelerate  my 
return.  Meanwhile,  you  can  have  no  conception  of  the  pleasure  that 
a  long  gossi2nng  letter,  from  you,  could  give  me.  It  would  cheer 
my  exile,  which  is  no  more  voluntary  than  that  of  the  Romans,  who 

were  forbidden  the  ase  of  fire  and  water  at  Rome,  and  I  was but 

I  can't  write  now,  for  my  heart  is  heavy  to  sadness.  It  well  may  be 
so,  for  it  has  not  been  kindly  treated.  God  bless  you  both — I  hope 
that  the  experience  of  last  year  has  not  been  thrown  away  upon  you. 
Here  the  climate  has  been  almost  as  bad  as  ours  is  in  a  favorable 
summer.  The  drought  has  been  unparalleled  and  the  distress  im- 
pending over  the  land,  tremendous.  A  failure  of  the  potato  crop, 
in  Ireland,  threatens  to  thicken  the  horrors  of  the  picture.  The 
ministers  are  not  upon  a  "  bed  of  roses."  Musquitoes  abound  here. 
I  have  just  killed  a  "  gallinipper."  Adieu  !  J.  R.  OF  R. 

To  the  same. 

THE  HAGUE,  Tuesday,  August  8,  1826. 

"  The  Portfolio  reached  me  in  safety."  So  much  had  I  written 
of  a  letter  to  you  in  London,  but  I  was  obliged  to  drop  my  pen  in  G. 
Marx's  compting-house,  and  here  I  am,  and  at  your  service  at  the 
Hague.  My  dear  friend,  I  wish  you  could  see, — and  why  can't  you  ? 
for  I  wear  a  window  in  my  breast — what  is  passing  in  my  bosom. 
You  could  find  there,  thoughts  black  as  hell  sometimes,  but  nothing 
of  the  sort  towards  any  one  of  the  few — the  very  few — who,  like  you, 
have  clung  to  me,  through  good  and  evil  reports.  What  an  ill  star- 
red wretch  have  I  been  through  life — a  not  uneventful  life — and  yet, 
how  truly  blest  have  I  been  in  my  friends ;  not  one,  no.  not  one  has 
ever  betrayed  me,  whom  I  have  admitted  into  my  sanctum  sancto- 
rum. Bryan,  Benton,  Rutledge — let  me  not  forget  him,  whom  I 
knew  before  either  of  the  others,  although  for  the  last  thirty  years 
we  have  met  but  once.  The  last  letter  that  I  received  on  my  depar- 
ture from  Washington,  was  from  him.  In  the  late  election,  he  was 
the  warm  supporter  of  General  J.,  whom  he  personally  knew  and  es- 
teems ;  and  I  confess  that  the  testimony  of  one  whom  I  have  known 
intimately  for  more  than  six  and  thirty  years,  to  be  sans  peur  et  sans 
reproclie,  and  who  is  an  observer  and  an  excellent  judge  of  mankind, 
weighs  as  it  ought  to  weigh  with  me,  in  favor  of  the  veteran.  I 
know  him  (Genl.  J.)  to  be  a  man  of  strong  and  vigorous  mind,  of 
dignified  deportment,  and  is,  I  believe,  omni fcenore  solatus.  I  think 
this  is  no  small  matter.  In  the  olden  time,  when  credit  existed,  be- 
cause there  was  real  capital,  a  man  in  debt — I  mean  a  landed  man 
in  debt — might  be  trusted.  But  not  so  now.  for  reasons  that  are  cu- 
rious and  amusing ;  which  (were  I  to  state  them)  would  cause  this 
letter  to  run  into  an  essay  on  the  progress  of  society,  that  would  re- 
quire quires  instead  of  pages. 


272  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

In  my  passage  from  London  I  met  with  a  serious  accident,  thai 
might  have  been  fatal.  We  broke  our  engine,  and  when  the  pilot 
boarded  us,  I  was  desirous  to  get  on  board  of  his  boat ;  to  do  this. 
I  had  to  cross  the  quarter-deck.  The  sky-light  of  the  ladies'  cabin 
was  open,  but  {pour  bienseance)  ihe  "  orifice  "  was  covered  with  our 
colors,  and  the  grating  being  removed  only  about  18  inches,  a  com- 
plete pit-fall  or  trap  was  made,  into  which  I  fell,  and  my  right  side, 
immediately  below  the  insertion  of  the  false  ribs  into  the  spine,  was 
';  brought  up  by  the  combings  of  the  sky-light."  I  lay  for  some  mi- 
nutes nearly  senseless,  and  it  was  more  than  an  hour  before  I  could 
be  moved  from  the  deck.  My  whole  side,  xidncy  and  liver,  are  very 
much  affected.  It  has  -obliged  me  to  suspend  my  course  of  Swain's 
Panacea,  upon  which  I  entered  a  few  days  before  I  left  London. 

I  have  not  seen  Mr.  Gallatin.  Mr.  John  A.  King,  our  cliargv 
d'affaires,  was  very  polite  to  me.  We  met  on  neutral  ground,  at  the 
Traveller's  Club-House,  in  Pall  Mall,  No.  49. 

I  am  pleased  with  Holland.  Cleanliness  here  becomes  a  virtue. 
My  companion's,  Mr.  Win's  passport  wanting  some  formularies,  and 
our  charge  (Mr.  C.  Hughes  !  oh  for  some  of  Giles'  notes  of  admira- 
tion ! ! ! !)  not  being  present,  Sir  Charles  Bagot  has  been  good  enough 
to  do  the  needful.  I  waited  upon  him  in  Mr.  Wm's  behalf  and  was 
received  by  him  with  the  greatest  warmth,  asked/to  dine  en  famille, 
(as  I  leave  the  Hague  to-morrow  for  Leyden),  and  told  that  any  let- 
ters brought  to  dinner  would  be  forwarded  by  his  courier  to  London. 
To  him,  therefore,  I  am  obliged  for  a  conveyance  for  this. 

Apropos  to  Giles.  I  think  I  know  him  to  the  bottom,  if  he  has 
any  bottom.  I  know  also  the  advantages  that  will  be  taken  of  me, 
the  formidable  array  of  enemies  that  I  have  to  encounter.  I  might 
have  neutralized  some  of  them;  but  as  Bonaparte  said  on  another 
occasion,  "  it  is  not  in  my  character."  Whatever  may  be  the  decision 
of  the  Virginia  Assembly  on  my  case,  I  shall  always  say  that  a  ca- 
pricious change  of  her  public  agents  has  never  been  the  vice  of  the 
Government  or  the  people  of  Virginia,  and  that  whenever  a  man  is 
dismissed  from  the  service  of  either,  it  is  strong  presumptive  evi- 
dence (prima  facie)  of  his  unfit-ness  for  the  place. 

I  hope,  however,  that  no  report  of  my  speeches  will  be  taken  as 
evidence  of  what  I  have  uttered,  for  I  have  never  seen  any  thing 
further  from  a  just  representation  than  the  report  of  one  that  G.  and 
S.  say  I  in  part  revised,  and  so  I  did,  and  if  they  had  printed  it  by 
their  own  proof-sheet  now  in  London,  I  should  have  been  better  sa- 
tisfied with  that  part;  the  first,  that  I  did  not  revise,  is  mangled  and 
hardly  intelligible  even  to  me.  The  warning,  which  they  make  me 
give  to  my  friend  from  Missouri,  is  to  poor  little  Miles  of  Mass.,  and 
the  whole  affair  is  as  much  bedevilled  as  if  they  had  at  random  picked 
out  every  other  word.  So  much  for  that. — Neither  Gales  (whom  I 
solicited)  nor  Seaton  took  down  my  speeches. 


LETTERS  FROM  ABROAD.  273 

Your  intelligence  about  the  election,  about  W.  S.  A.,  and  "W.  R. 
J..  and  W.  B.  G-.,  was  highly  gratifying.  I  hope  that  my  initials  are 
intelligible  to  you,  for  your  Miss  S.,  upon  whom  you  say  Mr.  M.  D. 
was  attending,  is  une  inconnue  o,  moi.  I  did  not  know  that  you  had 
any  Richmond  Belles,  of  whom  the  Beaux  could  say,  "  I  love  my  love 
with  an  S.,  because,"  &c.,  &c. 

Poor  Stephenson,  I  think,  has  no  daughter,  or  child,  even.  Remem- 
ber me  kindly  to  him  and  the  Lord  Chief,  and  do  not  forget  my  best 
love  and  duty  to  madame.  Tell  her,  and  mark  it  yourself,  that  you 
at  home  may  and  can  write  long  gossiping  letters,  but  a  man  at  the 
end  of  a  journey,  harassed  by  a  valet  de  place,  and  commissionaire, 
pour  le  passeporte,  has  no  stomach  but  for  his  coffee  an  1  bed.  Such 
is  my  case  (this  day  excepted,  and  even  to-day  I  am  a  good  deal  wea- 
ried by  a  jaunt  to  Scheveling,  and  Mr.  Wm's  business),  and  such  has 
it  been  since  I  set  my  foot  on  the  quay  at  Liverpool. 

And  so  old  Mr.  Adams  is  dead ;  on  the  4th  of  July,  too,  just  half 
a  century  after  our  Declaration  of  Independence ;  and  leaving  his  son 
on  the  throne.  This  is  Euthenasia,  indeed.  They  have  killed  Mr. 
Jefferson,  too,  on  the  same  day,  but  I  don't  believe  it. 

Great  news  from  Turkey.  That  country  is  either  to  be  renovated 
as  a  great  European  power,  or  it  is  to  be  blotted  from  the  list  of  na- 
tions, at  least  on  this  side  the  Hellespont.  It  is  a  horse  medicine 
now  in  operation.  It  will  kill  or  cure. 

I  am  sensible  that  this  letter  is  not  worth  sending  across  the  At- 
lantic. But  what  am  I  to  do ;  you  expect  me  to  write. 

Pray,  has  the  Enquirer  come  out  against  me.  I  see  something  that 

looks  like  it  in  the  matter  of  Mr.  D.,  of  M s.  Le  vrai  rtestpas  tou- 

jours  le  vraisemblable.  There  is  a  dessous  de  cartes  there,  that  is  not 
understood.  But  who  does  really  understand  any  thing  ?  The  En- 
glish know  us  only  through  the  medium  of  New- York  and  Yankee  news- 
papers, and  which  is  worse,  through  the  Yankees  themselves.  The  only 
Virginia  papers  that  I  saw  at  the  North  and  South  American  Coffee 
House,  were  the  Norfolk  Beacon,  ditto  Herald,  and  Richmond  Whig. 
They  don't  take  the  Enquirer.  What  a  pretty  notion  they  must 
have  of  us  in  Virginia.  Adieu  for  the  present. 

To  the  same. 

PALL  MALL,  Sept.  22,  1826.     Friday. 

I  write  because  you  request  me  to  do  so ;  but  really,  my  deal 
friend,  I  have  nothing  to  tell  you,  that  you  may  not  find  in  the  news* 
papers ;  and  they  are  as  dull  and  as  empty  as  the  town.  They  who 
can  take  pleasure  in  the  records  of  crime,  may  indeed  find  amuse- 
ment in  Bow  Street  and  other  criminal  reports.  It  is  now  agreed  on 
all  hands,  that  misery,  crime  and  profligacy  are  in  a  state  of  rapid 
and  alarming  increase.  The  Pitt  and  paper  system  (for  although  he 


274  LIFE  Of  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

did  not  begin  it,  yet  he  brought  it  to  its  last  stage  of  im  perfection), 
is  now  developing  features  that  "  fright  the  isle  from  its  propriety." 

Your  letter  reached  me  in  Paris,  where  I  was  in  a  measure  com- 
pelled to  go,  in  consequence  of  my  having  incautiously  set  my  foot  in 
that  huge  man-trap,  France.  I  had  there  neither  time  nor  opportu- 
nity to  answer  it,  and  now  I  have  not  power  to  do  it.  The  dinner 
to  M.  does,  I  confess,  not  a  little  surprise  me.  I  know  not  what  to 
think  of  these  times,  and  of  the  state  of  things  in  our  country.  The 
vulgarity  and  calumny  of  the  press  I  could  put  up  with,  if  I  could 
see  any  tokens  of  that  manly  straight-forward  spirit  and  manner 
that  once  distinguished  Virginia.  Sincerity  and  truth  are  so  far  out 
of  fashion  that  nobody  now-a-days  seems  to  expect  them  in  the  inter- 
course of  life.  But  I  am  becoming  censorious — and  how  can  I  help 
it,  in  this  canting  and  speaking  age,  where  the  very  children  are  made 
to  cry  or  laugh  as  a  well-drilled  recruit  shoulders  or  grounds  his  fire- 
lock. 

I  dined  yesterday  with  Mr.  Marx.  It  was  a  private  party — and 
took  additional  cold.  This  morning  my  expectoration  is  quite  bloody, 
but  I  do  not  apprehend  that  it  comes  from  the  lungs.  It  is  disagree- 
able, however,  not  only  in  itself,  but  because  I  have  promised  my 
Lord  Chief  Justice  Best  to  visit  him  at  his  seat  in  Kent,  and  another 
gentleman,  also,  in  the  same  county ;  " invicta"  "  unconquered  Kent." 

Mr.  Marx  has  shipped  my  winter  clothing  to  his  brother.  By  this 
time  you  will  be  thinking  of  a  return  to  Richmond  ;  and  before  this 
reaches  you,  I  hope  that  you  and  madame  will  be  restored  to  the  com- 
forts of  your  own  fireside,  where  I  mean  to  come  and  tell  you  of  my 
travels.  God  bless  you  both.  J.  R.  OF  R. 

To  tlie  same. 

PALL  MALL,  October  13,  1826. 

Another  packet  has  arrived,  and  no  letter  for  me.  The  last  that 
I  received  from  you  was  (in  Paris)  dated  July.  How  is  this,  my 
good  friend  ?  you,  who  know  how  I  yearn  for  intelligence  from  the 
other  side  of  the  Atlantic,  and  that  I  have  no  one  to  give  it  to  me 
but  yourself. 

Mr.  W.  J.  Barksdale  writes  his  father,  that  a  run  will  be  made 

at  me  by  Gr s,  this  winter.     On  this  subject,  I  can  only  repeat 

what  I  have  said  before — that  when  the  Commonwealth  of  Virginia 
dismisses  a  servant,  it  is  strong  presumptive  evidence  of  his  unfit- 
ness  for  the  station.  If  it  shall  apply  to  my  own  case,  I  cannot  help 
it.  But  I  should  have  nothing  to  wish  on  this  subject,  if  the  As- 
sembly could  be  put  in  possession  of  a  tolerably  faithful  account  of 
what  I  have  said  and  done.  I  have  been  systematically  and  indus- 
triously misrepresented.  I  had  determined  to  devote  this  last  sum- 
mer to  a  revision  of  my  speeches,  but  my  life  would  have  paid  tho 
forfeit,  had  I  persisted  in  that  determination.  Many  of  the  ffiisrcpre* 


HIS  DEFEAT  FOR  THE  SENATE.  275 

scutations  proceed  from  the  "  ineffable  stupidity"  of  the  reporters,  but 
some  must,  I  think,  be  intentional.  Be  that  as  it  may,  the  mangled 
limbs  of  Medea's  children,  were  as  much  like  the  living  creations  as 
the  disjecta  membra  of  my  speeches  resemble  what  I  really  did  say. 
In  most  instances  my  meaning  has  been  mistaken.  In  some  it  has 
been  reversed.  If  I  live,  I  will  set  this  matter  right.  So  much  for 
Ego. 

I  see  that  Peyton  R.  advertises  his  land  on River.  This 

was  the  last  of  my  name  and  race  left  whom  I  would  go  and  see. 
The  ruin  is  no  doubt  complete.  Dr.  Archer  has  "  resumed  the  prac- 
tice of  the  bar ;"  and  poor  Mrs.  Tabb,  by  the  death  of  Mrs.  Couplancl, 
is  saddled  with  two  more  helpless  grand-children.  She  is  the  best 
and  noblest  creature  living ;  and  I  pray  God  that  I  may  live  once 
more  to  see  her — a  true  specimen  of  the  old  Virginia  matron. 

On  the  24th,  God  willing,  I  depart  with  DeCost,  in  the  York. 
My  health  is  by  no  means  so  good  as  it  has  been  since  my  arrival  on 
this  side  the  Atlantic ;  but  I  have  made  up  my  mind  to  endure  life 
to  the  last. 

My  best  regards  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Rootes.  I  exerted  myself  to 
see  her  proteges,  Jane  and  Marianna  Bell,  but  they  were  at  Rams- 
gate,  out  of  my  reach.  Mr.  Barksdale  talks  of  returning  to  Virginia 
next  autumn.  I  fear  that  he  will  put  it  off  till  it  is  too  late. 

Town  is  empty,  and  I  live  a  complete  hermit,  in  London.  If  you 
see  the  English  newspapers,  you  will  see  what  a  horrible  state  of  so- 
ciety exists  in  this  strange  country,  where  one  class  is  dying  of 
hunger  and  another  with  surfeit.  The  amount  of  crime  is  fearful ; 
and  cases  of  extreme  atrocity  are  not  wanting.  The  ministry  will 
not  find  themselves  upon  a  bed  of  roses  when  Parliament  meets. 


CHAPTEE    XXXIV. 

HIS    DEFEAT    FOR    THE    SENATE. 

AT  the  opening  of  Congress,  in  December, ,1 826,  Mr.  Randolph  took 
up  his  winter  quarters  at  his  old  lodgings,  Dowson's,  No.  2,  on  Capi- 
tol Hill.  His  health  was  extremely  bad  during  the  winter.  Almost 
his  only,  companion,  was  his  old  and  tried  friend,  Mr.  Macon,  of 
North  Carolina — a  man  whose  matured  wisdom,  simplicity  of  man- 
ners, and  integrity  of  character,  distinguished  him  as  the  admired 
relict  of  a  purer  age,  and  the  venerable  patriarch  of  a  new  genera 


276  LI1'E  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

tion.  How  pleasant  it  is  to  look  into  the  quiet  parlor  of  those  two 
remarkable  men  !  While  the  busy  and  anxious  politicians  were  hold- 
ing their  secret  conclaves,  and  plotting  the  means  of  self-advance- 
ment, they  sat,  whole  hours  together,  in  the  long  winter  nights,  keep- 
ing each  other  company.  In  silence  they  sat  and  mused,  as  the  fire 
burned.  Each  had  his  own  private  sorrows  and  domestic  cares  to 
brood  over ;  both  felt  the  weight  of  years  pressing  upon  them,  and 
still  more,  the  wasting  hand  of  disease.  They  had  long  since  learned 
to  look  upon  the  honors  of  the  world  as  empty  shadows,  and  to 
value  the  good  opinion  of  the  wise  and  good  more  than  the  applause 
of  a  multitude.  Nothing  but  the  purest  patriotism,  an  ardent  de- 
votion to  their  country  and  her  noble  institutions,  could  hold  them  to 
the  discharge  of  their  unpleasant  duties,  while  every  admonition  of 
nature  warned  them  to  lay  aside  the  harness  of  battle,  and  be  at 
rest. 

"What  eventful  scenes  had  they  passed  through !  Side  by  side 
they  stood  and  beheld  the  young  eagle  plume  himself  for  flight,  and 
mount  into  the  sky,  with  liberty  and  universal  emancipation  inscribed 
on  his  star-spangled  banner.  With  anxious  eye  they  saw  him  plunge 
into  the  dark  clouds,  and  battle  with  the  storms,  and  hailed  him  with 
delight  as  he  emerged  from  the  perils  that  encompassed  his  path,  and 
glanced  his  outspread  wing  in  the  sunbeams  of  returning  day,  and 
wafted  himself  higher  and  still  higher  in  his  ethereal  flight. 

But  now,  behold !  in  mid-career  a  mortal  foe  encounters  him  in 
fiercest  battle — "  An  eagle  and  a  serpent  wreathed  in  fight !" — and 
like  the  maiden  on  the  sea-shore  did  they  watch,  with  suppressed 
heart,  "  the  event  of  that  portentous  fight." 

t;  Around,  around,  in  ceaseless  circles  wheeling, 
With  clang  of  wings  and  screams,  the  Eagle  sailed 
Incessantly— sometimes  on  high,  concealing 
Its  lessening  orbs— sometimes,  as  if  it  failed, 
Dropp'd  through  the  air ;  and  still  it  shrieked  and  wailed, 
And  casting  back  its  eager  head,  with  beak 
And  talon  unremittingly  assailed 
The  wreathed  Serpent,  who  did  ever  seek 
Upon  his  enemy's  heart  a  mortal  wound  to  wreak. 

'•'  What  life,  what  power,  was  kindled  and  arose 
Within  the  sphere  of  that  appalling  fray ! 


HIS  DEFEAT  FOR  THE  SENATE.  277 

Swift  changes  in  that  combat— many  a  check, 
And  many  a  change,  a  dark  and  wild  turmoil ; 
Sometimes  the  Snake  around  his  enemy's  neck 
Lock'd  in  stiff  rings  his  adamantine  coil, 
Until  the  Eagle,  faint  with  pain  and  toil, 
Remitted  his  strong  flight,  and  near  the  sea 
Languidly  flutter'd,  hopeless  so  to  foil 
His  adversary,  who  then  rear'd  on  high 
His  red  and  "burning  crest,  radiant  with  victory. 

"  Then  on  the  white  edge  of  the  bursting  surge, 

Where  they  had  sunk  together,  would  the  SnaKe 

Relax  his  suffocating  grasp,  and  scourge 

The  wind  with  his  wild  writhings ;  for  to  break 

That  chain  of  torment,  the  vast  bird  would  shake 

The  strength  of  his  unconquerable  wings, 

As  in  despair,  and  with  his  sinewy  neck, 

Dissolve  in  sudden  shock  those  linked  rings, 
Then  soar,  as  swift  as  smoke  from  a  volcano  springs." 

So  may  our  country,  like  her  noljle  symbol,  triumph  over  every 
enemy  !  So  may  she  shake  the  strength  of  her  unconquerable  wings, 
and  dissolve,  in  sudden  shock,  the  adamantine  coil  of  that  wreathed 
serpent  that  now  seeks  upon  her  heart  a  mortal  wound  to  wreak ! 

After  this  manner,  we  may  suppose  that  those  venerable  sages, 
seated  by  their  solitary  fireside,  looked  back  on  the  rapid  career  of 
their  country — its  dangers  and  triumphs  of  past  years,  in  which  they 
had  participated — and  meditated  with  awe  and  trembling  on  the 
many  difficulties  that  now  beset  her  path.  What  a  treasure  of  wis- 
dom, could  those  meditations  have  been  embodied  in  words,  and 
handed  down  for  our  instruction  !  But  a  faint  glimmering  of  what 
passed  in  the  mind  of  one  of  those  men,  may  be  found  in  the  letters 
At  the  close  of  this  chapter. 

Mr.  Randolph  continued  faithful  in  the  discharge  of  his  duties  in 
the  Senate.  He  rarely  opened  his  mouth  during  the  session,  but 
made  it  a  point  never  to  miss  a  vote.  He  suffered  martyrdom  during 
many  a  tedious  and  protracted  debate ;  but,  however  painful,  he 
never  abandoned  his  post  when  action  was  required. 

But  his  enemies  would  not  allow  the  old  Commonwealth  of  Vir- 
ginia long  to  be  honored  by  the  services,  and  adorned  by  the  illus- 
trious character,  of  her  most  devoted  and  faithful  son.  Too  faithful 
in  his  devotion,  she  again  was  made  to  deal  out  to  him  his  accustomed 
reward — "  a  step-son's  portion." 


278  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

Mr.  Randolph's  doctrine  was  too  stern,  abstemious,  and  unpalata- 
ble to  the  lovers  and  the  parasites  of  power.  His  restrictive  system 
had  grown  obsolete.  Lulled  in  the  lap  of  prosperity,  the  people  had 
ceased  to  listen  to  his  warning  voice.  Too  often  had  he  repeated  to 
unwilling  ears,  "  that  the  inevitable  tendency  of  this  system,  by  even 
a  fair  exercise  of  the  powers  of  the  Federal  Government,  has  a  cen- 
tripetal force — the  centrifugal  force  not  being  sufficient  to  overcome 
it ;  and  at  every  periodic  revolution,  we  are  drawing  nearer  and 
nearer  to  the  final  extinguishment  that  awaits  us."  They  ceased  to 
listen  to  him,  or  returned  such  answer  as  was  given  to  the  prophets 
of  old :  Are  not  things  now  as  they  were  before,  and  have  always 
been?  then  hush  your  babblings,  and  disturb  not  the  people  with 
your  idle  prophecies. 

Even  in  his  native  State,  that  had  been  the  standard-bearer  of  the 
doctrine  of  State-rights,  he  now  found,  to  his  mortification,  a  woful 
degeneracy.  In  the  days  of  Hamilton  and  the  elder  Adams,  when 
the  centripetal  force  of  the  Fecteral  Government,  by  an  intense  over- 
action,  was  rapidly  hurrying  the  system  to  its  final  catastrophe,  the 
counterpoise  of  Virginia,  almost  alone,  restored  the  rightful  balance, 
and  gave  it  once  more  an  onward  and  harmonious  movement.  But 
now,  in  these  latter  days,  when  the  legitimate  successors  of  old  fede- 
ralism, under  a  new  name,  were  in  the  ascendent,  the  position  of  Vir- 
ginia in  regard  to  them  was  not  merely  doubtful,  but  she  was  about  to 
throw  her  whole  weight  on  the  side  of  centralism,  by  rejecting  from 
her  councils  the  only  man  that  could  arrest  the  rapid  tendencies  of 
the  Government  in  that  direction.  From  1800  to  the  present  time} 
there  had  been  scarcely  a  show  of  opposition  in  Virginia  to  the  con- 
servative States-rights  doctrine  of  George  Mason  and  Thomas  Jef- 
ferson. But  during  the  "  era  of  good  feelings,"  and  the  undisturbed 
repose  of  Mr.  Monroe's  administration,  the  pernicious  doctrines  of  a 
contrary  school  had  been  widely  disseminated.  And  now  that  the 
elements  of  party  strife  were  again  set  in  motion,  mainly  through  the 
exertions  of  Mr.  Randolph  himself;  now  that  the  great  fountains  of 
the  political  deep  were  broken  up,  and  men  were  struggling  tore-form 
themselves  around  some  fixed  principles,  according  to  their  natural 
affinities,  without  regard  to  former  associations,  which  had  long  since 
been  obliterated,  it  was  discovered  that  the  old  federalism  of  John 
Adams,  newly  baptized,  had  numerous  and  powerful  friends  in  a  land 


HIS  DEFEAT  FOR  THE  SENATE.  279 

where  it  could  never  have  flourished  under  its  original  name.  Many 
who  were  the  followers  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  and  still  professed  his  doc- 
trine when  applied  to  the  alien  and  sedition  law,  adopted  the  Ameri- 
can system  in  all  its  parts.  Bank,  protective  tariff,  internal  improve- 
ment by  the  Federal  Government,  and  political  alliances  with  foreign 
republics — which  system  could  only  be  supported  by  the  same  doc- 
trine that  justified  those  obnoxious  laws. 

Mr.  Randolph  did  not  spare  those  men.  Neither  ige  nor  sta- 
tion could  escape  his  burning  indignation.  He  knew  them  all — their 
history,  both  public  and  private — his  denunciations  were  often  bitter, 
personal,  and  sometimes  insulting. 

This  drew  upon  him  not  only  a  political,  but  a  rancorous  and  unre- 
lenting personal  opposition.  Old  reminiscences  were  revived,  and 
many  sought  to  wreak  their  vengeance  upon  him  for  wounds  inflici- 
ed  in  days  long  gone  by ;  instead  of  yielding  their  private  feelings  to 
the  public  good,  they  preferred  the  unholy  incense  of  personal  re- 
venge to  the  rich  oblation  of  a  self-sacrifice  on  the  altar  of  their 
country. 

But  Mr.  Randolph,  after  all,  could  not  be  defeated  without  taking 
some  man  from  his  own  ranks,  who  could  carry  off  some  personal 
friends  to  his  support.  Mr.  Floyd,  Mr.  Giles,  and  others  of  the  Re- 
publican party,  were  spoken  of  as  his  competitors.  During  all  this 
excited  canvass,  in  which  so  much  personal  and  bitter  feeling  was  per- 
mitted to  enter,  Mr.  Randolph  remained  calm  and  unmoved.  New 
Year's  day  he  writes  to  his  friend,  Dr.  Brockenbrough : 

"  I  am  greatly  obliged  to  Mr.  May  and  my  other  friends  and  sup- 
porters ;  but  no  occasion  has  yet  presented  itself,  on  which  I  could, 
with  propriety, have  said  any  thing;  and  to  be  making  one. would.  I 
think,  be  unworthy  of  my  character  and  station.  The  fabrications 
of  my  enemies,  I  cannot  help.  I  can  only  say  that  there  exists 
not  the  slightest  foundation  for  them.  I  feel,  perhaps,  too  keenly  for 
the  state  of  the  country.  I  have  (as  who  has  not?)  my  own  private 
sorrows  ;  and  I  have  participated  in  the  deep  affliction  of  my  poor 
brother.  If  it  be  any  crime  to  be  grave.  I  plead  guilty  to  the  charge, 
but,  at  the  same  time,  thank  heaven  !  I  feel  myself  to  be  calm,  com- 
posed and  self-possessed.  To  pretend  indifference  to  the  approach- 
ing election,  would  be  the  height  of  affectation  and  falsehood — but.  go 
how  it  may,  I  trust  that  I  shall  bear  myself  under  success  or  defeat, 
in  a  manner  that  my  friends  will  not  disapprove.  I  have  ever  looked 
up  to  Virginia,  as  to  a  mother,  whose  rebukes  I  was  bound  to  receive 


280  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

with  filial  submission  ;  and  no  instance  of  her  displeasure,  however 
severe,  shall  ever  cause  me  to  lose  sight  of  my  duty  to  her," 

At  length  an  available  candidate  was  found  in  the  person  of  Mr. 
Tyler,  then  Governor  of  the  State. 

When  the  friends  of  Mr.  Randolph  learned  that  he  was  to  be  op- 
posed by  that  gentleman,  they  addressed  him  a  note,  the  18th  Janu- 
ary, 1827,  in  which  they  say — "  We  understand  that  the  friends  of 
the  Administration  and  others  will  support  you  for  the  Senate  in  op- 
position to  Mr.  Randolph.  We  desire  to  understand  destinctly, 
whether  they  have  your  consent  or  not." 

Mr.  Tyler  replied — "  My  political  opinions  on  the  fundamental 
principles  of  the  Government,  are  the  same  as  those  espoused  by  Mr. 
Randolph,  and  I  admire  him  most  highly,  for  his  undeviating  attach- 
ment to  the  Constitution,  manifested  at  all  times,  and  through  all  the 
events  of  a  long  political  life ;  and  if  any  man  votes  for  me  under  a 
different  persuasion,  he  most  grievously  deceives  himself.  You  ask 
me  whether  I  have  yielded  my  consent  to  oppose  him.  On  the  contrary, 
I  have  constantly  opposed  myself  to  all  solicitations."  Mr.  Tyler, 
however,  was  run  against  Mr.  Randolph,  and  was  successful  in  defeat- 
ing him.  With  what  magnanimity  Mr.  Randolph  bore  this  defeat, 
and  how  cheerfully  he  submitted  to  the  rebuke,  coming  from  his 
native  State — venerated  and  beloved,  with  all  her  unkindness,  may  be 
seen  from  the  following  letters,  addressed  to  Dr.  Brockenbrough,  that 
range  from  the  first  of  January,  to  the  close  of  Congress. 

Wednesday,  Jan.  3, 1827. 

Yesterday  I  had  the  gratification  of  seeing  my  old  friend  Mr. 
Macon  elected  to  the  Presidency  of  the  Senate.  He  had  not  a 
single  vote  to  spare.  I  apprehend  that  he  owed  his  election  chiefly 
to  the  absence  of  Chambers  of  Maryland,  who  had  gone  to  the  eastern 
shore,  and  who  arrived  from  Baltimore  not  ten  minutes  after  Mr.  M. 
had  taken  the  chair.  Mr.  Silsbee  of  Massachusetts  voted  for  him. 
So  did  Mr.  Noble  of  Indiana,  and  H.  of  Ohio.  The  other  vote,  I  con- 
jecture, was  given  by  Mr.  Mills,  for  one  of  our  side  (King)  was  also 
absent,  although  it  was  not  generally  known.  This  is  the  greatest 
and  almost  the  only  gratification  that  I  have  received  here.  It  was 
altogether  unexpected. 

Friday,  Jan.  5;  1827. 

I  write,  although  1  have  nothing  in  the  world  to  say.  Yester- 
day letters  were  received  stating  that  P.  P.  B.  would  receive  the  vote 
of  the  administration  men,  notwithstanding  his  refusal  to  be  nomina- 


HIS  DEFEAT  FOR  THE  SENATE.  281 

ted  by  them.  I  wish  with  all  my  heart  the  thing  was  decided  one 
way  or  other ;  although  I  am  sensible  that  the  precipitation  of  one  of 
my  friends  on  a  former  occasion  did  mischief.  I  have  neither  the 
right  nor  the  will  to  dictate,  but  to  you  (who  are  not  a  member)  I  can 
say  that  my  present  situation  is  far  from  being  agreeable.  General 
Smythe  has  not  at  all  disappointed  me — he  has  acted  magnanimously 
and  like  a  patriot.  I  looked  for  such  a  course  from  him — I  never 
had  a  feeling  of  enmity  against  him — nothing  ever  passed  between 
us,  beyond  a  single  spar. 

Sunday  morLing,  Jan.  7,  1827. 

Mr.  Macon  is  highly  gratified  at  your  mention  of  him.  I  could 
not  resist  the  inclination  to  show  him  that  part  of  your  letter.  He  is 
to  me,  at  this  time,  a  treasure  above  all  price ;  but  that  consideration 
apart,  he  richly  deserves  every  sentiment  of  respect  and  veneration 
that  can  be  felt  for  his  character. 

The  news  here  is  that  the  administration  folks  are  chuckling  at  the 
prospect  of  my  discomfiture.  They  are,  or  affect  to  be,  in  high  spir- 
its upon  that  subject.  It  must  be  confessed  that  my  situation  is 
awkward  enough. 

Monday  morning.  Jan.  8,  1827. 

Your  letters  and  Mr.  Macon's  society  are  my  greatest  resources 
against  the  miserable  life  we  lead  here.  Tazewell  tells  me  that  he  is 
well  convinced  that  the  article  in  question  was  written  here.  Mr. 
Macon,  who  reads  the  paper  to  his  daughter,  flung  it  into  the  fire 
with  great  indignation.  I  cannot  understand  Mr.  R.'s  reasons,  and 
therefore  they  cannot  be  satisfactory  to  me,  although  no  doubt  they 
are  perfectly  so  to  himself. 

Poor  old  S.  will,  I  think,  be  re-elected.  His  masters  have  shaken 
the  whip  over  him  to  secure  his  future  unconditional  obedience. 

This  morning  was  ushered  in  by  a  salute  of  cannon.  A  great 
dinner  is  to  be  eaten  in  honor  of  the  day.  Mr.  M.  and  I  foreswore 
public  dinners  ever  since  one  that  we  gave  Monroe  in  1803,  on  his 
departure  for  France.  Consequently,  neither  of  us  go.  The  day  is 
wet  and  dirty,  if  there  be  such  a  word,  and  we  shall  lose  nothing  by 
staying  at  home. 

I  should  like  very  well  to  see  the  antique  you  mention.  It  ought 
to  be  preserved  with  care.  How  little,  in  fact,  do  we  know  of  our 
early  history.  Perhaps  there  was  nothing  to  tell ;  but  all  the  plan- 
tations seem  to  have  been  considered  as  a  terra  incognita  by  the 
mother  country.  I  am  sorry  for  what  you  mention  respecting  Mr 
M.,  of  F'k.  But  it  can't  be  helped. 

Friday  morning,  Jan.  12,  1827. 

Another  mail,  and  no  letter  from  you.  I  can't  help  feeling  anxious 
and  uneasy. 


282  '   LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

My  old  friend  is  a  good  deal  better ;  but  I,  after  many  days  ol 
premonition,  from  pains  in  the  right  side,  &c.,  have  had  a  very  smart 
attack.  My  constitution  is  so  worn  out  that  it  can  resist  nothing, 
and  cannot  recover  itself  as  it  once  could.  It  seems  to  be  the  pre 
vailing  opinion  here  that  the  friends  of  the  powers  that  be  are  some 
what  despondent.  Pennsylvania  they  say  has  given  the  most  deci 
sive  indications  of  her  adherence  to  Jackson.  The  dinner,  although 
the  military  men  slunk  away  from  it,  was  attended  by  a  formidable 
array  of  adversaries. 

The  weather  is  excessively  gloomy,  and  sheds  its  malign  influence 
upon  my  spirits.  I  can't  read,  and  my  old  friend's  cough  is  excited 
by  talking ;  so  we  sit,  and  look  at  the  fire  together,  and  once  in 
half  an  hour  some  remark  is  made  by  one  or  the  other. 

Saturday,  Jan.  13,  1827. 

Your  letter  of  Thursday  gives  me  much  relief,  although  it  con- 
tains intelligence  of  a  very  unpleasant  nature.  I  allude  to  the  publi- 
cation you  mention.  I  know  that  such  things — to  one  especially  not 
at  all  inured  to  them — are  most  unpleasant ;  but  I  trust  that  the  im- 
pudent excuse  of  the  printer  will  not  be  entirely  thrown  away,  for  it 
is  as  true  as  it  is  shameless.  My  good  friend,  I  have  long  been  of 
the  opinion,  that  we  are  fast  sinking  into  a  state  of  society  the  most 
loathsome  that  can  be  presented  to  the  imagination  of  an  honorable 
man.  Things,  bad  as  they  are,  have  not  yet  reached  the  lowest  deep. 
If  I  had  health  and  strength,  I  think  that  I  would  employ  a  portion 
of  them  in  an  inquiry  into  the  causes  that  propel  us  to  this  wretched 
state.  Why  is  it  that  our  system  has  a  uniform  tendency  to  bring 
forward  low  and  little  men,  to  the  exclusion  of  the  more  worthy  ?  I 
have  seen  the  operation  of  this  machine  from  the  beginning.  The 
character  of  every  branch  of  the  Government  has  degenerated.  In 
point  of  education  and  manners,  as  well  as  integrity,  there  has  been 
a  frightful  deterioration  every  where.  In  this  opinion  I  am  sup- 
ported by  the  experience  of  one  of  the  most  sagacious  and  observing 
men,  himself  contemporary  with  the  present  system  from  the  com- 
mencement. My  dear  friend,  I  cannot  express  to  you  the  thousandth 
part  of  the  disgust  and  chagrin  that  devour  me.  When  I  landed  at 
New- York  the  complexion  of  the  public  journals  made  me  blush  for 
the  country.  There  was  a  respectable  foreigner,  my  fellow-passen- 
ger, and  I  thought  I  could  see  the  dismay  which  he  attempted  to  con- 
ceal, at  certain  matters  that  passed,  as  things  of  course,  in  one  of  the 
first  boarding-houses  in  that  city.  To  me,  the  prospect  is  as  cheer- 
less and  desolate  as  Greenland.  Yourself,  and  one  or  two  others, 
separated  by  vast  distances  and  execrable  roads,  form  here  and  there, 
as  it  were,  an  oasis  in  the  Sahara.  My  soul  is  "  out  of  taste/'  as 
people  say  of  their  mouths  after  a  fever.  I  dream  of  the  snow-cap- 
ped Alps,  and  azure  lakes  and  waterfalls,  and  villages,  and  spires  of 


HIS  DEFEAT  FOR  THE  SENATE.  283 

Switzerland,  and  I  awake  to  a  scene  of  desolation  such  as  one  might 
look  to  find  in  Barbary  or  upper  Asia.  But  the  morale,  as  the 
French  would  say,  is  worse  than  the  physique  and  the  materiel.  I 
remember  well  when  a  member  of  Congress  was  respected  by  others 
and  by  himself.  Bat  I  cannot  pursue  this  theme. 

The  Government  is  as  you  describe  it  to  be.  They  have  nearly 
monopolized  the  press ;  and  if  the  opposition  prints  lend  themselves 
to  their  views  the  cause  is  hopeless.  However,  such  is  the  growing 
conviction  of  their  depravity,  that  I  believe  the  people  will  throw 
them  off  at  the  next  election.  I  shall  expect  your  letters,  of  cwurse. 
with  eagerness.  Yours  truly,  J.  K.  OF  R. 

Sunday  morning,  January  14,  1827. 

Your  letter  of  Friday  is  just  received.  The  artifices  resorted  to 
are  worthy  of  the  tools  of  such  an  administration  as  ours.  By  this 
time  to-morrow  I  shall  know  the  result.  Be  it  what  it  may,  it  will 
exercise  a  very  decisive  influence  over  what  may  remain  of  my  life  ^o 
come.  Success  I  know  cannot  elate  me,  and  I  hope  that  defeat  will 
not  depress  me :  but  I  have  taken  a  new  view  of  life,  of  public  life 
especially ;  and  if  I  am  not  a  wiser  and  a  better  man  for  my  last 
year's  experience,  you  may  pronounce  me  an  incorrigible,  irreclaim- 
able fool. 

Yesterday  Mr.  Chief  Justice  paid  me  a  very  friendly  visit.  His 
manner  said  more  than  his  words.  I  am  not  vain  but  proud  of  the 
distinguished  marks  of  regard  which  I  have  received  on  many  occa- 
sion^ from  this  truly  good  and  great  man.  Our  conversation  was 
interrupted  by  the  unexpected  and  undesired  visit  of  another  person. 

Yours  truly,  J.  R.  OF  R. 

Friday,  January  19,  1827. 

Your  most  welcome  letter  of  "Wednesday  is  just  now  received 
Every  syllable  in  the  way  of  anecdote  is  gratifying  in  a  high  degree. 

My  first  impression  was  to  resign.  There  were,  notwithstanding, 
obvious  and  strong  objections  to  this  course  ;  my  duty  to  my  friends, 
the  giving  of  a  handle  to  the  charges  of  my  enemies  that  I  was  the 
slave  of  spleen  and  passion,  and  many  more  that  I  need  not  specify. 
There  was  but  one  other  course  left,  and  that  I  have  taken,  not  with- 
out the  decided  approbation  of  my  colleague,  and  many  other  friends 
here.  I  find,  too,  that  it  was  heartily  desired  by  my  enemies  that  I 
should  throw  up  my  seat.  They  even  propagated  a  report  on  Mon- 
day, that  I  had  done  so  in  a  rage,  and  left  the  city.  Numerous 
concurring  opinions  of  men  of  sense  and  judgment,  who  have  had  no 
opportunity  of  consulting  together,  have  reached  me,  that  fortify  me 
in  the  line  of  conduct  that  I  have  taken.  Nothing,  then,  remains  but 
a  calm  and  dignified  submission  to  the  disgrace  that  has  been  put 
upon  me  [his  ejection  from  the  Senate].  It  is  the  best  evidence  that 
I  can  give  my  friends  of  the  sense  which  I  feel,  and  will  for  ever 
cherish,  of  their  kind  and  generous  support.  J.  R.  OF  R. 

39 


284.  I-IFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

Saturday,  January  20,  1827. 

"  Bore  me  ?"  Your  letter  has  become  more  necessary  to  me  than 
my  breakfast ;  and  it  is  almost  as  indispensable  for  me  to  say  a  few 
words  to  you  upon  paper,  as  soon  as  I  have  finished  it.  It  consists 
of  a  cup  of  tea  and  a  cracker,  without  butter,  which  I  never  touch. 
My  constitution  is  shaken ;  nerves  gone,  and  digestive  powers  almost 
extinct.  I  look  forward  to  hopeless  misery.  As  to  a  ':  firm  and  dig- 
nified" discharge  of  my  duty,  I  hope  that  I  shall  be  equal  to  it,  so  far 
as  attendance  and  voting  goes.  I  can't  go  farther,  because  I  am 
unable.  What  I  shall  do  with  myself  I  am  at  a  loss  to  conjecture. 
I  have  already  found  the  solitude  of  Roanoke  insupportable.  With 
worse  health,  and  no  better  spirits,  how  can  I  endure  it?  But  too 
much  of  this  egotism. 

I  would  give  not  a  little  to  know  the  reply  of  Mrs.  B.  to  tJie 
member  in  question.  The  tear  shed  by  her  eyes  for  my  defeat  is 
more  precious  in  my  own  than  the  pearl  of  Cleopatra.  I  beseech 
you  not  to  omit  writing  whenever  you  can.  I  require  all  the  time 
that  you  can  bestow  upon  me.  Except  Mr.  M.,  I  am  desolate. 

Sunday  morning,  February  11, 1827. 

I  have  not  written  as  usual,  because  I-  almost  made  it  a  matter  of 
conscience  to  oppress  you  with  my  gloom.  I  have  never  been  more 
entirely  overwhelmed  with  bad  health  and  spirits.  I  look  forward 
without  hope,  and  almost  without  a  wish,  to  recover.  What  can  be 
more  cheerless  and  desolate  than  the  latter  days  that  are  left  to  me  ? 
I  am,  however,  relieved  from  one  apprehension — the  fear  of  surviving 
all  who  may  care  for  me.  I  feel  that  this  can  hardly  be,  for  without 
some  almost  miraculous  change  in  a  worn-out  constitution,  I  shall 
hardly  get  through  the  year.  The  thoughts  of  returning  here  tor- 
ment and  harass  me  by  day  and  by  night.  Little  do  you  even 
know  of  the  character  and  composition  of  the  House.  If  I  were  even 
able  to  exert  myself.  I  should  never  obtain  the  floor.  The  speech 
which  I  made  on  the  tariff  was  owing  to  a  waiving  of  the  right  of 
another  to  speak.  I  feel  that  my  public  life  ought  to  terminate  with 
this  session  of  Congress.  These  thoughts  are  for  you.  and  you  alone. 
I  have  risen  from  a  sleepless  bed  to  give  utterance  to  them. 

I  saw  the  V.  P.  yesterday.  He  is  in  good  spirits  ;  he  is  sustained 
by  a  powerful  passion.  For  my  part,  I  am  far  from  thinking  a  seat 
in  the  S.  very  desirable,  although,  certainly,  to  be  preferred  to  any 
other  position  in  this  Government.  If  I  could  have  done  it  with  pro- 
priety, I  should  not  have  hesitated  to  retire  voluntarily  from  mine. 

Wednesday,  Feb.  14,  1827. 

Yesterday  the  Senate  gave  no  equivocal  evidence  on  behalf  of 
the  woollen  bill  from  the  other  House.  My  colleague  is,  I  think, 
more  disgusted  and  wounded  than  I  am.  We  are  bound  hand  and 
foot,  and  the  knife  is  at  our  throat.  There  is  no  help  but  from  the 


HIS  DEFEAT  FOR  THE  SENATE.  285 

people  through  the  State  Legislatures.     We  are  sold  before  our  faces 
in  open  market. 

Thursday,  Feb.  15,  1827. 

The  V.  P.  has  pressed  me  very  warmly  to  take  a  seat  in  his  car- 
riage, which  will  travel  the  direct  road  by  Carter's  Ferry.  This  temp- 
tation is  a  very  strong  one  in  my  present  feeble  condition.  A  plea- 
sant companion,  easy  stages,  and  exemption  from  all  the  cares  of  a 
journey  that  will  bring  me  to  my  own  door.  But  then  I  shall  not 
see  you.  This  consideration  would  determine  me  to  forego  his  invita- 
tion if  I  could  see  you  and  one  or  two  others  without  bustle  in  a 
quiet  way.  But  I  take  it  that  the  close  of  a  session  of  Assembly  is 
(like  one  in  Congress)  as  the  last  days  of  a  long  voyage. 

Among  my  afflictions  and  privations,  I  cannot  read.  I  have  abso- 
lutely lost  ail  taste  for  reading  of  every  sort,  except  the  letters  of  my 
friends.  Books,  once  a  necessary  of  life,  have  no  longer  a  single 
charm  for  me.  How  this  has  happened  I  know  not ;  but  it  is  so.  I 
should  not  talk  so  eternally  of  myself  if  I  felt  at  liberty  to  speak  of 
other  people  :  I  do  not  mean  in  the  way  of  censure,  but  in  any  way, 
I  think  I  see  a  great  deal  more  than  meets  the  usual  eye ;  but  then 
I  may  be  mistaken.  Of  one  thing  I  am  certain,  that  nothing  can 
surpass  the  disgust  of  my  colleague.  His  countenance  speaks  volumes. 
Indeed  I  cannot  blame  him.  I  know  that  there  is  nothing  in  this 
thing  that,  from  its  length,  seems  a  letter  ;  but  I  can't  help  it.  Adieu 
to  you  both. 

Saturday,  February  17,  1827. 

Your  last  was  dated  this  day  week.  Yesterday  we  had  no  mail 
in  consequence  of  the  storm  of  Thursday,  That  storm  nearly  demo- 
lished me.  I  took  a  violent  cold  at  the  door  of  the  Senate  waiting 
until  two  hackney  coaches  could  disengage  themselves  from  a  jam. 
I  have  since  been  much  worse.  I  hope  to  get  a  line  from  you  to-day. 

I  mentioned  to  you  the  V.  P.'s  invitation  to  accompany  him.  You 
will  think  me  a  strange,  inconsistent  creature,  when  I  tell  you  that  I 
am  at  a  loss  what  to  do.  Home  I  must  go ;  and  yet  for  me  home  has  no 
charms.  I  think  of  its  solitude,  which  I  can  •  no  longer  relieve  by 
field-sports,  or  books,  and  my  heart  dies  within  me.  Stretched  on  a 
sick-bed,  alone,  desolate,  cheerless.  I  must  devise  some  other  plan, 
and  I  want  to  see  you  and  consult  you  about  it.  You  see  what  little 
mercy  my  querulous  selfishness  has  upon  you. 

The  prospect  here  is  far  from  brightening.  I  know  others,  and 
abler  men  than  myself,  who  think  differently ;  but  they  take  counsel 
of  their  hopes  and  wishes.  I,  who  have  neither  to  bias  me,  can  see 
more  plainly,  with  weaker  vision.  Not  that  I  am  at  all  indifferent 
(far  from  it)  to  the  question  of  change  of  the  bad  and  corrupt  men  at 
the  head  of  our  affairs.  I  allude  to  wishes  of  a  different  sort. 

What  you  say  about  the  spirit  of  the  times  and  the  state  of  soci' 


286  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

ety,  has  "  often  and  over"  occurred  to  me.  I  want  to  "be  at  rest ; 
with  Gray's  prophetess,  I  cry  out  "  leave  me,  leave  me  to  repose  !"  I 
am  almost  as  well  convinced  that  I  shall  not  live  twelve  months,  aa 
twelve  times  twelve,  and  I  wish  to  die  in  peace.  My  best  love  to 
Mrs.  B.  God  bless  you  both,  my  dear  friends. 

Wednesday,  Feb.  21,  1827. 

•  I  have  omitted  for  some  days  to  bore  you  with  my  querulous 
notes,  because  I  knew  that  you  had  better  use  for  your  time  than  to 
read  them.  And  now,  that  I  have  taken  up  my  pen,  what  shall  I 
say?  Still  harp  upon  the  old  string1?  My  good  friend,  you  will,  I 
am  sure,  bear  with  my  foolishness.  I  am  incapable  of  business.  I 
have  not  been  so  sensible  of  the  failure  of  my  bodily  powers  since 
1817,  when  you  saw  me  at  Mr.  Cunningham's  ;  and  in  my  dreary  and 
desolate  condition  I  naturally  turn  to  you. 

My  view  of  things  in  Richmond  coincided  with  your  own,  before 
I  knew  what  your  impressions  were.  I  think  that  I  shall  make  my 
escape,  with  the  V.  P.,  via  Cartersville.  It  is  the  very  road  that  I 
travelled  here,  and  is  the  obvious  way  back  again. 

I  shall  have  again  to  attend  a  six  hours'  sitting  to-day.  It  abso- 
lutely murders  me.  The  H.  of  R.  sat  late  last  night.  Mr.  Rives 
gained  great,  and  I  believe  deserved  praise.  Mr.  Archer  passed  a 
severe  rebuke  upon  one  of  his  colleagues  from  beyond  the  Blue 
Ridge,  who  spoke  very  irreverently,  'tis  said,  of  his  native  State. 

I  fear  that  when  we  do  meet,  I  shall  teaze  you  to  death  with  my 
egotism.  A  man  with  a  tooth-ache  thinks  only  of  his  fang.  I  am 
become  the  most  inert  and  indolent  of  creatures.  I  want  to  get  into 
port.  Nothing  would  suit  me  so  well  as  an  annuity,  and  nothing  to 
do.  You  see  how  selfish  I  am.  But  all  my  selfishness  vanishes  when 
I  think  of  you.  God  bless  you  both.  Adieu. 

Thursday,  Feb.  22, 1827. 

General  S.  Smith,  of  Maryland,  made  a  very  strong  speech  yes- 
terday on  the  colonial  trade  bill  and  the  report  accompanying  it.  He 
exposed,  without  reserve,  the  ignorance  and  incapacity  of  our  cabi- 
net, and  particularly  of  the  Secretary  of  State ;  and  pointed  out 
many  manifest  errors  in  the  bill  and  report,  between  which  he  show- 
ed more  than  one  instance  of  discrepancy.  His  speech  was  so  much 
approved  that  a  subscription  for  its  publication  was  immediately  set 
on  foot  and  filled.  I  think  it  will  have  great  effect  on  the  public 
opinion.  I  listened  to  it  with  great  attention,  and  after  he  had  con 
eluded,  the  old  gentleman  came  and  thanked  me  for  it.  He  said  that 
my  occasional  nods  of  assent  to  what  he  said  was  a  great  support  to 
him,  and  enabled  him  to  get  through  with  what  he  had  to  say  with 
more  animation  and  effect  than  he  had  anticipated.  The  applause 
bestowed  upon  him  by  very  many  members  of  the  Senate,  seemed  tc 
trarm  the  old  man's  heart. 


HIS  DEFEAT  FOR  THE  SENATE.  287 

Friday,  Feb.  23,  1827. 

Yesterday  we  adjourned  much  earlier  than  usual,  on  the  motion 
of  Mr.  Johnson,  of  Louisiana,  who  means  to  inflict  upon  us  a  speech 
of  unconscionable  length,  if  I  am  to  judge  from  the  apparatus  of 
notes  and  books  which  he  has  collected.  It  will,  no  doubt,  receive 
contribution  from  the  S.  of  S.  It  is  strange  that  the  administration 
should  be  reduced  to  rely  upon  so  feeble  and  confused  an  understand- 
ing as  that  of  J.,  whom  no  one  can  listen  to,  and  who  is  unanswera- 
ble because  he  is  unintelligible.  His  friend  and  patron  passes  my 
window  every  morning,  arm  in  arm  with  M.  C.'s,  whom  he  ap- 
pears to  be  vainly  engaged  in  drilling.  My  good  friend,  politics  re- 
mind me  of  Goldsmith's  character  of  a  schoolmaster — any  other  em- 
ployment seems  "  genteel"  in  comparison  to  it. 

Saturday,  Feb.  24,  1827. 

Your  letter  of  Thursday  and  the  Enquirer  of  the  same  date  are  just 
now  brought  in.  I  am  truly  sensible  of  the  kind  partiality  of  my 
friends,  but  I  feel  that  my  career  is  drawing  to  a  close.  My  system 
is  undermined  and  gone,  and  a  few  months  must,  I  should  think  (and 
almost  hope)  put  an  end  to  my  sufferings.  God  only  knows  what 
they  have  been.  I  think  it  probable  that  I  shall  take  the  steamboat 
to  Richmond ;  in  which  case  I  shall  have  the  pleasure  to  see  you 
once  more.  I  don't  like  to  hear  of  your  being  "  unwell,"  and  hope 
that  the  approaching  adjournment  of  the  Assembly  will  relieve  you 
from  your  harassing  employment  at  the  Bank. 

I  have  lain  all  night  listening  to  the  rain.  I  have  not  passed  one 
quite  so  bad  this  winter.  I  shall,  nevertheless,  go  to  the  Senate,  for 
I  have  made  it  a  point  not  to  miss  a  vote.  I  tasked  myself  beyond 
my  strength  in  retaining  my  seat,  and  am  by  no  means  quite  satis- 
fied that  I  took  the  right  course  in  that  matter.  It  is  not  now,  how- 
ever, to  be  remedied. 

Many  thanks  for  your  news  of  my  niece.  God  bless  her !  I 
wrote  to  her  the  day  before  yesterday. 

We  had  yesterday  a  confused  jumble  of  two  and  a  half  hours  from 
J..  of  L.  But  I  have  no  doubt  that  the  best  face  that  the  adminis- 
tration can  put  on  the  matter  will  appear  in  print.  The  chairman  of 
foreign  relations  has  been  weighed  and  found  wanting.  The  man  has 
not  a  shadow  of  pretension  to  ability  or  information.  Adieu. 

Sunday,  Feb.  25,  1827. 

My  lamentations  must,  I  am  sure,  weary  you,  and  not  a  liitle. 
Like  Dogberry,  I  bestow  all  my  tediousness  upon  you.  I  have  had 
another  bad  night.  Not  so  bad  however  as  the  preceding  one.  But 
I  am  in  a  state  of  utter  atony.  I  think  that  you  medical  men  have 
such  a  term.  I  have  lost  all  relish  for  every  thing,  and  would  will- 
ingly purchase  exemption  from  all  exertion  of  body  and  mind  at 


288  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

almost  any  price.  My  old  friend,  Mr.  M.,  remarks  my  faint  and  lan- 
guid aspect,  but  even  he  little  knows  of  what  is  passing  within.  If 
change  of  scene  brings  no  relief,  and  I  have  little  hope  that  it  will, 
I  cannot  long  hold  out  under  it ;  and  why  do  I  reiterate  this  to  you? 
Because  I  have  no  one  else  to  tell  it  to,  and  out  of  the  fulness  of  the 
heart  the  mouth  speaketh.  I  can  no  longer  imagine  any  state  of 
things  under  which  I  should  not  be  wretched.  I  mean  a  possible 
state.  I  am  unable  to  enter  into  the  conceptions  and  views  of  those 
around  me.  They  talk  to  me  of  grave  matters,  and  I  see  children 
blowing  bubbles. 

Monday  morning,  Feb.  26, 1827. 

Your  letter  of  Friday,  which  ought  to  have  arrived  yesterday 
morning,  came  in  with  the  northern  mail.  No  two  instruments  of 
music  ever  accorded  more  exactly  than  our  opinions  do,  concerning 
public  men  and  measures.  I  am  heartily  sick  of  both,  and  only  wish 
to  find  some  resting-place,  where  I  may  die  in  peace.  I  saw  a  letter 
from  Crawford  to  Mr.  M.,  a  day  or  two  ago,  that  affected  me  most 
deeply.  Nothing  can  be  more  simple  and  touching  than  the  manner 
in  which  he  speaks  of  himself  and  his  affairs.  What  a  fate  his  has 
been  ! 

I  agree  with  you,  about  the  great  man  of  Richmond.  His  an- 
tagonist I  know  well.  He  is  a  frog  at  the  utmost;  degree  of  disten- 
tion.  How  I  shall  get  home  I  can't  yet  tell.  My  helplessness  is  in- 
conceivable. I  want  a  dry  nurse — somebody  to  pick  me  up  and  take 
me  away.  I  have  passed  another  horrid  night.  Garnett  writes  me 
that  he  obtained  relief  from  Dr.  Watson,  during  his  late  visit  to  Rich- 
mond There  is  some  talk  of  a  fight  in  the  other  House,  but  I  con- 
jecture that  it  will  end  in  smoke.  I  listen,  but  say  nothing. 

Your  letter  of  Saturday,  and  the  Enquirer  of  Wednesday,  are  just 
now  put  into  my  hands.  "  Old  Prince  Edward  has  come  out  man- 
fully" indeed ;  and  if  any  thing  could  exhilarate  me,  it  would  be  such 
a  manifestation  of  the  confidence  of  those  who  know  me  best ;  but  to 
the  dead  fibre  all  applications  are  vain. 

SENATE,  Thursday,  March  1,  1827. 

I  can  only  thank  you  for  your  letter  of  Tuesday.  We  meet  at 
ten ;  and  yesterday  we  adjourned  at  the  same  hour.  It  almost  killed 
me,  and  has  worsted  my  old  friend,  Mr.  M.,  a  good  deal.  In  common 
with  all  the  honest  and  sagacious  men  here,  he  partakes  of-  the  gen- 
eral disgust ;  and  I  think  it  not  at  all  unlikely  that  he  will  throw  up 
his  commission  before  the  next  winter.  S.  of  S.  C.,  one  of  the  most 
sterling  characters,  and  of  untiring  zeal  and  labor  hitherto,  begins 
also  to  despond,  seeing,  as  he  does,  that  the  administration  is  more 
effectually  served  by  its  professed  opponents  than  by  its  friends. 
They  are  utterly  insuflicient.  This  is  for  you  only. 

This  is  probably  the  last  note  that  you  will  receive  from  me  until 


ELECTION  TO  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES.      289 

we  meet.  You  must  be  prepared  for  a  great  change  in  me — greater 
in  temper,  &c.,  than  in  health.  You  both,  I  know,  will  put  up  with 
my  tediousness.  I  feel  that  I  am  becoming  a  burthen  to  others,  as 
well  as  to  myself,  and  the  thought  depresses  me  not  a  little.  "  Time 
and  the  hour  run  through  the  longest  day."  What  a  fate  ours  would 
have  been  if  we  had  been  condemned  to  immortality  here. 

Saturday,  March  3,  1827. 

We  sat  until  after  two  this  morning.  The  House  of  Representa- 
tives, by  a  very  thin  vote,  adhered  to  their  amendment  to  the  Colo- 
nial Bill.  Had  it  been  put  off  until  to-day,  it  would  not  have  been 
done.  We  shall,  I  take  it  for  granted,  also  adhere,  and  so  the  bill 
will  be  lost.  I  have  made  my  arrangements  to  go  in  the  Potomac 
to-morrow,  at  9  o'clock.  When  I  consider,  that  at  this  session  the 
Bankrupt  Bill,  the  Woollen  Bill,  the  Naval  School,  and  two  Dry  Docks, 
and  the  Colonial  Bill,  have  all  failed,  I  am  of  opinion  that  (as  we  say 
in  Virginia)  we  have  made  a  "  great  break."  In  fact,  the  administra- 
tion have  succeeded  in  no  one  measure. 


CHAPTER   XXXY. 

ELECTION   TO   THE   HOUSE   OF   REPRESENTATIVES. 

So  soon  as  it  was  known  in  Washington  that  Mr.  Randolph  had 
been  defeated  for  the  Senate,  Dr.  G-eorge  W.  Crump,  who  repre- 
sented his  district,  published  a  letter  to  his  constituents,  declining  a 
re-election,  and  united  with  Mr.  Randolph's  other  friends,  in  an- 
nouncing him  as  a  candidate  for  Congress. 

The  legislature  was  still  in  session,  as  he  passed  through  Rich- 
mond. His  friends  in  that  body  invited  him,  as  a  token  of  their  re- 
spect, to  partake  of  a  public  dinner.  He  said,  in  reply : — "  The  fee- 
bleness of  my  health  admonishes  me  of  the  imprudence  I  commit  in 
accepting  your  very  kind  and  flattering  invitation,  but  I  am  unable 
to  practise  the  self-denial  which  prudence  would  impose.  I  have 
only  to  ofier  my  profound  acknowledgment,  for  an  honor  to  which  I 
am  sensible  of  no  claim  on  my  part,  except  the  singleness  of  purpose 
with  which  I  have  endeavored  to  uphold  our  common  principles,  never 
more  insidiously  and  vigorously  assailed  than  now,  and  never  more 


290  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

resolutely  defended  and  asserted."  To  a  complimentary  toast,  call- 
ing him  "  the  constant  defender  of  the  principles  of  the  Constitution, 
the  fearless  opponent  of  a  mischievous  administration,"  he  made  a 
very  brief  but  appropriate  answer — "  He  knew  that  of  late  years  it 
had  become  a  practice,  that  the  person  thus  -selected  as  the  object  of 
distinction  and  hospitality,  should  make  his  acknowledgments  in  a 
set  speech  ;  but  as  a  plain  and  old-fashioned  Virginian,  it  was,  he  must 
be  permitted  to  say,  a  custom  more  honored  in  the  breach  than  the 
observance.  He  felt  assured  that  no  declaration  of  his  principles  was 
called  for  on  the  occasion.  It  would,  indeed,  be  too  severe  a  tax  upon 
the  courtesy  of  that  intelligent  auditory,  for  him  to  attempt  to  gloss 
over  what  he  had  done  or  omitted  to  do.  He  did  not  oxpect  them  to 
judge  of  those  principles  from  any  declarations  that  he  might  see  fit 
to  make,  instead  of  inferring  them  from  the  acts  of  his  public  life, 
which  had  commenced  in  the  last  century,  and  had  terminated  but  a 
few  days  ago."  Mr.  Randolph  received  several  similar  invitations 
from  his  old  constituents,  but  he  was  constrained  to  decline  them  all. 
He  expressed  his  regret  at  being  unable  to  partake  of  the  hospitality 
and  festivity  of  his  friends,  "  to  whom,"  says  he,  "  I  am  bound  by 
every  tie  that  can  unite  me  to  the  kindest  and  most  indulgent  con 
stituents  that  ever  man  had." 

It  is  almost  needless  to  say,  that  at  the  April  elections  he  was 
returned  to  Congress  by  his  old  constituents,  without  opposition. 
The  summer  was  spent  in  his  accustomed  solitude  at  Roanoke ;  and 
as  to  the  thoughts  and  feelings  that  occupied  and  harassed  him  during 
that  monotonous  period,  we  leave  him  to  speak  for  himself,  in  the  fol- 
lowing letters  to  his  friend,  Dr.  Brockenbrough : 

ROANOKE,  March  30,  1827  ;  Friday. 

MY  DEAR  FHIEND — My  worst  anticipations  have  been  realized. 
E  got  home  on  the  22d  (Thursday),  and  since  then  I  have  scarcely 
been  off  my  bed  except  when  I  was  in  it.  My  cough  has  increased 
very  much,  and  my  fever  never  intermits ;  with  this,  pain  in  the  breast 
and  all  the  attendant  ills.  Meanwhile  I  am,  with  the  exception  of 
my  servants,  as  if  on  a  desert  island.  I  feel  that  my  doom  is  sealed, 
as  it  regards  this  life  at  least.  I  do  not  want  to  distress  you,  or  to 
make  you  gloomy  ;  but  you  had  a  right  to  know  the  truth,  and  I  have 
told  it  to  you. 

My  best  regards  to  Mrs.  B.  "Write  to  me  when  you  have  nothing 
better  to  do.  1  shall  be  detained  here  all  the  summer,  if  I  last  as 
long.  Like  other  spendthrifts.  I  have  squandered  my  resources,  and 
am  pennyless. 


ELECTION  TO  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES.      291 

ROANOKE.  May  15th,  1827 ;  Tuesday. 

Your  letter  gives  me  much  concern.  -These  sudden  and  repeated 
attacks  alarm  me.  Pray  do  not  fail  to  write  and  let  me  know  how 
you  are.  I  would  readily  embrace  Mrs.  B.'s  kind  invitation  (God 
bless  her  for  it) ;  but,  my  good  friend,  I  am  unfit  for  society.  My 
health  is  better — more  so  in  appearance  than  in  reality ;  but  my  spi- 
rits are  (if  any  thing)  worse.  In  other  words,  a  total  change  has 
been  effected  in  my  views  and  feelings,  and  nothing  can  ever  restore 
the  slightest  relish  for  the  world  and  its  affairs.  If  property  in  this 
country  gave  its  possessor  the  command  of  money,  I  would  go  abroad 
immediately.  But  I  feel  that  I  am  fixed  here  for  life.  v  I  am  sensibly 
touched  by  the  kind  interest  expressed  for  my  welfare  by  the  Wick- 
hams  (and  others).  Make  my  best  acknowledgments  to  them.  Yester- 
day I  received  a  present  offish  from  a  man  whom  I  hardly  know,  who 
sent  it  eight  miles.  On  Saturday,  for  the  first  time,  I  made  an  essay 
towards  riding,  and  got  as  far  as  Mrs.  Daniel's,  who,  I  heard,  was 
very  unwell.  I  repeated  the  experiment  on  Sunday  ;  but  yesterday 
was  cold  and  cloudy,  and  the  rain.  I  am  persuaded,  saved  us  last  night 
from  another  frost. 

By  this  time,  I  conjecture  that  my  niece  is  in  Richmond.  Give 
her  my  best  love,  and  Mrs.  B.  and  Mary  also.  Remember  me  most 
kindly  to  Leigh,  Stevenson,  and  all  who  ask  after  me. 

Reading  over  what  I  have  written,  I  find  that  I  have  expressed 
myself  unhappily,  not  to  say  ungraciously,  on  the  subject  of  Mrs.  B.'s 
invitation.  What  I  meant  was,  that  I  could  not  be  in  Richmond 
without  being  thrown  into  society.  It  is  inexpressibly  fatiguing  and 
irksome  to  me  to  keep  up  those  forms  of  intercourse  which  usage  has 
rendered  indispensable.  He  who  violates  them  deserves  to  be  kicked 
out  of  company.  This  is  one  among  many  reasons  why  I  like  to  go 
abroad.  You  may  ask 

patria  qui  exsul 
Sequoque  fugitl 

but  I  have  no  such  vain  expectation. 

Five,  P.  M. — Since  writing  the  above  I  have  felt  so  peculiarly 
desolate  and  forlorn,  that  I  would  be  glad  to  transport  myself  any 
where  from  this  place.  For  some  days  this  feeling  has  been  gaining 
the  mastery  over  me.  What  wouldn't  I  give  to  be  with  you  at  this 
moment,  or  to  see  you  drive  up  to  my  door !  The  pain  in  my  right 
side  and  shoulder  has  increased,  and  that,  no  doubt,  occasions,  in  part 
at  least,  my  wretched  sensations.  To-morrow  will  bring  but  the  same 
joyless  repetition  of  the  same  dull  scene. 

ROANOKE,  May  22,  1827 ;  Tuesday. 

Your  last  (14th)  gives  me  considerable  relief  on  the  subject  of 
your  health.  Now  that  you  have  hit  upon  the  remedy,  I  hope  to 
hear  no  more  of  your  spasmodic  paroxysms.  I  have  followed  your 


292  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

advice  with  sensible  benefit ;  but  nothing  seems  to  relieve  the  anxiety, 
distress,  and  languor  to  which  I  am  by  turns  subjected,  or  the  pains, 
rheumatic  or  gouty,  that  are  continually  flying  abcut  me. 

I  have  passed  a  wretched  week  since  my  last.  Why  my  letters 
are  so  long  getting  to  hand,  I  cannot  tell — perhaps  it  would  be  well 
for  you  if  they  should  miscarry  altogether,  for  they  are  little  else 
besides  lamentations.  I  cannot  express  to  you  the  horror  I  feel  at 
the  idea  of  a  winter  in  Washington.  I  have  used  a  very  improper 
word,  for  it  is  a  feeling  of  loathing,  of  unutterable  disgust.  I  am  (of 
course)  obliged  to  "  every  body"  for  their  inquiries  and  "  apparent 
concern"  respecting  my  health;  but  there  are  some  individuals 
towards  whom  I  entertain  a  warmer  feeling,  and  I  beg  you  to  express 
it  for  me  to  Leigh,  the  Wickhams,  and  others  whom  I  need  not 
name,  although  I  will  name  Mr.  and  Mrs.  T.  Taylor. 

Whichever  way  I  look  ftround  me,  I  see  no  cheering  object  in 
view.  All  is  dark,  and  comfortless,  and  hopeless  :  for  I  cannot  dis- 
guise from  myself,  that  the  state  of  society  and  manners  is  daily  and 
not  slowly  changing  for  the  worse.  After  making  every  allowance 
for  the  gloom  of  age  and  disease,  there  are  indications  not  to  be  mis- 
taken of  general  deterioration.  If  I  survive  this  winter  I  must  try 
and  hit  upon  some  plan  of  relief,  for  I  would  not  spend  another  year 
1827  for  any  imaginable  earthly  consideration.  This  is  not  a  bull, 
although  it  may  look  like  one. 

I  have  some  conveniences  here  (not  to  say  comforts)  that  I  can- 
not always  meet  with  from  home ;  and  this  consideration,  and  the 
vis  inertia  which  grows  daily  stronger,  have  detained  me  here,  where 
I  vegetate  like  the  trees  around  me.  Give  niy  best  love  to  Mrs.  B., 
and  Mary.  I  most  heartily  wish  that  I  could  see  you  all. 

ROANOKE,  Tuesday,  June  12, 1827. 

Your  letter  of  the  5th  was  received  last  night.  When  I  wrote 
that  to  which  you  refer,  I  had  not  received  Mr.  Chiles's  and  Mr. 
Allen's,  with  your  P.  S.  They  came  about  a  week  afterwards.  I 
wrote  you  a  few  hardly  legible  lines  on  Friday  evening.  The  next 
morning  I  got  into  my  chair  and  drove  to  W.  Leigh's,  whence  I  re- 
turned yesterday.  I  would  have  stayed  longer,  but  there  were  young 
people  in  the  house,  and  I  felt  as  if  I  was  a  damper  upon  their  cheer- 
fulness. Luckily  I  had  a  cool  morning  for  my  return  home. 

I  have  had  a  visit  from  a  Stouldburg — old  Mr.  Archibald  B.  It 
almost  made  me  resolve  never  to  leave  my  own  plantation  again. 
I  hardly  think  that  I  shall  go  to  the  Springs.  I  have  a  decided 
aversion  to  mixing  with  mankind,  especially  where  I  am  known.  I 
have  been  obliged  to  give  up  riding  on  horseback  altogether.  It 
crucified  me,  and  I  did  not  get  over  a  ride  of  two  miles  in  the  course 
of  the  whole  day.  I  will  stay  at  home,  and  take  your  prescription. 
I  wish  I  could  see  your  Dr.  Johnston's  book.  There  are  other  rea- 


ELECTION  TO  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES.      293 

eons  why  I  should  stay  at  home  :  I  have  no  clothes,  and  no  money. 
In  fact,  I  never  was  in  so  abject  a  state  of  misery  and  poverty  since 
I  was  born.  They  who  complain  are  never  pitied.  But  I  have  so  true 
a  judgment  of  the  value  of  this  world  and  its  contents,  that  I  would 
not  give  the  strength  and  health  of  one  of  my  negro  men  for  the  wis- 
dom of  Solomon,  and  the  wealth  of  Croesus,  and  the  power  of  Caesar. 
'•  Though  Solomon,  with  a  thousand  wives, 

To  get  a  wise  successor  strives, 

But  one,  and  he  a  fool,  survives." 

So  much  for  the  pleasure  of  offspring. 

My  best  love  to  Mrs.  13.  and  Mary,  and  to  my  niece,  who  is  with 
you.  I  hope.  Tell  her  that  I  got  her  two  last  letters  a  great  while 
after  they  were  written :  and  that  I  should  have  written  in  return,  "but 
that  I  was  never  in  a  frame  of  mind  for  it.  My  life  is  spent  in  pain 
and  sorrow.  ':  We  passed  in  maddening  pain  life's  feverish  dream," 
was  said  of  poor  Collins.  It  is  almost  true  of  me.  I  have  a  thousand 
things  to  attend  to.  many  duties  to  perform,  and  all  are  neglected. 
I  know  and  feel  that  I  am  incurring  an  awful  responsibility,  but 
that  only  serves  to  add  to  the  miseries  of  the  day  aiid  night. 

ROANOKE,  September  4,  1827. 

I  certainly  took  it  for  granted  that  you  were  at  the  Springs,  or  I 
should  have  written,  although  I  have  been  particularly  unwell  of 
late,  and  have  had  a  great  deal  of  company,  most  of  which  I  could 
have  gladly  dispensed  with.  Indeed,  I  have  more  than  once  regret- 
ted that  not  at  home  was  inadmissible  in  the  country.  At  this  time 
I  am  laboring  under  a  sharp  attack  of  bile,  and  am  hardly  able  to 
direct  my  pen.  All  those  symptoms  of  anxiety,  distress,  &c.,  I  need 
not  recapitulate  to  you.  I  had  anticipated  your  caution  respecting 
wine,  but  am  not  the  less  thankful  for  it.  Kidder  R.  was  here,  and 
had  no  one  to  join  him  in  a  glass  of  claret,  so  that,  as  Burns  says,  I 
helped  him  to  a  slice  of  my  constitution,  although  my  potation  was 
very  moderate.  If  people  would  not  harass  me  with  their  unmean- 
ing visits  I  should  do  much  better, 

ROANOKE,  Nov.  6, 1827 ;  Tuesday. 

I  write  because  you  request  it.  I  got  home  on  Friday  evening 
(the  2d),  and  Sam  and  the  wagons  arrived  here  next  night.  This 
morning  I  received  your  letter  of  the  1st,  Thursday.  In  answer  to 
your  inquiry,  I  am  worse,  decidedly  worse  than  when  I  wrote  from 
Amelia.  I  wrote  you  a  long  letter  from  thence,  which  I  afterwards 
threw  into  the  fire — and  like  it,  I  am  withering,  consuming  away.  I 
will  try  and  see  you  if  I  can,  on  my  way  to  W.  Nothing  but  the  circum- 
stance attending  my  election,  prevents  an  immediate  resignation  of 
my  seat.  My  good  friend,  I  can't  convey  to  you — language  can't  ex- 
press— the  thousandth  part  of  the  misery  I  feel. 

I  found  a  long  letter  from  you.  at  Charl.   C.   II.     You  say  that 


294  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

"  without  something  of  the  sort  (cotton  spinning),  Richmond  is  done 
over."  My  dear  friend,  she  is  "  done  over,"  and  past  recovery.  She 
wears  the  fades  Hippocratica*  That  is  not  the  worst — the  country  is 
also  ruined — past  redemption,  body  and  soul — soil  and  mind. 

My  friend,  Mr.  Barksdale,  has  resolved  to  sell  out  and  leave 
Amelia.  He  is  right,  and  would  be  so,  were  he  to  give  his  establish- 
ment there  away.  If  I  live  through  the  coming  year,  I  too.  will  break 
my  fetters.  He  was  almost  my  only  resource.  They  have  dried  up,  one 
by  one,  and  I  am  left  in  the  desert  alone. 

Mrs.  B.  "wants  to  see  me" — God  bless  her.  When  I  come,  you 
must  hide  me.  I  can  write  no  more,  even  of  this  nonsense.  Farewell. 

WASHINGTON,  Dec.  15,  1827 ;  Saturday. 

I  confess  that  I  have  been  disappointed,  nay  almost  hurt,  at 
not  hearing  from  you.  My  good  friend,  I  am  sore  and  crippled 
mind  and  body — and  I  might  add  estate.  These,  according  to  the 
Liturgy,  embrace  all  the  concerns  of  man,  but  there  is  another  branch 
in  which  I  am  utterly  bankrupt. 

You  say  that  you  have  nothing  to  communicate,  and  yet  Steven- 
son tells  me  that  the  election  made  a  great  sensation  with  you, 

Quant  a  moi.  I  am  dying  as  decently  as  I  can.  For  three  days 
past,  I  have  rode  out,  and  people  who  would  not  care  one  groat,  if  I  died 
to-night — are  glad  that  I  am  so  much  better,  &c..  &c.,  with  all  that 
wretched  grimace  that  grown-up  makers  of  faces  call,  and  believe  to 
be,  politeness,  good-breeding,  &c.  I  had  rather  see  the  children  or 
monkeys  mow  and  chatter. 

My  diet  is  strict.  Flesh  once  a  day  (mutton,  boiled  or  roasted), 
a  cracker  and  cup  of  coffee,  morning  and  night,  no  drink  but  toast 
water.  But  it  will  not  do.  For  the  first  time  in  my  life,  I  now  be- 
gin to  drink  in  the  night,  and  copiously.  I  would  give  fifty  pounds 
if  no  one  would  ask  me  again,  "  how  I  do  ?" 

Mr.  Macon,  who  was  strictly  neutral  last  year,  is  now  decided  for 
Jackson.  Perhaps  this  may  give  some  relief  to  our  friend,  Christo- 
pher Quandary.  From  some  Fanquier  and  other  symptoms,  I  fear 
that  the  Chief  J.  is  quandary ish  too. 

Tazewell  talks  of  going  home,  and  has  asked  me  to  go  with  him.  If 
I  could  bear  the  beastly  abominations  of  a  steamboat,  I  would  doit, 
for  here  I  cannot  stay.  Mr.  M.  recruited  very  much  after  his  arrival, 
but  within  a  few  days  he  has  been  complaining,  and  in  very  bad  spirits. 
The  fact  is,  that  his  grand-children  torture  my  old  friend  almost  to 
death.  I  bless  God  that  I  have  none.  Of  all  the  follies  that  man  is 
prone  to,  that  of  thinking  that  he  can  regulate  the  conduct  of  others, 
is  the  most  inveterate  and  preposterous.  Mr.  Macon  has  no  such  weak- 
ness ;  but  the  aberrations  of  his  descendants  crucify  him.  What  1ms 
become  of  all  the  countless  generations  that  have  preceded  us  ?  Just 
what  will  become  of  its.  and  of  our  successors.  Each  will  follow  the 


ELECTION  TO  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES.      295 

devices  and  desires  of  its  own  heart,  and  very  reasonably  expect  that 
its  descendants  will  not,  but  will  do,  like  good  boys  and  girls,  as  they 
are  bid.  And  so  the  papas  and  mammas,  and  grand-papas  and  grand- 
mammas flatter  themselves — utterly  regardless  of  their  own  contuma- 
cy. If  ever  I  undertake  to  educate,  or  regulate  any  thing,  it  shall  be 
a  thing  that  cannot  talk.  I  have  been  a  Quixotte  in  this  matter,  and 
well  have  I  been  rewarded — as  well  as  the  woful  Knight  in  the  Galley 
slaves  in  the  Brown  mountain. 

WASHINGTON,  Friday,  Dec.  21,  1827. 

At  last  I  have  a  letter  from  you.  Your  epistles  are  like  angels' 
visits,  "  short  and  far  between."  I  have  one  too  from  the  Chief  Jus- 
tice, whom  Mrs.  B.  will  smile  to  hear  me  describe  as  one  of  the 
best-bred  men  alive.  I  sent  him  the  King's  speech  and  documents, 
and  here  in  return  is  a  letter  that  I  would  not  exchange  for  a  Diploma 
from  any  one  of  our  Universities. 

Nothing  was  further  from  my  intention  than  to  touch  any  nerve 
in  "Watkins.  &c.,  when  I  mentioned  his  having  written  a  book.  At 
that  time,  I  thought  C.  Q.  was  ascribed  to  Garnett.  I  referred  to 
his  publications  some  years  ago  against  Jackson.  Do  you  remember 
that  Dr.  Johnson,  who  hardly  rose  to  the  dignity  and  polish  of  a  bear, 
told  Boswell  that  he  thought  himself  a  very  well-bred  man?  Now, 
I  thought  that  I  rallied  our  friend  that  night,  with  playful  good  hu- 
mor, incapable  of  wounding  even  as  sensitive  a  person  as  he  on  that 
occasion  seemed  to  be. 

Although  I  rode  out  on  Wednesday,  I  am  no  better.  Yesterday 
the  atmosphere  was  loaded  with  rJwum,  and  to-day  it  is  hardly  better. 
The  first  good  spell  of  weather  that  seems  settled,  I  shall  leave  this 
place,  pour  jamais.  I  have  yet  some  confidence  left  in  mankind,  and 
much  in  my  constituents.  Now,  let  me  beg  you  not  to  mention  this 
to  an;y  one.  I  have  heard  of  my  conversation  with  W.  L.  at  your 
house  with  alterations,  I  can't  say  with  emendations.  How  every 
idle  word  I  utter  flies  abroad  upon  the  wings  of  the  wind,  I  know  not. 
I  could  not  help  smiling  at  the  version  given  of  my  retort,  that  "  J. 
could  not  write  because  he  had  never  been  taught,  and  Adams  be- 
cause he  was  not  teachable  " — the  two  last  words  were  changed  into 
"  a  man  of  abilities."  This  is  like  the  National  Intelligencer's  re- 
ports of  me. 

I  am  sensible  that  these  effusions  of  querulous  egotism  can  have 
no  value  in  your  eyes.  I  will  therefore  try  something  else. 

Mr.  Barbour's  motion  is,  to  say  the  least  of  it,  ill-timed.  I  be- 
lieve that  he  consulted  no  one  about  it,  Our  play  is  to  win  the  game ; 
to  keep  every  thing  quiet ;  to  give  no  handle  for  alarm,  real  or  pre- 
tended ;  to  finish  the  indispensable  public  business,  and  to  go  home. 

As  you  make  no  mention  of  Mrs.  B.  or  of  Mary,  I  conclude  that 
they  are  both  well.  My  love  to  them  both.  I  have  been  not  a  littlo 


296  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

amused  with  hearing  a  gentleman  describe  the  artful  and  assiduous, 
and  invidious  court  paid  to  a  certain  lady,  the  year  before  last,  at  the 
Springs,  by  a  certain  great,  very  great  man.  I  now  understand  why 
she  introduced  the  subject  of  General  Jackson  to  me  of  all  the  peo- 
ple in  the  world,  when  I  last  saw  her — the  only  instance  of  want 
of  good  taste  that  I  ever  remarked  in  that  lady.  Quant  a  nioi.  I 
was  (as  became  me)  mute  as  a  fish. 

I  agree  that  it  is  a  serious  objection  to  any  man  that  he  has  such 
a  hanger-on  as  C.  B.  But  when  I  am  determined  upon  turning  off  a 
very  bad  overseer,  I  shall  not  be  deterred,  because  I  can't  get  exactly 
him  whom  I  would  prefer.  This  squeamishness  does  for  girls,  but 
with  men,  you  must  act  as  a  man  upon  what  is,  and  not  upon  what 
ought  to  be.  I  have  seen  no  man  but  Grenl.  W.,  and  there  were 
strong  objections  to  him,  that  I  think  fit  for  the  office. 

WASHINGTON,  Saturday,  Dec.  22,  1827. 

My  cough  and  pain  in  the  breast  are  both  much  worse,  owing  to  my 
being  a  few  minutes  in  the  House  yesterday,  from  which  I  was  speed- 
ily driven  by  the  atmosphere.  I  cannot  believe  it  possible  that  the 
Oh.  J.  can  vote  for  the  present  incumbent.  To  say  nothing  of  his 
denunciation  of  all  the  most  respectable  federalists ;  the  implacable 
hatred  and  persecution  of  this  man  and  his  father  of  the  memory  of 
Alexander  Hamilton  (the  best  and  ablest  man  of  his  party,  who 
basely  abandoned  him  for  old  Adams1  loaves  and  fishes),  would,  I  sup- 
pose, be  an  insuperable  obstacle  to  the  C.  J.'s  support  of  the  younger 
A.  When  I  say  the  best  and  ablest  of  his  party,  I  must  except 
the  Ch.  J.  himself,  who  surpassed  H.  in  moral  worth,  and  although 
not  his  equal  as  a  statesman,  in  point  of  capacity,  is  second  to  none. 
Hamilton  has  stood  very  high  in  my  estimation  ever  since  the  contest 
between  Burr  and  Jefferson ;  and  I  do  not  envy  a  certain  Ex.-P.  or 
your  predecessor,  the  glory  of  watching  his  stolen  visits  to  a  courtezan, 
and  disturbing  the  peace  of  his  family  by  their  informations.  I  have 
a  fellow-feeling  with  H.  He  was  the  victim  of  rancorous  enemies, 
who  always  prevail  over  lukewarm  friends.  He  died  because  he  pre- 
ferred death  to  the  slightest  shade  of  imputation  or  disgrace.  He  was 
not  suited  to  the  country,  or  the  times ;  and  if  he  lived  now,  might 
be  admired  by  a  few,  but  would  be  thrust  aside  to  make  room  for  any 
fat-headed  demagogue,  or  dextrous  intriguer.  His  conduct,  too,  on 
the  acquisition  of  Louisiana,  proved  how  superior  he  was  to  the  Otises 
and  Quincys,  and  the  whole  run  of  Yankee  federalists. 

Yours  are  the  only  letters  that  I  receive  from  Richmond — the 
one  mentioned  yesterday,  from  the  Ch.  J.,  excepted.  Indeed  I  have 
had  but  three  others ;  one  from  Mr.  Leigh,  and  two  from  Barksdale. 
It  is  now  snowing  fast,  and  I  fear  that  I  shall  be  detained  here  much 
longer  than  I  could  wish.  I  left  the  House  yesterday,  after  an 


ELECTION  TO  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES.      297 

hour's  stay  in  it,  and,  as  I  finished  my  ride,  I  saw  the  flag  waving 
over  the  Hall  of  the  Representatives.  I  thought  what  fools  men 
were,  to  be  there  listening  to  jackanapes,  and  what  fools  we,  the  people, 
were,  to  submit  to  their  rule.  I  must  get  away,  or  die  outright. 

WASHINGTON,  Wednesday,  Dec.  26,  1827. 

MY  DEAR  FRIEND, — Your  letter,  too,  looks  a  little  more  like 
':  past  times  "  than  those  which  I  have  received  from  you  of  late.  I 
wonder  that  you  should  be  at  a  loss  for  something  to  write  about,  for 
Mr.  Speaker,  whom  I  saw  some  days  ago,  for  a  single  minute,  related 
to  me  that  you  had  given  a  splendid  party ;  for  so  I  interpreted  the 
word  fandango,  used  by  him. 

But  for  a  visit  last  evening  from  Frank  Key,  who  came  and  sat 
about  three  hours  with  me,  yesterday  would  have  been  the  dullest 
Christmas  day  that  I  can  recollect.  We  want  a  synonjm  for  the 
French  triste.  I  was  invited  to  dine,  enfamille.  with  Mr.  Hamilton, 
of  South  Carolina,  but  the  day  was  so  particularly  detestable,  that  I 
could  not  stir  abroad.  The  Pennsylvania  Avenue  is  a  long  lake  of 
mud.  I  go  nowhere,  and  see  nobody  but  Mr.  Macon.  He  is  so  deaf 
that  he  picks  up  none  of  the  floating  small  trash  in  the  Senate,  and  I 
am  hard  put  to  it  to  make  him  hear  my  hoarse  whispers. 

I  understood  the  whole  matter  of  Mr.  H.,  of  Kentucky,  and  the 
"  very  great  man,"  and  I  readily  comprehended  the  lady's  scruples  ; 
one,  especially,  that  was  to  be  looked  for  in  a  female  of  delicacy  and 
right  feeling  ;  for  I  have  felt,  and  I  do  feel  the  same,  myself.  But 
there  is  no  alternative. 

You  say  that  "all  the  world  are  amazed  how  the  devil  I  know 
every  thing  before  any  body  else}1  I  got  that  piece  of  information 
from  Lynchburg.  a  long  while  ago,  through  my  silent,  discreet  friend, 
"VY.  xj.,  who,  I  verily  believe,  never  mentioned  it  to  any  body  else, 
but,  as  the  Waverly  man  says,  "  kept  a  calm  sough/'  I  have  paid 
more  money  of  my  own  for  intelligence  than,  I  believe,  any  other 
public  man  living ;  but  this  came  gratis.  Apropos  to  the  "VYaverly 
man.  His  last  work  (Canongate)  is  beneath  contempt.  The  mask 
is  off,  and  he  stands  confessed  a  threadbare  jester,  repeating  his  worn- 
out  stories.  I  wish  that  some  one  would  take  pen  in  hand,  and  abolish 
him  quite.  It  might  be  easily  done. 

I  pray  you  write  to  me  as  often  and  as  fully  as  you  can.  I  have 
no  other  epistolary  aliment,  except  from  Harry  Tucker.  G-od  bless 
you  both. 

My  most  respectful  and  friendly  regards  to  Mr.  Wickham.  when- 
ever you  see  him.  He  has  won  upon  my  esteem.  I  made  the  very 

same  remark  upon  the  Ch.  J 's  dignified  and  simple  manners. 

that  evening,  that  Mrs.  B.  did.  Pray  tell  him  that  I  hope  soon  to 
see  him  here. 


298  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 


CHAPTEK   XXXYI. 

LEADER  OF  THE   OPPOSITION — A  WISE  AND  MASTERLY 
INACTIVITY. 

MR.  RANDOLPH'S  opposition  commenced  with  the  administration. 
His  objection  was  not  confined  to  the  measures,  but  extended  to  the 
men — the  principles  they  avowed — and  the  manner  in  which  they 
came  into  power.  In  his  judgment  they  were  condemned  in  the  be- 
ginning, and  it  was  folly  to  wait  to  strike  the  first  blow  until  they 
could  safely  intrench  themselves  behind  the  walls  of  patronage,  and 
the  well  furnished  batteries  of  a  pensioned  press.  Like  a  skilful 
leader,  he  dashed  at  once  on  the  foe,  and  gave  him  a  stunning  and 
fatal  blow,  ere  he  was  aware  of  the  near  approach  of  an  enemy.  Two 
years  ago,  in  the  Senate,  we  observed  his  bold  and  vigorous  onset ; 
and  now,  in  another  field,  his  charges  on  the  intrenchments  jf  the 
enemy  are  still  more  fearless  and  effective.  "  I  shall  carry  the  war 
into  Africa,"  said  he,  "  Ddenda  est  Carthago  !  I  shall  not  be  con- 
tent with  merely  parrying.  No,  Sir,  if  I  can — so  help  me  God ! — I 
will  thrust  also  ;  because  my  right  arm  is  nerved  by  the  cause  of  the 
people  and  of  my  country." 

It  was  conceded,  on  all  hands,  that  he  was  the  leader  of  the  op- 
position in  Congress. 

A  member  from  Ohio,  in  responding  to  a  rhetorical  inquiry  pro- 
pounded by  himself — "  Who  is  it  that  manifested  this  feeling  of  pro- 
scription towards  us  and  our  posterity  ?"  answered,  '  Sir,  it  is  the 
man  who  is  now  at  the  head  o*f  the  opposition  to  this  administration ; 
it  is  the  man  who  was  placed  by  you,  Sir,  at  the  head  of  the  principal 
committee  of  this  House.  Yes,  Sir,  he  was  placed  there  by  aid  of 
the  vote  of  the  very  people  that  he  has  derided  and  abused ;  and  if 
ill  health  had  not  prevented,  would  have  been  in  that  exalted  station. 
It  is  the  man  that  is  entitled  to  more  credit — if  it  is  right  that  this 
administration  should  go  down — for  his  efficiency  in  effecting  that  ob- 
ject, than  any  three  men  in  this  nation.  This  is  not  a  hasty  opinion 
of  mine ;  it  is  one  long  held,  and  often  expressed.  I  have  been  an 
attentive  observer  of  his  course  ever  since  the  first  organization  of 
the  party  to  which  he  belongs.  From  the  moment  he  took  his  seat 


LEADER  OF  THE  OPPOSITION.  299 

in  the  other  branch  of  the  legislature,  he  became  the  great  rallying 
officer  of  the  South.  Our  southern  brethren  were  made  to  believe 
that  we,  of  the  North,  were  political  fiends,  ready  to  oppress  them 
with  heavy  and  onerous  duties,  and  even  willing  to  destroy  that 
property  they  held  most  sacred.  Sir,  these  are  not  exaggerated 
statements  relative  to  the  course  of  this  distinguished  individual. 
He  is  certainly  the  ablest  political  recruiting  sergeant  that  has  been 
in  this  or  any  other  country." 

Another  member  "  considered  him  the  commanding  general  of 
the  opposition  force,  and  occupying  the  position  of  a  commander,  in 
the  rear  of  his  troops^  controlling  their  movements ;  issuing  his 
orders  ;  directing  one  subaltern  where  and  how  to  move  his  forces ; 
admonishing  another  to  due  and  proper  caution,  and  to  follow  his 
leader ;  nodding  approbation  to  a  third,  and  prompting  him  to  ex- 
traordinary exertion ;  examples  of  which  he  has  given  us  IL  this' 
debate." 

Mr.  Randolph  was  eminently  fitted  to  be  the  leader  of  the  repub- 
lican party,  at  this  time.  The  time-serving  policy,  and  the  "  cen- 
tripetal" tendency  of  the  last  twelve  or  fifteen  years,  had  utterly 
obliterated  all  traces  of  its  former  existence.  The  old  principles  that 
constituted  it,  were  effaced  from  the  memory.  He  was  the  "  Old 
Mortality,"  whose  sharp  chisel  could  retrace  the  lines  on  the  whited 
sepulchres,  and  bring  them  out  in  boJd  relief,  in  all  their  original 
strength  and  freshness.  His  was  the  prophet's  voice,  to  stir  the  dry 
bones  in  the  valley. 

In  the  first  place,  he  was  purely  disinterested.  He  filled  the  sta- 
tion assigned  him  by  his  beloved  constituents  ;  his  ambition  extended 
not  beyond.  His  age,  his  wretched  health,  and  "  church- yard  cough," 
admonished  him  that  he  might  not  live  to  witness  the  triumph  of  his 
cause.  None  but  the  most  uncharitable  could  suspect  his  motives,  or 
doubt  that  his  right  arm  was  nerved  by  the  cause  of  the  people  and' 
of  his'  country.  The  history  of  all  nations,  and  of  their  .governments,  « 
was  well  known  to  him ;  -the  causes  of  their  rise,  progress,  and  de/. 
cline,  were  thoroughly  studied  and  digested.  He  knew  the  Consti- 
tution of  his  own  country — its  strength,  its  weakness,  and  the  dangers 
that  beset  it.  Possessing  a  thorough  acquaintance  with  human 
character,  and  a  keen  insight  into  the  motives  of  individuals,  he  was 
familiar  with  the  history,  both  public  and  private,  of  every  prominent 
•  40 


300  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

man  connected  with  the  Government.  Nothing  escaped  his  observa- 
tion. No  "  Senior  Falconi "  could  work  the  wires  in  his  presence, 
without  being  detected  and  exposed.  He  possessed  a  fearless  spirit, 

'  that  dared  to  look  at  the  naked  truth — to  confront  it  boldly,  and  to 
speak  to  it. 

He  called  things  by  their  right  names ;  he  called  a  spade  a  spade, 
offend  whom  it  might.  His  mind  was  untrammelled  by  professional 
habits :  nor  was  it  fettered  to  the  narrow  round  of  an  inferior  trade. 
His  comprehensive  genius,  with  a  free  and  fearless  spirit,  travelled 
over  every  field  of  knowledge,  and  appropriated  to  itself  the  richest 
fruits  of  ancient  and  modern  lore.  "While  others  were  poring  over 
their  books,  or  plodding  through  a  labored  and  methodical  speech, 
striving  by  a  slow  inductive  process  to  arrive  at  their  conclusion,  he, 
with  a  comprehensive  glance  surveyed  the  whole  field,  and  by  an  in- 
tuitive perception  leapt  to  the  conclusion  without  an  apparent  effort. 
No  man  more  completely  fulfilled  his  own  beautiful  fable  of  the  cat- 
erpillar and  the  huntsman.  '"  A  caterpillar  comes  to  a  fence ;  he 
crawls  to  the  bottom  of  the  ditch,  and  over  the  fence ;  some  one  of  his 
hundred  feet  always  in  contact  with  the  object  upon  which  he  moves : 
a  gallant  horseman,  at  a  flying  leap,  clears  both  ditch  and  fence. 
1  Stop  !'  says  the  caterpillar, '  you  are  too  nighty,  you  want  connection 
and  continuity ;  it  took  me  an  hour  to  get  over ;  you  can't  be  as 
sure  as  I  am,  who  have  never  quitted  the  subject,  that  you  have  over- 
come the  difficulty,  and  are  fairly  over  the  fence.'  '  Thou  miserable 
reptile,'  replies  our  huntsman,  '  if,  like  you,  I  crawled  over  the  earth 
slowly  and  painfully,  should  I  ever  catch  a  fox,  or  be  any  thing  more 
than  a  wretched  caterpillar?'  "  With  these  qualities  of  head  and  of 
heart— a  profound  statesman,  a  ready  debater,  a  resolute  will,  pos- 
sessing tlie  spirit  of  command — he  was  eminently  fitted  to  be  the 
leader  of  a  great  party.  While  others  were  bewildered,  or  timidly 
'waited  the  coming  of  events,  he  was  quick  to  perceive  and  prompt  to 

*  act. 

His  policy  during  the  present  session  was  a  ivise  and  masterly  in- 
activity. The  administration  was  in  a  minority,  and  with  a  "  sar- 
donic oncer"  had  told  the  leaders  of  the  opposition  that  they  had  be 
come  "  responsible  for  the  measures  of  the  Government."  But  Mr. 
.Randolph  urged  his  friends  to  do  nothing — stand  still  and  observe  a 
wise  and  masterly  inactivity.  He  often  used  that  expression  :  "  We 


LEADER  OF  THE  OPPOSITION.  301 

ought,"  said  he,  "  to  observe  that  practice  which  is  the  hardest  of  all, 
especially  for  young  physicians — we  ought  to  throw  in  no  medicine 
at  all — to  abstain — to  observe  a  wise  and  masterly  inactivity."  That 
•  was  not  only  his  policy  then,  but  at  all  times.  "We  are  indebted  to 
him  for  a  political  maxim  that  embraces  the  whole  duty  of  an  Amer- 
ican statesman.  Let  the  Government  abstain  as  much  as  possible 
from  legislation  ;  interfere  not  at  all  with  individual  interests  ;  leave 
all  they  can  to  the  States,  and  to  the  boundless  energies  of  a  free  and 
enlightened  people.  In  a  word,  the  true  constitutional  spirit  of  the 
Federal  Government  would  prompt  it  at  all  times  (there  are  excep- 
tions of  course  to  all  rules)  to  observe  a  wise  and  masterly  inactivity  ; 
it  would  fulfil  its  whole  duty  in  that.  Whither  would  the  contrary 
doctrine  of  the  men  then  in  power — that  Government  must  do  every 
thing — iave  carried  us?  to  what  a  condition  has  it  brought  the  na- 
tions of  Europe?  Let  their  enormous  standing  armies,  bankrupt 
treasuries',  irredeemable  national  debts,  wretched  and  impoverished 
people,  ansicer  the  question ! 

All  of  Mr.  Randolph's  speeches  during  the  present  session  were 
interesting  and  instructive.  Some  of  them  are  tolerably  fair  speci- 
mens of  his  style  of  thought  and  composition ;  especially  the  one  in 
answer  to  Mr.  Everett,  of  Massachusetts,  on  the  first  of  February, 
which  was  revised  by  himself  and  dedicated  to  his  constituents :  "  To 
my  constituents,  who^e  confidence  and  love  have  impelled  and  sus- 
tained me  under  the  effort  of  making  it,  I  dedicate  this  speech." 

It  is  a  great  mistake  to  suppose  that  he  had  no  method  in  his  dis- 
course. His  was  not  a  succession  of  loose  thoughts  and  observations 
strung  together  "by  the  commonplace  rules  of  association,  but  the  pro- 
found method  of  a  mind  of  genius,  that  looked  into  the  very  heart  of 
a  subject,  and  drew  forth  the  laio  of  association  by  which  its  ideas  are 
bound  together  in  an  adamantine  chain  of  cause  and  effect.  Like  the 
musician  who  draws  from  a  simple  ballad  an  infinite  variety  of  har- 
monies, in  all  of  which  may  be  traced  the  elements  of  the  original 
song — so,  Randolph,  in  his  speeches,  expanded  the  original  thought 
into  a  rich  and  copious  variety ;  but  every  illustration  was  suggested 
by  the  subject ;  each  episode  tended  to  accomplish  the  purpose  he 
had  in  view.  Let  the  following  extract  from  the  speech  now  under 
consideration,  suffice  as  a  specimen  of  his  large  acquaintance  with 
history :  profound  knowledge  of  human  character ;  his  copiousness 


302  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

of  illustration,  and  the  rapidity,  beauty,  strength,  and  purity  of  hia 
style.  After  reviewing  the  observations  of  other  speakers  that 
had  gone  before  him,  suggested  by  a  former  speech  of  his.  he 
comes  directly  to  the  subject  in  hand — the  unfitness  of  the  present 
rulers :  we  wanted  statesmen  who  could  wisely  direct  the  helm  of 
State,  and  not  orators  to  make  speeches,  or  logicians  to  write  books : 
Sir,  said  he,  I  deny  that  there  is  any  instance  on  record,  in 
history,  of  a  man  not  having  military  capacity,  being  at  the  head  of 
any  Government  with  advantage  to  that  Government,  and  with  credit 
to  himself.  There  is  a  great  mistake  on  this  subject.  It  is  not  those 
talents  which  enable  a  man  to  write  books  and  make  speeches,  that 
qualify  him  to  preside  over  a  Government.  The  wittiest  of  poets  has 
told  us  that 

"  All  a  rhetorician's  rules 
Teach  only  how  to  name  his  tools." 

"We  have  seen  professors  of  rhetoric,  who  could  no  doubt  descant  im- 
ently  upon  the  use  of  these  said  tools,  yet  sharpen  them  to  so  wiry  an 
edge  as  to  cut  their  own  fingers  with  these  implements  of  their  trade. 
Thomas  a  Becket  was  as  brave  a  man  as  Henry  the  Second,  and,  in- 
deed, a  braver  man — less  infirm  of  purpose.  And  who  were  the  Hil- 
debrands,  and  the  rest  of  the  papal  freebooters,  who  achieved  victory 
after  victory  over  the  proudest  monarchs  and  States  of  Christendom? 
These  men  were  brought  up  in  a  cloister,  perhaps,  but  they  were  en- 
dowed with  that  highest  of  all  gifts  of  Heaven,  the  capacity  to  lead 
men,  whether  in  the  Senate  or  in  the  field.  Sir,  it  is  one  and  the 
same  faculty,  and  its  successful  display  has  always  received,  and  al- 
ways will  receive,  the  highest  honors  that  man  can  bestow :.  and  this 
will  be  the  case,  do  what  you  will,  cant  what  you  may  about  military 
chieftains  and  military  domination.  So  long  as  man  is  man,  the  vic- 
torious defender  of  his  country  will,  and  ought  to  receive,  that  coun- 
try's suffrage  for  all  that  the  forms  of  her  government  allow  her  to 
give. 

A  friend  said  to  me  not  long  since :  *'  Why,  General  Jackson 
can't  write/'  "  Admitted."  (Pray,  Sir,  can  you  tell  me  of  any  one 
that  can  write  ?  for,  I  protest,  I  know  nobody  that  can.)  Then, 
turning  to  my  friend,  I  said :  "  It  is  most  true  that  General  Jackson 
cannot  write,"  (not  that  he  can't  write  his  name  or  a  letter,  &c.,)  "  be- 
cause he  has  never  been  taught ;  but  his  competitor  cannot  write, 
because  he  was  not  teachable ;"  for  he  has  had  every  advantage  of 
education  and  study.  Sir,  the  Duke  of  Marlborough,  the  greatest 
captain  and  negotiator  of  his  age.  which  was  the  age  of  Louis  the 
Fourteenth,  and  who  may  rank  with  the  greatest  men  of  any  age, 
whose  irresistible  manners  and  address  triumphed  over  every  obsta- 


LEADER  OF  THE  OPPOSITION.  303 

cle  in  council,  as  his  military  prowess  and  conduct  did  in  the  field— 
this  great  man  could  not  spell,  and  was  notoriously  ignorant  of  all 
that  an  undergraduate  must  know,  but  which  it  is  not  necessary  for 
a  man  at  the  head  of  affairs  to  know  at  all.  Would  you  have  super- 
seded him  by  some  Scotch  schoolmaster  ?  Gentlemen  forget  that  it 
is  an  able  helmsman  we  want  for  the  ship  of  state,  and  not  a  profes- 
sor of  navigation  or  astronomy. 

Sir,  among  the  vulgar  errors  that  ought  to  go  into  Sir  Thomas 
Brown's  book,  this  ought  not  to  be  omitted :  that  learning  and  wis- 
dom are  not  synonymous,  or  at  all  equivalent.  Knowledge  and  wis- 
dom, as  one  of  our  most  delightful  poets  sings — 

"  Knowledge  and  wisdom,  far  from  being  one, 
Have  ofttimes  no  connection  :  Knowledge  dwells 
In  hearts  replete  with  thoughts  of  other  men ; 
Wisdom  in  minds  attentive  to  their  own. 
Knowledge  is  proud  that  he  has  learned  so  much  ; 
Wisdom  is  humble  that  he  knows  no  more. 
Books  are  not  seldom  talismans  and  spells, 
By  which  the  magic  art  of  shrewder  wits 
Holds  the  unthinking  multitude  enchained." 

And  not  books  only,  Sir.  Speeches  are  not  less  deceptive.  I  not 
only  consider  the  want  of  what  is  called  learning,  not  to  be  a  disquali- 
fication for  the  commander-in-chief  in  civil  or  military  life  ;  but  I  do 
consider  the  possession  of  too  much  learning  to  be  of  most  mischiev- 
ous consequence  to  such  a  character,  who  is  to  draw  from  the  cabinet 
of  his  own  sagacious  mind,  and  to  make  the  learning  of  others,  or 
whatever  other  qualities  they  may  possess,  subservient  to  his  more 
enlarged  and  vigorous  views.  Such  a  man  was  Cromwell ;  such  a 
man  was  Washington :  not  learned,  but  wise.  Their  understandings 
were  not  clouded  or  cramped,  but  had  fair  play.  Their  errors  were 
the  errors  of  men,  not  of  schoolboys  and  pedants.  So  far  from  the 
want  of  what  is  called  education  being  a  very  strong  objection  to  a 
man  at  the  head  of  affairs,  over-education  constitutes  a  still  stronger 
objection.  (In  the  case  of  a  lady  it  is  fatal.  Heaven  defend  me  from 
an  over-educated  accomplished  lady  !  Yes,  accomplished  indeed ;  for 
she  is  finished  for  all  the  duties  of  a  wife,  or  mother,  or  mistress  of  a 
family.)  We  hear  much  of  military  usurpation,  of  military  despot- 
ism, of  the  sword  of  a  conqueror,  of  Cassar,  and  Cromwell,  and  Bona- 
parte. What  little  I  know  of  Roman  history  has  been  gathered 
chiefly  from  the  surviving  letters  of  the  great  men  of  that  day,  and 
of  Crcero  especially ;  and  I  freely  confess  that  if  I  had  then  lived, 
and  had  been  compelled  to  take  sides,  I  must,  though  very  reluc- 
tantly, have  sided  with  Ceesar,  rather  than  have  taken  Pompey  for 
my  master.  It  was  the  interest  of  the  House  of  Stuart — and 
they  were  long  enough  in  power  to  do  it — to  blacken  the  character 
>f  Cromwell,  that  great,  and,  I  must  add,  bad  man.  But,  Sir,  the 


304  LIFE  Or    JOHN   RANDOLPH. 

devil  himself  is  not  so  black  as  he  is  sometimes  painted.  And  who 
would  not  rather  have  obeyed  Cromwell  than  that  self-styled  Parlia- 
ment, which  obtained  a  title  too  indecent  for  me  to  name,  but  by 
which  it  is  familiarly  known  and  mentioned  in  all  the  historians  from 
that  day  to  this.  Cromwell  fell  under  a  temptation,  perhaps  too 
strong  for  the  nature  of  man  to  resist ;  but  he  was  an  angel  of  light 
to  either  of  the  Stuarts,  the  one  whom  he  brought  to  the  block,  or 
his  son,  a  yet  worse  man,  the  blackest  and  foulest  of  miscreants  that 
ever  polluted  a  throne.  It  has  been  the  policy  of  the  House  of 
Stuart  and  their  successors — it  is  the  policy  of  kings — to  villify  and 
blacken  the  memory  and  character  of  Cromwell.  But  the  cloud  is 
rolling  away.  We  no  longer  consider  Hume  as  deserving  of  the 
slightest  credit.  Cromwell  "was  guiltless  of  his  country's  blood;" 
his  was  a  bloodless  -usurpation.  To  doubt  his  sincerity  at  the  outset 
from  his  subsequent  fall  would  be  madness.  Religious  fervor  was 
the  prevailing  temper  and  fashion  of  the  times.  Cromwell  was  no 
more  of  a  fanatic  than  Charles  the  First,  and  not  so  much  of  a  hypo- 
crite. It  was  not  in  his  nature  to  have  signed  the  attainder  of  such 
a  friend  as  Lord  Strafford,  whom  Charles  meanly,  and  selfishly,  and 
basely,  and  cruelly,  and  cowardly  repaid  for  his  loyalty  to  him  by  an 
ignominious  death — a  death  deserved  indeed  by  Strafford  for  his  trea- 
son to  his  country,  but  not  at  the  hands  of  his  faithless,  perfidious 
master.  Cromwell  was  an  usurper — 'tis  granted ;  but  he  had  scarcely 
any  choice  left  him.  His  sway  was  every  way  preferable  to  that 
miserable  corpse  of  a  Parliament  that  he  turned  out,  as  a  gentleman 
would  turn  off  a  drunken  butler  and  his  fellows ;  or  the  pensioned 
tyrant  that  succeeded  him,  a  dissolute,  depraved  bigot  and  hypocrite, 
who  was  outwardly  a  Protestant  and  at  heart  a  Papist.  He  lived  and 
died  one,  while  pretending  to  be  a  son  of  the  Church  of  England — 
aye,  and  sworn  to  it — and  died  a  perjured  man.  If  I  must  have  a 
master,  give  me  one  whom  I  can  respect,  rather  than  a  knot  of  knav- 
ish attorneys.  Bonaparte  was  a  bad  man  ;  but  I  would  rather  have 
had  Bonaparte  than  such  a  set  of  corrupt,  intriguing,  public  plun- 
derers as  he  turned  adrift.  The  Senate  of  Rome,  the  Parliament  of 
England,  "  the  Council  of  Elders  and  Youngsters,"  the  Legislature  of 
France — all  made  themselves  first  odious  and  then  contemptible ; 
and  then  comes  an  usurper ;  and  this  is  the  natural  end  of  a  corrupt 
civil  government. 

There  is  a  class  of  men  who  possess  great  learning,  combined  with 
inveterate  professional  habits,  and  who,  ipso  facto,  or  perhaps  I  should 
rather  say  ipsis  factis,  for  I  must  speak  accurately,  as  I  speak  before 
a  professor,  are  disqualified  for  any  but  secondary  parts  any  where,  even 
in  the  cabinet.  Cardinal  Richelieu  was,  what  ?  A  priest.  Yes,  but 
what  a  priest !  Oxenstiern  was  a  chancellor.  He  it  was  who  sent 
his  son  abroad  to  see  quani  parva  sapientia  regitur  mundus — with 


LEADER  OF  THE  OPPOSITION.  305 

how  little  wisdom  this  world  is  governed.  This  administration  seemed 
to  have  thought  that  even  less  than  that  little  would  do  for  us.  The 
gentleman  called  it  a  strong,  an  able  cabinet — second  to  none  but 
Washington's  first  cabinet.  I  could  hardly  look  at'  him  for  blushing. 
What,  Sir  !  is  Gallatin  at  the  head  of  the  Treasury — Madison  in  the 
department  of  State  ?  The  mind  of  an  accomplished  and  acute  dia- 
lectician, of  an  able' lawyer,  or,  if  you  please,  of  a  great  physician, 
may,  by  the  long  continuance  of  one  pursuit — of  one  train  of  ideas — 
have  its  habits  inveterately  fixed,  as  effectually  to  disqualify  the  pos- 
sessor for  the  command  of  the  councils  of  a  country.  He  may,  never- 
theless, make  an  admirable  chief  of  a  bureau — an  excellent  man  of 
details,  which  the  chief  ought  never  to  be.  A  man  may  be  capable 
of  making  an  able  and  ingenious  argument  on  any  subject  within  the 
sphere  of  his  knowledge  ;  but  every  now  and  then  the  master  sophist 
will  start,  as  I  have  seen  him  start,  at  the  monstrous  conclusions  to 
which  his  own  artificial  reasoning  had  brought  himself.  But  this 
was  a  man  of  more  than  ordinary  natural  candor  and  fairness  of 
mind.  Sir,  by  words  and  figures  you  may  prove  just  what  you 
please  ;  but  it  often  and  most  generally  is  the  fact,  that,  in  propor- 
tion as  a  proposition  is  logically  or  mathematically  true,  so  it  is  poli- 
tically and  cornmonsensieally  (or  rather  nonsensically)  false.  The 
talent  which  enables  a  man  to  write  a  book,  or  make  a  speech,  has  no 
more  relation  to  the  leading  of  an  army  or  a  senate,  than  it  has  to 
the  dressing  of  a  dinner.  The  talent  which  fits  a  man  for  either 
office  is  the  talent  for  the  management  of  men :  a  mere  dialectician 
never  had,  and  never  will  have  it ;  each  requires  the  same  degree  of 
courage,  though  of  different  kinds.  The  very  highest  degree  of  moral 
courage  is  required  for  the  duties  of  government.  I  have  been 
amused  when  I  have  seen  some  dialecticians,  after  assorting  their  words 
— "  the  counters  of  wise  men,  the  money  of  fools" — after  they  had  laid 
down  their  premises,  and  drawn,  step  by  step,  their  deductions,  sit 
down  completely  satisfied,  as  if  the  conclusions  to  which  they  had 
brought  themselves  were  really  the  truth — as  if  it  were  irrefragably 
true.  But  wait  until  another  cause  is  called,  or  till  another  court 
sits — till  the  bystanders  and  jury  have  had  time  to  forget  both  argu- 
ment and  conclusion,  and  they  will  make  you  just  as  good  an  argu- 
ment on  the  other  side,  and  arrive  with  the  same  complacency  at  a 
directly  opposite  conclusion,  and  triumphantly  demand  your  assent 
to  this  new  truth.  Sir,  it  is  their  business — I  do  not  blame  them. 
I  only  say  that  such  a  habit  of  mind  unfits  men  for  action  and  for 
decision.  They  want  a  client  to  decide  for  them  which  side  to  take ; 
and  the  really  great  man  performs  that  office.  This  habit  unfits 
them  for  government  in  the  first  degree.  The  talent  for  government 
lies  in  these  two  things — sagacity  to  perceive,  and  decision  to  act. 
Genuine  statesmen  were  never  made  such  by  mere  training ;  has 


306  .  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

cuntur  non  faint :  education  will  form  good  business  men.  The 
maxim,  nascitur  non  ftt,  is  as  true  of  statesmen  as  it  is  of  poets. 
Let  a  house  be  on  fire,  you  will  soon  see  in  that  confusion  who 
has  the  talent  to  command.  Let  a  ship  be  in  danger  at  sea, 
and  ordinary  subordination  destroyed,  and  you  will  immediately 
make  the  same  discovery.  The  ascendency  of  mind  and  of  character 
rises  and  rises  as  naturally  and  as  inevitably  where  there  is  fair  play 
for  it,  as  material  bodies  find  their  level  by  gravitation.  Thus,  a 
great  logician,  like  a  certain  animal,  oscillating  between  the  hay  on 
different  sides  of  him,  wants  some  power  from  without,  before  he  can' 
decide  from  which  bundle  to  make  trial.  Who  believes  that  Wash- 
ington could  write  a  good  book  or4  report  as  Jefferson,  or  make  an 
able  speech  as  Hamilton  ?  Who  is  there  that  believes  that  Crom- 
well would  have  made  as  good  a  judge  as  Lord  Hale  ?  No,  Sir ;  these 
learned  and  accomplished  men  find  their  proper  place  under  those 
who  are  fitted  to  command,  and  to  command  them  among  the  rest. 
Such  a  man  as  Washington  will  say  to  Jefferson,  do  you  become  my 
Secretary  of  State ;  to  Hamilton,  do  you  take  charge  of  my  purse,  or 
that  of  the  nation,  which  is  the  same  thing ;  and  to  Knox,  do  you  be 
my  master  of  horse.  All  history  shows  this  ;  but  great  logicians  and 
great  scholars  are,  for  that  very  reason,  unfit  to  be  rulers.  Would 
Hannibal  have  crossed  the  Alps,  when  there  were  no  roads — with 
elephants — in  the  face  of  the  warlike  and  hardy  mountaineers,  and 
have  carried  terror  to  the  very  gates  of  Rome,  if  his  youth  had  been 
spent  in  poring  over  books  ?  '  Would  he  have  been  able  to  maintain 
himself  on  the  resources  of  his  own  genius  for  sixteen  years  in  Italy, 
in  spite  of  faction  and  treachery  in  the  Senate  of  Carthage,  if  he  had 
been  deep  in  conic  sections  and  fluxions,  and  the  differential  calculus, 
to  say  nothing  of  botany  and  mineralogy,  and  chemistry  ?  "  Are  you 
not  ashamed,"  said  a  philosopher  to  one  who  was  born  to  rule ;  "  are 
you  not  ashamed  to  play  so  well  upon  the  flute  ?"  Sir,  it  was  well 
put.  There  is  much  which  becomes  a  secondary  man  to  know — much 
that  it  is  necessary  for  him  to  know,  that  a  first-rate  man  ought  to 
be  ashamed  to  know.  No  head  was.  ever  clear  and  sound  that  was 
stuffed  with  book  learning.  You  might  as  well  attempt  to  fatten  and 
strengthen  a  man  by  stuffing  him  with  every  variety  and  the  greatest 
quantity  of  food.  After  all,  the  chief  must  draw  upon  his  subalterns, 
for  much  that  he  does  not  know  and  cannot  perform  himself.  My 
friend,  Wm.  R.  Johnson,  has  many  a  groom  that  can  clean  and  dress 
a  race-horse,  and  ride  him  too,  better  than  he  can.  But  what  of  that  ? 
Sir,  we  are,  in  the  European  sense  of  the  term,  not  a  military  people. 
We  have  no  business  for  an  army ;  it  hangs  as  a  dead  weight  upon 
the  nation,  officers  and  all.  All  that  we  hear  of  it  is  through  pam- 
phlets— indicating  a  spirit  that,  if  I  was  at  the  head  of  affairs,  I  should 
»ery  speedily  put  down.  A  state  of  things  that  never  could  havo 


LETTERS  FROM  ROANOKE.  307 

grown  up  under  a  man  of  decision  of  character  at  the  head  of  the 
State,  or  the  Department — a  man  possessing  the  spirit  of  command  ; 
that  truest  of  all  tests  of  a  chief,  whether  military  or  civil.  Who 
rescued  Braddock  when  he  was  fighting,  secundem  artem,  and  his 
men  were  dropping  around  him  on  every  side  ?  It  was  a  Virginia 
militia  major.  He  asserted  in  that  crisis,  the  place  which  properly 
belonged  to  him,  and  which  he  afterwards  filled  in  a  manner  we  all 
know. 


•     CHAPTEE    XXXVII. 

LETTERS   FROM   ROAXOKE. 

WE  again  leave  the  reader  to  follow  Mr.  Randolph  into  his  accus- 
tomed summer  quarters,  there  to  commune  with  him  alone,  and  to 
commiserate  his  unhappy  lot.  With  a  heart  most  exquisitely  attuned, 
as  the  reader  has  learned  to  know,  to  love  and  friendship,  he  had  no 
wife  nor  children  to  share  his  home  and  fortune,  and  to  fill  that  aching 
void,  that  none  but  domestic  affection  can  fill.  Wholly  dependent  on 
outward  friendship,  he  found  the  world  all  too  busy  for  that,  and  was 
desolate.  The  reader  will  not  be  at  a  loss  to  perceive  that  the  fol- 
lowing letters  were  addressed  to  Dr.  Brockenbrough. 

ROANOKE,  Tuesday  evening,  May  27,  1828. 

My  dear  friend,  I  hope  to  hear  from  you  by  Sam  on  Saturday 
night,  and  to  receive  Lord  Byron  in  a  coffin,  where  I  shall  very  soon 
be.  I  daily  grow  worse  ;  if  that  can  be  called  "  growth  "  which  is 
diminution  and  not  increase.  My  food  passes  from  me  unchanged. 
Liver,  lungs,  stomach  (which  I  take  to  be  the  original  seat  of  dis- 
ease), bowels,  and  the  whole  carnal  man  are  diseased  to  the  last  ex- 
ter.t.  Diarrhoea  incessant — nerves  broken — cramps — spasms — ver- 
tigo. Shall  I  go  on  ? — no,  I  will  not. 

I  have  horses  that  I  cannot  ride — wine  that  I  cannot  drink — and 
friends  too  much  occupied  with  their  own  affairs  to  throw  away  a  day 
(not  to  say  a  week)  upon  me.  Of  these,  except  Mr.  Macon,  your- 
self and  Barksdale.  who  has  entangled  himself  with  Mrs.  Tabb's 
estates,  are  all  that  I  care  to  see  here.  Meanwhile,  my  dear  friend, 
I  am  not  without  my  comforts,  such  as  they  be.  I  have  a  new  passion 
arising  within  me,  which  occupies  me  incessantly — the  improvement 
of  my  estate.  But  for  three  men: — A.  B.  V.  (your  old  master), 
Creed  Taylor,  and  Patrick  Henry,  I  should  have  commenced  thirty 
/ears  ago,  what  now  I  can  hardly  begin — finish,  never.  Don't  you 
smile  at  my  array  of  names  ?  "  Le  vrai  rtcst  pas  tow  jours  Ic  vraisew 


308  LIFE  °F  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

liable."  Perhaps  I  might  say,  without  hazarding  more  than  publifl 
speakers  (of  whom  I  have  been  one)  often  do,  "jamais  "  for  "  tou- 
jours" 

My  cough  is  tremendous.  The  expectoration  from  mucus  has 
become  purulent.  My  dear  friend,  you  and  I  know  that  the  cough 
and  diarrhoea,  and  pain  in  the  side  and  shoulder,  are  the  last  stage  of 
my  disorder,  whether  of  lungs  in  the  first  instance,  or  of  liver. 

I  send  you  the  measure  of  my  thigh  at  the  thickest  part.  Calves 
I  have  none,  except  those  that  suck  their  dams;  but  then  I  have 
ankles  that  will  out-measure  yours  or  any  other  man's  as  far  as  you 
beat  me  in  thighs. 

I  am  super-saturated  with  politics ;  care  nothing  about  conven- 
tion or  no  convention,  or  any  thing  but  the  P.  election,  and  no  great 
deal  about  that.  The  country  is  ruined,  thanks  to  Mr.  Jefferson  and 
Mr.  Ritchie,  who,  I  suppose,  is  ashamed  of  sending  me  the  Enquirer, 
for  I  never  get  it.  It  is  a  temporizing,  time-serving  print,  which  I 
heartily  despise,  and  should  not  care  to  have  it,  except  that  it  is  the 
Moniteur  of  the  poor  old,  ruined  and  degraded  Dominion.  Neverthe- 
less, ask  somebody  (for  Ritchie  is  too  much  of  a  Godwin ian  to  attend 
to  facts)  to  send  it  to  me. 

ROANOKE,  Friday,  May  30,  1828. 

Although  I  wrote  to  you  so  short  a  time  ago  by  Sam,  as  well  as  by 
the  post,  yet  as  my  frank  has  not  expired  (at  one  time  indeed  I  expect- 
ed not  to  live  out  my  60  days'  leave),  I  write  again  to  tell  you  that 
extremity  of  suffering  has  driven  me  to  the  use  of  what  I  have  had  a 
horror  of  all  my  life — I  mean  opium ;  and  I  have  derived  more  re- 
lief from  it  than  I  could  have  anticipated.  I  took  it  to  mitigate  se- 
vere pain,  and  to  check  the  diarrhoea.  It  has  done  both  ;  but  to  my 
surprise  it  has  had  an  equally  good  effect  upon  my  cough,  which  now 
does  not  disturb  me  in  the  night,  and  the  diarrhoea  seldom,  until  to- 
wards daybreak,  and  then  not  over  two  or  three  times  before  break- 
fast, instead  of  two.  or  three  and  thirty  times.  Yet  I  can't  ride — but 
I  hobble  with  a  stick,  and  scold  and  threaten  my  lazy  negroes  who  are 
building  a  house  between  my  well  and  kitchen,  and  two  (a  stable  boy 
and  under  gardener)  mending  the  road  against  you  come — or  Barks- 
dale,  I  want  to  see  nobody  else,  that  will  come,  except  Leigh  and 
Mr.  Wickham,  and  they  won't  Yes,  let  me  except  W.  M.  "Watkins, 
who  has  been  twice  to  see  me  ;  once  spent  the  day  from  early  break- 
fast, until  after  dinner — and  seemed  to  feel  a  degree  of  interest  in 
my  life,  that  I  thought  no  one  took,  except  my  "  woman  kind,"  and 
my  friend  Win.  Leigh. 

Disgusted  to  loathing  with  politics,  I  have  acquired  a  sudden  taste 
for  improving  my  estate,  and  my  overseers  are  already  aghast  at  my 
inspection  of  their  doings.  My  servants  here  had  been  corrupted, 
by  dealing  with  a  very  bad  woman,  that  keeps  an  ordinary  near  me. 


LETTERS  FROM  ROANOKE.  309 

Twenty  odd  years  ago,  I  saw  her,  then  about  16.  come  into  Charlotte 
court  to  choose  a  very  handsome  young  fellow  of  two  and  twenty,  for 
her  guardian,  whom  she  married  that  night.  She  was  then  as  beau 
tiful  a  creature  as  ever  I  saw  (some  remains  yet  survive).  They  re- 
minded me  of  Annette  and  Lubin,  but  alas !  Lubin  became  a  whisk} 
sot,  and  Annette  a  double  you.  Her  daughters  are  following  the 
same  vocation,  and  her  house  is  a  public  nuisance.  I  have  been 
obliged  to  go  there  and  lecture  her — at  first  she  was  fierce,  but  I  re- 
minded her  of  the  time  when  she  chose  her  guardian,  extolled  her 
beauty — told  her  that  I  could  not  make  war  upon  a  woman — and  that 
with  a  widow — that  if  she  wanted  any  thing,  she  might  command 
much  more  from  me  as  a  gentleman,  by  a  request,  than  she  could 
malre  by  trafficking  with  my  slaves.  She  burst  into  tears,  promised 
to  do  so  no  more,  and  that  I  might,  in  case  of  a  repetition  of  her  of- 
fence, "  do  ivith  her  as  I  pleased"  Her  tears  disarmed  me,  and  I  with- 
drew my  threat  of  depriving  her  of  her  license,  &c.,  &c. :  Voila  un 
roman. 

ROANOKE,  Aug.  10, 1828. 

Your  brother  Tom,  who  dined  here  and  lay  here  last  Tuesday 
tells  me  that  you  say  "  you  believe  that  I  have  forgot  you."  I  told 
the  colonel  to  reply  in  jockey  phrase,  that  "  the  boot  was  on  the  other 
leg."  Until  I  saw  him,  I  took  it  for  granted  that  you  had  gone  on 
from  Charlottesville  to  the  Springs,  and  I  should  as  soon  think  of  ad- 
dressing a  letter  to  Toinbuctoo,  as  to  our  watering  places.  Moreover, 
he  tells  me  that  "  he  does  not  think  that  you  will  go  at  all."  Now  all  the 
circumstances  of  the  case  taken  together,  I  think  I  have  some  right 
to  complain ;  but  as  that  is  a  right  which  I  had  much  rather  waive 
than  exercise,  I  shall  content  myself  with  laughing  at  you  most  heart- 
ily, for  the  part  you  had  in  the  accouchment  of  Carter's  mountain, 
which,  after  violent  throes,  has  not  produced  even  a  mouse.  My  good 
friend,  you  and  your  compeers,  Ex-P — s,  Ch.  J — s,  and  learned 
counsellors  (to  say  nothing  of  the  little  tumbler),  remind  me  of  my 
childhood,  when  we  used  to  play  at  ':  ladies  and  gentlemen/'  and  make 
visits  from  the  different  corners  of  the  room,  and  cut  our  bread  or 
cake  into  dishes  of  beef,  mutton,  &c.  What  is  all  this- for? — a  me- 
nace ?  Then  it  must  be  treated  with  contempt ;  a  persuasive,  or  ar- 
gument ?  then  I  should  treat  it  likewise.  Against  all  self-created  as- 
sociations, taking  upon  themselves  the  functions  of  government,  I  set 
my  face  ;  and  I  should  disregard  the  propositions  of  the  convention, 
however  reasonable  or  just,  because  of  the  manner  in  which  they  had 
been  got  up.  Richardson  and  Gaines  and  Joe  Wyatt  are  my  politi- 
cal attorneys  ;  in  fact,  and  by  them  only,  I  mean  to  be  bound — one  set 
is  enough,  and  I  am  vain  enough  to  believe  that  my  opinion  and  wish- 
es are  entitled  to  as  much  respect  from  the  assembly  (ceteris  paribus) 
as  that  of  any  member  of  the  Charlottesville  convention.  In  truth 


310  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

we  are  a  fussical  and  fudgical  people.  "We  do  stand  in  need  of  "In 
ternal  Improvement" — beginning  in  our  own  bosoms,  extending  to 
our  families  and  plantations,  or  whatever  our  occupation  may  be ;  and 
the  man  that  stays  at  home  and  minds  his  business,  is  the  one  that  is 
doing  all  that  can  be  done  (rebus  existentibus)  to  mitigate  the  evils  of 
the  times. 

"  Well,  after  all  this  expectoration,  how  is  your  cough  ?"  Steadily 
getting  worse ;  tVallieurs,  I  am  better — I  mean  as  to  the  alimentary 
canal.  Why  can't  you  and  madam  come  and  see  me?  We  are  burnt 
to  a  cinder  ;  although  I  had  beautiful  verdure  this  summer,  until  late 
in  July.  But  if  you  could  but  see  my  colt  Topaz,  out  of  Ebony ;  my 
filly  Sylph,  out  of  Witch  ;  or  my  puppy  Ebony,  you  would  admit  that 
the  wonders  of  the  world  were  ten,  and  these  three  of  them.  Adieu  ! 

J.  K.  OF  K. 

P.  S.  My  frank  being  out,  I  subject  you  to  double  postage,  to 
tell  you  that  I  clearly  see  in  the  C.  0.  a  sort  of  tariffical  log  rolling 
between  Ja.  R.  and  the  "  mounting  men,"  to  tax  the  rest  of  the  State 
and  spend  the  money  among  themselves.  I  expect  to  live  to  see  the 
upper  end  of  Charlotte  combine  to  oppress  and  plunder  the  lower 
end  ;  or  vice  versa.  The  cut  bono  Mr.  Mercer  can  tell,  so  can  such 
contractors  as  his  friend  J.  G-.  Gr.  &c. 

Did  you  read  Mr.  J.'s  letter?  I  could  not  get  through  with  it. 
Who  does  these  things  ?  It  is  exhumation. 

ROANOKE,  Tuesday,  September  30,  1828. 

MY  BEAR  FRIEND — Your  letter,  which  I  received  last  night,  was 
a  complete  surprise  upon  me.  I  had  begun  to  think  that  I  was 
never  to  hear  from  you  again.  I  have  been  here  five  cheerless 
months.  Two  letters  from  you,  and  one  from  Barksdale,  written 
early  in  May !  Did  you  get  one  from  me  in  reply  to  your  penul- 
timate, addressed  to  Philadelphia?  Since  my  return  home  from 
W.  I  have  not  once  slept  out  of  my  own  bed ;  neither  have  I 
eaten  from  any  other  man's  board,  except  when  carried  to  Char- 
lotte C.  H.  by  business.  With  the  exception  of  a  few  visitors.  I 
have  been  solitary,  or  worse — being  occasionally  bored  with  company 
that  I  would  have  been  glad  to  dispense  with.  There  is  a  disease 
prevailing  on  Dan  river,  which  they  call  the  cold  plague.  It  is  very 
fatal  and  speedy ;  the  patient  dying  on  the  second  or  third  clay.  In 
Virginia  we  have  a  moral  cold  plague,  that  has  extinguished  every 
social  and  kindly  feeling.  I  do  not  believe  that  there  ever  existed  a 
state  of  society — no,  not  even  in  Paris — so  selfish  and  heartless  as 
ours;  and  then  the  pecuniary  distress  that  stares  you  in  the  face, 
whichsoever  way  you  turn  !  The  like  has  never  been  seen  and  felt 
in  this  country  before.  If  I  had  the  means  of  insuring  a  mutton 
cutlet  and  a  bottle  of  wine  in  a  foreign  land.  I  would  take  shipping 
in  the  next  packet 


PRESIDENTIAL  ELECTION.  311 

My  good  friend,  my  health  is  very  bad.  My  disease  is  eating  me 
away,  and  for  the  last  month  I  have  been  sensible  of  a  dejection  of 
mind  that  I  can't  shake  off.  Perhaps  some  interchange  of  the  cour- 
tesies and  civilities  of  life  might  alleviate  it ;  but  these  are  unknown 
in  this  region. 

ROANOKE,  Tuesday,  October  28,  1828. 

You  are  very  good,  but  I  cannot  accept  your  kind  invitation.  I 
have  lived  here  six  solitary  months  in  sickness  and  sorrow,  until  I 
find  myself  unfit  for  general  converse  with  mankind.  Mr.  Barksdale 
presses  me  to  go  to  How  Branch,  but  I  cannot.  Sometimes,  in  a  fit 
of  sullen  indignation,  I  almost  resolve  to  abjure  all  intercourse  with 
mankind ;  but  the  yearnings  of  my  heart  after  those  whom  I  have 
loved,  but  who,  in  the  eagerness  of  their  own  pursuits,  seem  to  have 
east  me  aside,  tell  me  better. 

My  good  friend,  I  am  sick,  body  and  mind.  I  am  without  a  sin- 
gle resource,  except  the  workings  of  my  own  fancy.  Fine  as  the 
weather  is  and  has  been  all  this  month,  I  have  not  drawn  a  trigger. 
I  often  think  of  the  visit  you  and  madame  made  me  three  years  ago 
just  at  this  time.  Although  I  never  get  a  word  from  her.  give  hei  my 
best  love.  God  bless  you,  may  you  never  feel  as  I  do.  J.  R.  OF  R. 

CHARLOTTE  C.  H.,  November  4,  1828. 

I  got  here  to-day  with  some  difficulty,  and  attempted  to  return 
home,  but  have  been  compelled  to  put  back  into  port.  Yesterday  I 
was  unable  to  attend.  Indeed  I  have  been  much  worse  for  the  last 
five  or  six  days. 

Vote  of  the  county  at  4  P.  M.,  Tuesday — Jackson  270 ;  Adams  57. 

The  sun  is  more  than  an  hour  high,  but  I  am  obliged  to  go  to 
bed.  No  letters  from  you  for  a  long  time.  J.  R.  OF  R. 


CHAPTER    XXXVIII. 

PRESIDENTIAL  ELECTION — RETIREMENT  FROM   CONGRESS. 

GENERAL  JACKSON  was  elected,  by  a  large  majority,  President  of  the 
United  States.  No  man  contributed  more  than  Mr.  Randolph  to 
this  result — none  expected  to  profit  less  from  the  triumph  of  his 
cause.  His  sole  object  was  to  turn  out  men  from  office  who  had 
climbed  up  the  wrong  way,  and  whose  principles  were  ruinous  to  the 
Constitution,  and  to  the  Union  as  a  union  of  co-equal  and  indepen- 
dent States.  Having  accomplished  this  end.  he  had  nothing  more  to 
desire.  Whether  the  new  men  in  office  would  fulfil  his  expectations 


312  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

remained  to  be  seen.  One  thing  was  certain,  if  they  did  not,  they 
would  find  no  support  from  him.  The  spoils  of  office  had  no  charm 
to  lull  him  into  forgetfulness  of  his  duty — the  sop  of  Cerberus  could 
not  close  his  watchful  eye,  nor  silence  his  warning  voice.  Principles, 
not  men,  were  not  empty  sounds  on  his  lips,  but  a  rule  of  action  from 
which  he  never  deviated ;  friend  or  foe  alike  shared  his  indignation 
whenever  they  betrayed  a  perverseness  in  their  opinions,  or  a  selfish- 
ness in  their  motives.  His  course  was  understood  from  the  begin- 
ning. "  The  gentleman  from  Massachusetts  warns  us,"  says  he,  "  that 
if  the  individual  we  now  seek  to  elevate  shall  succeed,  he  will  in  his 
turn,  become  the  object  of  public  pursuit ;  and  that  the  same  pack 
will  be  unkennelled  at  his  heels,  that  have  run  his  rival  down.  It 
may  be  so.  I  have  no  hesitation  to  say,  that  if  his  conduct  shall 
deserve  it,  and  I  live,  I  shall  be  one  of  that  pack ;  because  I  main- 
tain the  interests  of  stockholders  against  presidents,  directors,  and 
cashiers." 

After  the  election  Mr.  Randolph,  as  he  had  always  done,  kept 
aloof  from  political  intrigues ;  took  no  personal  interest  in  the  for- 
mation of  the  new  cabinet ;  nor  did  he  open  his  mouth  during  the 
session  of  Congress  that  closed  the  day  General  Jackson  was  inau- 
gurated President  of  the  United  States. 

He  had  nothing  more  to  do ;  his  work  was  finished.  He,  an- 
nounced his  intention  not  to  be  a  candidate  for  re-election,  and  to  bid 
adieu  for  ever  to  public  life.  It  was  certainly  the  last  time  he  ever 
appeared  on  the  floor  of  Congress.  The  question  has  often  been 
asked,  where  are  the  monuments  of  his  usefulness  ?  what  important 
measure  did  he  ever  advocate  ?  The  answer  to  this  inquiry  can  only 
be  found  in  contrasting  the  results  of  his  labor  with  those  of  his 
great  rival.  Mr.  Clay  exerted  all  his  great  faculties  and  command- 
ing influence  to  build  up  his  American  system.  Randolph  labored 
with  equal  assiduity  to  prevent  its  being  built  up ;  and  after  it  was 
established,  was  unremitting  in  his  exertions  to  tear  it  down.  It  has 
been  torn  down  ;  and  none  did  more  than  he  in  the  work  of  demoli- 
tion. .  One  prop  after  another  was  taken  from  beneath  this  magnifi- 
cent structure,  and  it  now  lies  a  heap  of  ruins.  The  American  sys- 
tem is  a  mouldering  ruin — the  very  memory  of  it  has  grown  obso- 
lete ;  but  the  American  people  were  never  more  prosperous,  and  the 
American  Constitution  was  never  more  ardently  cherished  by  their 


PRESIDENTIAL  ELECTION.  313 

grateful  hearts.  The  American  system,  whatever  might  have  "been 
the  design  of  the  great  projector,  worked  only  for  the  benefit  of  the 
presidents,  directors,  and  cashiers ;  the  destruction  of  it  has  resulted 
to  the  infinite  advantage  of  the  stockholders.  But  this  is  a  service 
the  people  do  not  appreciate — a  negative  virtue,  in  their  estimation, 
for  which  there  is  no  reward.  He  is  more  valued  who  invites  them 
to  a  feast,  than  he  who  holds  them  from  the  poisoned  chalice.  "We 
have  labored,  throughout  the  Life  of  Mr.  Randolph,  to  show  that  there 
are  principles  of  the  Constitution  behind  all  measures  and  all  admin- 
istrations, of  infinitely  more  importance  than  the  temporary  advan- 
tage that  might  be  obtained  by  an  infringement  of  them.  These 
principles  he  studied  with  unremitting  assiduity,  and  drew  from  them 
the  golden  rule  that  a  statesman  must  abstain  from  much  legislation, 
and  leave  every  thing  to  the  unrestrained  energies  of  the  people.  He 
taught,  as  the  soundest  maxim  of  philosophy,  not  only  in  the  practice 
of  the  medical  art,  but  of  political  science,  a  wise  and  masterly  in- 
activity.. 

But  these  lessons  of  wisdom  have  fallen  like  seed  by  the  way- 
side, and  many  are  tempted  to  ask,  Where  are  the  fruits  of  the  long 
life  and  labors  of  this  man?  If  the  doctrine  of  State-rights,  en- 
grafted on  the  Constitution  by  George  Mason,  and  expounded  by 
Jefferson  and  by  Madison,  be  an  essential  element  in  our  federative 
system,  then  what  a  debt  of  gratitude  do  we  owe  to  John  Randolph, 
who  ever  defended  those  principles  through  evil  as  well  as  through  good 
report ;  never  swerved  from  their  practice ;  and  finally,  when  the  cen- 
tripetal tendencies  of  the  present  administration  were  rapidly  hasten- 
ing their  destruction,  rescued  them  from  ruin,  and  gave  the  federa- 
tive system  a  new  impulse,  which  we  trust  will  restore  it  to  its  origi- 
nal balance,  and  a  just  and  harmonious  action. 

The  people  are  beginning  to  awake  from  their  delusions.  When 
they  shall  fully  perceive  and  understand  the  fact  that  all  those  bril- 
liant schemes  that  so  much  dazzled  their  fancy  and  made  such  potent 
appeals  to  their  interests,  were  not  only  calculated  to  corrupt,  oppress, 
and  bankrupt  the  community,  but  to  sweep  away  all  the  landmarks 
and  barriers  that  stood  in  the  way  of  lawless  power,  then  will  the 
name  of  John  Randolph,  whose  prophetic  voice  had  warned  them  of 
these  consequences,  be  fondly  cherished  by  tlnm,  and  handed  down 


314  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

from  generation  to  generation  as  one  of  the  greatest  benefactors  a 
kind  Providence  had  vouchsafed  to  their  country. 

The  following  letters  were  written  by  Mr.  Randolph  to  his  friend, 
Dr.  Brockenbrough,  during  the  session  of  Congress : 

WASHINGTON,  Nov.  29,  1828. 

MY  GOOD  FRIEND — Your  kind  letter  reached  me  yesterday,  but  too 
late  to  thank  you  for  it  by  return  mail.  At  Fredericksburg  I  re- 
ceived such  representations  of  the  Dumfries  road,  as  to  induce  me  to 
take  the  steamboat.  As  there  was  only  one  other  passenger,  the 
cabin  was  quite  comfortable.  The  boat  is  a  new  one,  and  a  very  fine 
one,  and  always  gets  up  to  the  wharf.  Her  deck  is  roofed.  "VVe  got 
here  at  two  o'clock,  but  I  lay  until  eight.  Found  Dr.  Hall  (N.  0.) 
here  (at  Dawson's),  and  this  morning  Colonel  Benton  and  Mr.  Gilmer 
have  arrived. 

My  cough  is  very  much  worse,  and  the  pain  in  my  breast  and  side 
increased  a  good  deal.  God  bless  you  both.  Pray  write  as  often  as 
you  conveniently  can.  Yours,  ever.  J.  R.  OF  II. 

Dr.  BROCKENBHOUGH. 

WASHINGTON,  Dec.  7,  1828. 

You  have  no  doubt  heard  that  Mr.  A.  does  not  return  to  Quincy. 
On  dit,  that  a  very  ungracious  reception  awaits  him  in  Boston.  A 
great  deal  has  been  said  of  the  "  philosophy"  with  which  he  bears  his 
defeat,  but  a  friend  of  mine,  who  saw  him  yesterday,  tells  me  that  he 
is  emaciated  to  a  great  degree,  and  looks  ten  years  older  than  he  did 
last  winter ;  that  his  features  are  sunken,  and  his  coat,  although  but- 
toned, hanging  about  him  like  a  man's  coat  upon  a  boy.  In  short, 
said  my  informant,  your  epithets  "lank  and  lean,"  applied  to  the  ad- 
ministration, were  forcibly  recalled  to  my  mind  by  the  personal  ap- 
pearance of  the  P.  Clay,  too,  he  added,  endeavors  to  put  a  good 
face  on  the  matter ;  but  after  working  himself  up  into  one  of  these 
humors,  the  collapse  is  dreadful.  Such  are  the  rewards  of  ambition. 

"  Ambition  thus  shall  tempt  to  rise, 
Then  whirl  the  wretch  on  high, 
To  bitter  scorn  a  sacrifice, 
And  grinning  infamj7." 

You  see  I  have  nothing  to  write,  when  I  send  you  stale  poetry.  My 
duty  and  love  to  Madame,  and  kind  and  respectful  remembrance  to 
Mr.  Wickham.  Yours,  ever.  J.  R.  OF  R. 

WASHINGTON,  Dec.  11,  1828;  Wednesday. 

Your  letter  shows  on  the  face  of  it  how  much  you  are  straitened 
for  time.  I  wish  I  could  spare  you  some  of  mine,  that  hangs 
heavy  on  my  hands.  In  addition  to  my  other  annoyances,  I  am  la- 
boring under  a  severe  influenza,  and  might  sit  for  the  picture  of  a 


PRESIDENTIAL  ELECTION.  315 

weeping  philosopher,  although  I  have  as  few  claims  to  philosophy 
as  Mr.  J.  Q.  A.  himself.  He  rides  or  walks  around  the  square  in 
front  of  the  Capitol,  every  day.  I  have  not  seen  him,  but  Hall  tells 
me  that  he  does  very  often,  and  that  the  sight  makes  him  feel  very 
queerly.  "  He  looks,"  says  Hall,  "  as  if  he  did  not  know  me,  and  I 
look  as  if  I  did  not  know  him."  His  appearance  is  wretched.  An 
acquaintance  of  mine  called  on  him  a  few  days  ago  ;  he  was  much 
dejected,  until  some  one  made  an  allusion  to  Giles,  when,  in  great 
wrath,  he  pronounced  G.'s  statements  respecting  him  to  be  utterly 
false  ;  said  G.'s  memory  was  inventive,  &c. ;  and,  on  the  whole,  con- 
ducted himself  very  undigninedly. 

WASHINGTON,  Dec.  17,  1828. 

Your  letter,  although  dated  four  days  ago,  did  not  come  to  hand 
until  this  morning.  It  needed  no  excuse,  for  I  am,  now-a-day,  glad  to 
get  a  letter  from  you  on  any  terms. 

Yesterday  I  dined  with  our  old  acquaintance,  Dennis  A.  Smith, 
at  Gadsby's.  He  spoke  with  great  interest  and  regard  of  you.  He 
introduced  me  to  a  Dr.  McAulay,  who  has  married  a  lady  of  fortune, 
in  Baltimore.  He  was  formerly  of  Virginia,  and  I  conjecture,  a  son 
of  McAulay,  of  York.  I  am  glad  that  you  are  pleased  with  your 
adopted  daughter.  I  pray  that  she  may  realize  your  fondest  ex- 
pectations. I  have  long  since  done  with  forming  any.  If  my  "  body" 
and  "  estate"  would  permit,  my  "  mind"  is  bent  on  spending  the  rest 
of  my  life  in  travelling — not  in  search  of  happiness  ;  that,  I  know,  is 
not  to  be  found — but  of  variety,  which  may  be  found  ;  and  in  which 
I  consider  the  chief  pleasure  of  life  to  consist.  Habit,  I  know,  can 
reconcile  the  gin-horse  to  his  lot;  but  I  never  could  have  made  a  gin- 
horse. 

This  place  is  exceedingly  dull.  As  no  purpose  can  now  be  an- 
swered, by  giving  entertainments,  none  are  made.  I  am  nearly  as 
much  alone  as  I  was  at  Roanoke ;  and,  with  the  exception  of  the  daily 
mails,  I  am  full  as  much  at  a  loss  for  resources  to  break  the  monotony 
of  the  day ;  each  day  being,  with  the  exception  of  the  weather,  ex- 
actly alike.  If  there  be  any  news,  I  am  in  the  dark.  I  only  hear 
that  some  ladies  of  the  heads  of  departments  have,  for  the  first  time 
during  the  present  reign,  condescended  to  visit  ladies  of  M.  C.,  who 
have  passed  several  winters  here,  unnoticed  by  those  grand  dignita- 
ries. This  was  told  me  by  my  friend  Benton,  who  sometimes  knocks 
at  my  door,  and  sits  a  few  minutes  with  me — but  for  whom,  I  should 
be  utterly  ignorant  of  what's  going  on. 

As  to  G.'s  ;:  religion,"  I  shall  be  sorry  to  pass  upon  it  or  him. 
My  quondam  neighbor,  Peter  J.,  has,  I  am  certain,  mistaken  his 
wants,  whatever  may  be  the  lady's  case.  My  niece  is  now  in  Rich- 
mond, attending  the  wedding  of  some  female  friend.  SJie  is  an 
admirable  creature,  susceptible  of  high  and  generous  sentiments ;  but 
41 


316  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

I  have  a  most  pitiful  opinion  of  the  friendship  of  girls  generally ; 
marriage  is  a  touch-stone  that  few  of  them  can  bear.  Indeed,  it  is 
too  much  the  case  with  our  sex,  also.  By  this  time  you  must  be  tired 
of  my  prosing.  Let  me  hear  from  you,  when  you  can  find  leisure  to 
write.  Yours  truly,  J.  R.  OP  R. 

WASHINGTON,  Dec.  22,  1828. 

After  a  dreadful  night,  I  am  greeted  by  your  letter  of  Saturday. 
I  am  truly  concerned  to  hear  of  Mrs.  B.'s  afflicting  indisposition.  In 
this  climate,  as  we  advance  in  life,  that  disorder  becomes  more  com 
nion  and  more  formidable.  Make  my  best  respects  to  her. 

My  good  friend,  few  persons  of  my  age,  have  thought  more  on  the 
subject  of  government,  and  my  situation  for  the  last  forty  years  has 
been  highly  favorable  for  watching  the  operations  of  our  own.  The 
conclusions  that  I  have  come  to,  do  not  very  widely  differ  from  your 
own  ;  they  are  any  thing  but  cheering.  What  you  say  upon  the  au- 
thority of  Mr.  Short,  of  the  condition  of  "  a  solitary  itinerant,"  I  know 
by  some  thousands  of  miles'  experience,  to  be  true ;  but  bad  as  it  is, 
it  is  better,  far  better,  than  the  life  I  lead  here  or  at  home. 

Mr.  J.  is  again  in  the  newspapers.  I  think  this  course  very  ill- 
advised  ;  but  perhaps  I  am  wrong,  and  do  not  take  into  consideration 
the  very  low  state  into  which  our  society  has  fallen. 

The  influenza  has  left  my  eyes  weak  and  inflamed;  but  if  there 
was  any  thing  worth  communicating,  I  would  tax  them  to  give  it  to 
you.  I  hear  nothing  and  see  nobody.  I  cannot  work  myself  up  to 
take  any  interest  in  what  is  going  on.  or  said  to  be  going  on. 

There  is  not,  at  this  time,  on  the  face  of  the  earth,  one  spot  where 
a  man  of  sense,  attached  to  the  principles  of  free  government,  would 
wish  to  live.  Governments  have  poisoned  every  thing. 

Farewell !  I  can  truly  repeat  after  you,  "  Whether  at  home  or 
abroad,"  God  bless  you.  J.  R.  OF  R. 

January  6,  1829. 

Mr.  Bell,  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  from  Tennessee,  has 
received  a  letter  from  Nashville,  informing  him  that  Mrs.  Jackson 
died  on  the  23d  December ;  the  day  for  the  dinner  and  ball  to  Gen.  J. 

While  awaiting  his  arrival  at  the  festival,  a  messenger  brought 
the  news  of  Mrs.  Jackson's  death. 

I  shall  probably  not  be  in  the  Convention.  I  am  sick  of  public 
affairs  and  public  men,  and  have  no  opinions  of  constitutions  ready 
made  or  made  to  order. 

If  it  would  do  any  good,  I  would  wish  most  heartily  that  your 
connection  with  the  B.  of  V.  was  dissolved.  You  have  been  a  slave 
to  that  company ;  and  after  wearing  yourself  down,  and  devoting  to 
it  time  and  abilities  and  acquirements  more  than  enough  to  amass  an 
independent  fortune  (otherwise  applied),  where  is  your  reward  ?  I 


PRESIDENTIAL  ELECTION.  317 

tell  you  plainly  and  fairly  that,  in  public  opinion,  a  banking-house  is 
a  house  of  ill  fame,  and  that  all  connection  with  it  is  discreditable. 
This,  whether  just  or  not,  is  the  general  sentiment  of  the  country. 

My  sufferings,  for  the  last  three  days  especially,  have  been  such 
that  if  it  were  lawful  I  would  pray  for  death. 

You  are  sadly  misinformed  as  to  the  "  heroism  of  our  men  in 
office  here."  Their  affectation,  like  all  other  affectation,  defeats  its 
object.  Mrs.  A.,  who  has  been  fuming  and  fretting  all  the  year  past, 
and  who  went  to  bed  sick  upon  the  catastrophe  being  announced,  now 
"  is  glad  that  she  is  no  longer  the  keeper  of  a  great  national  hotel." 
Mr.  A.  is  quite  rejoiced,  and  Mr.  Clay  delighted  at  the  result.  A 
keen  and  close  observer  tells  me  that  C.  is,  on  the  contrary,  down, 
down,  down ;  that  he  cannot  support  himself ;  that  he  sinks  under 
the  effort  to  bear  up  against  his  defeat. 

WASHINGTON,  »  auruwy  12,  1829 ;  Monday. 

MY  DEAR  DOCTOR — It  won't  do  for  a  man,  who  wishes  to  indulge 
in  dreams  of  human  dignity  and  worth,  to  pass  thirty  years  in  public 
life.  Although  I  do  believe  that  we  are  the  meanest  people  in  the 
world,  I  speak  of  this  "court"  and  its  retainers  and  followers.  I  am 
super-saturated  with  the  world,  as  it  calls  itself,  and  have  now  but 
one  object,  which  I  shall  keep  steadily  in  view,  and  perhaps  some 
turn  of  the  dice  may  enable  me  to  obtain  it :  it  is,  to  convert  my  pro- 
perty into  money,  which  will  enable  me  to  live,  or  rather  to  die, 
where  I  please  ;  or  rather  where  it  may  please  God. 

As  to  State  politics  I  do  not  wish  to  speak  about  them.  The  coun- 
try is  ruined  past  redemption  :  it  is  ruined  in  the  spirit  and  character 
of  the  people.  The  standard  of  merit  and  morals  has  been  lowered 
far 'below  "proof"  There  is  an  abjectness  of  spirit  that  appals  and 
disgusts  me.  Where  now  could  we  find  leaders  of  a  revolution? 
The  whole  South  will  precipitate  itself  upon  Louisiana  and  the  adjoin- 
ing deserts.  Hares  will  hirdle  in  the  Capitol.  "Sauve  qui  peut"  is 
my  maxim.  Congress  will  liberate  our  slaves  in  less  than  twenty 
years.  Adieu. 

Friday,  February  6,  1829. 

;'  This,"  you  will  say,  "  is  nothing  to  you."  You  know  better  ;  it 
is  a  great  deal  t6  me,  and  I  sit  up  in  bed  to  tell  you  that  when  you 
wrote  that  you  did  know  better.  My  dear  friend,  I  can  hardly  writs 
or  breathe.  I  was  attacked  last  Monday  about  noon.  I  am  now 
better ;  that  is,  not  in  extremity.  My  best  love  and  duty  to  madame. 
The  itch  to  know  and  attach  one's  self  to  the  great  is  an  inherent 
vice  of  our  nature.  Have  you  seen  Lockhart's  Life  of  Burns? 
Adieu  for  the  present. 

WASHINGTON,  February  9,  1829 ;  Monday. 

MY  GOOD  FRIEND — I  scratched  a  few  lines  to  you  on  Thursday 
(I  think)  or  Friday,  while  lying  in  my  bed.  I  am  now  out  of  it,  and 


318  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

somewhat  better ;  but  I  still  feel  the  barb  rankling  in  my  side.  Whe- 
ther, or  not,  it  be  owing  to  the  debility  brought  on  by  disease,  I  can't 
contemplate  the  present  and  future  condition  of  my  country  without 
dismay  and  utter  hopelessness.  I  trust  that  I  am  not  one  of  those 
who  (as  was  said  of  a  certain  great  man)  are  always  of  the  opinion  of 
the  book  last  read.  But  I  met  with  a  passage  in  a  Review  (Edin- 
burgh) of  the  works  and  life  of  Machiavelli  that  strikes  me  with  great 
force  as  applicable  to  the  whole  country  south  of  Potapsco :  ';  It  is 
difficult  to  conceive  any  situation  more  painful  than  that  of  a  great 
man  condemned  to  watch  the  lingering  agony  of  an  exhausted  coun- 
try, to  tend  it  during  the  alternate  fits  of  stupefaction  and  raving  which 
precede  its  dissolution,  to  see  the  symptoms  af  its  vitality  disappear 
one  by  one,  till  nothing  is  left  but  coldness,  darkness,  and  corrup- 
tion." 

You  see  that  whatever  temporary  amendment  there  may  be  in 
my  health,  there  is  none  in  my  spirits.  On  the  contrary,  they  were 
never  worse.  It  is  not,  I  assure  you,  for  the  want  of  such  feeble  ef- 
fort as  I  can  make  against  the  foul  fiend. 

The  operation  of  this  present  Government,  like  a  debt  at  usuri- 
ous interest,  must  destroy  the  whole  South.  It  eats  like  a  canker 
into  our  very  core.  South  Carolina  must  become  bankrupt  and  de- 
populated. She  is  now  shut  out  of  the  English  market  for  her  rice, 
with  all  the  premium  of  dearth  in  Europe.  I  am  too  old  to  move, 
or  the  end  of  this  year  should  not  find  me  a  resident  of  Virginia, 
against  whose  misgovernment  I  have  full  as  great  cause  of  complaint  as 
against  that  of  the  U.  S.  It  has  been  one  mass  of  job  and  abuse — 
schools,  literary  funds,  internal  improvements,  Charlottesville  con- 
ventions, and  their  spawn.  I  have  as  great  horror  of  borrowing  as 
you  have  ;  but  a  friend  having  made  the  offer  of  some  money,  on 
good  security,  I  think  I  shall  take  up  some  on  mortgage,  and  make 
one  more  trial  for  life.  If  you  lived  in  the  country,  I  would  come 
and  stay  with  you  ]  but  when  I  go  to  see  you,  you  make  dinners,  and 
put  yourself  out  of  the  way,  and  to  unnecessary  expenses,  which  I 
don't  like  to  be  the  occasion  of. 

The  snow  is  all  gone,  and  the  sun  is  seen  once  more.  God  bless 
you  both. 

Thursday,  February  12,  1829. 

MY  GOOD  FRIEND — Your  letter  of  Monday  came  to  hand  yester- 
day, after  I  had  written,  and  too  late  to  thank  you  for  it.  Tom  Mil- 
ler writes  this  morning  that  the  convention  bill  has  passed,  and  that 
my  friends  expect  me  to  be  a  candidate  for  a  seat  in  that  body.  If 
any  one  can  and  will  devise  a  plan  by  which  abler  and  better  men 
shall  be  necessarily  brought  into  our  councils,  I  will  hail  him  as  my 
Magnus  Apollo  !  But  as  I  have  no  faith  in  any  such  scheme,  and  a 
thorough  detestation  and  contempt  for  political  metaphysics,  and  for 


PRESIDENTIAL  ELECTION.  319 

an  arithmetical  and  geometrical  constitution,  I  shall  wash  my  hands 
of  all  such  business.  The  rest  of  my  life,  if  not  passed  in  peace,  shall 
not  be  spent  in  legislative  wrangling.  I  am  determined,  absolutely, 
not  to  expose  myself  to  collision  where  victory  could  confer  no  honor. 
No,  my  dear  friend,  let  political  and  religious  fanatics  rave  about 
their  dogmas,  while  the  country  is  going  to  ruin  under  the  one,  and 
the  others  are  daily  becoming  worse  members  of  society.  "  I'll  none 
of  it."  "  By  their  fruits  shall  ye  know  them." 

P.  S.  By  the  time  you  receive  this,  you  will  have  seen  the  Boston 
correspondence  of  Mr.  Adams.  The  reply  is,  I'm  told,  by  Mr.  Jack- 
son. Meanness  is  the  key-word  that  deciphers  every  thing  in  Mr. 
Adams'  character. 

Saturday,  February  14,  1829. 

MY  DEAR  FRIEND — Your  opinions  concerning  the  operation  of 
thia  incubus,  miscalled  Government.  I  confess  surprise  me.  I  have 
made  every  allowance  for  the  dearness  of  slave  labor,  and  the  mon- 
strous absurdities  of  our  own  State  legislation.  But  I  cannot  shut 
my  eyes  to  the  fact,  that  a  community  that  is  forbidden  to  buy,  can- 
not sell.  "  The  whole  southern  country  will  buy  less,  and  make  their 
own  clothing,  without  making  smaller  crops."  Cui  bono  this  last 
operation,  except  to  wear  out  their  lands  and  slaves  gratuitously  ?  It 
is  this  very  "  buying  less,"  that  lies  at  the  root  of  our  mischief.  If 
we  bought  more,  we  would  sell  more  in  proportion,  and  become  rich 
by  the  transaction.  To  pursue  a  Chinese  policy,  which  we  did  not 
want,  this  Government,  by  cutting  us  off  from  our  best  customer, 
England,  inflicts  a  dead  loss  of  $15,000,000  this  very  year  on  one 
southern  State  alone  (South  Carolina) ;  as  returns  cannot  be  made  in 
her  commodities.  England,  in  time  of  dearth,  refuses  to  receive  her 
rice.  Formerly  she  would  not  eat  India  rice.  In  like  manner,  she 
will  soon  become  independent  of  us  for  her  supply  of  cotton.  She  is 
also  planting  tobacco ;  so  that  the  conflagration  of  the  factories,  at 
which  I  heartily  rejoice,  will  take  from  us  the  mite  received  for  their 
consumption.  Again,  all  the  expenditure  of  this  machine  of  ours  is 
made  (Norfolk  and  Point  Comfort  excepted)  north  of  the  Chesapeake. 
All  of  the  dividends  of  the  debt  of  the  bank  are  received  there.  No 
country  can  withstand  such  oppression  and  such  a  drain. 

As  to  "W.  H.,  I  should  not  pay  the  slightest  regard  to  any  thing 
that  he  can  say.  I  am  well  acquainted  with  the  West  Indies,  and  I 
have  been  told  by  some  of  the  principal  proprietors,  that  with  all 
their  heavy  charges  for  provisions,  lumber,  mules,  &c.,  from  which 
Louisiana  is  exempt,  the  sugar  crop  is  clear  of  all  expenses ;  these 
being  defrayed  by  the  molasses  and  rum.  Moreover,  you  are  to  con- 
sider that  the  West  Indies  suffer  under  grievous  commercial  restric- 
tions, and  that  Wilberforce  and  Co.  have  very  much  impaired  the 
value  of  their  slaves.  (The  same  thing  is  at  work  here.)  Nevertheless, 


320  LIFE  °F  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

I  was  assured,  by  the  most  intelligent  and  opulent  of  the  "  West  India 
Body,"  that  the  mortgages  and  embarrassments  of  Jamaica,  OLC.,  grew 
chiefly  out  of  the  proprietors  residing  in  England,  and  trusting  to 
agents  ;  sometimes  to  colonial  ostentation  and  extravagance  ;  but  that 
there  was  scarcely  an  instance  of  a  judicious  and  active  planter  per- 
sonally superintending  his  affairs,  who  did  not  amass  a  fortune  in  a 
very  few  years. 

England  was  our  best  customer,  because  we  were  her  best  cus- 
tomers. This  is  the  law  of  trade,  and  the  basis  of  wealth  ;  instead  of 
which,  we  have  the  exploded  "  mercantile  system,"  as  it  was  ridicu- 
lously called,  revived  and  fastened,  like  the  Old  Man  of  the  Sea, 
around  our  necks. 

Monday,  February  16,  1829. 

I  abstained  saying  any  thing  about  the  convention,  seeing  no 
cause  to  change  my  first  impression  on  that  subject.  I  once  told  you 
that  every  man  was  of  some  importance  to  himself.  I  found  out  this 
too  late — after  I  had  poured  myself  out  like  water  for  others.  From 
my  earliest  childhood,  I  have  be%en  toiling  and  wearing  my  heart  out 
for  other  people,  who  took  all  I  could  do  and  suffer  for  them  as  nc 
more  than  their  just  dues.  My  dear  friend,  I  am  super-saturated 
with  disgust.  My  bodily  infirmities  do  not  contribute  to  relieve  the 
feeling ;  and  if  I  mix  in  affairs,  I  must  be  content  to  be  set  aside, 
with  contemptuous  pity,  for  a  testy,  obstinate  old  fool.  To  this  I  do 
not  mean  to  subject  myself.  "  Let  the  dead  bury  their  dead."  I 
shall  not  dig  or  throw  one  shovel  full  of  earth.  Adieu  ! 

Thursday,  February  19,  1829. 

Your  letter  of  Tuesday  (17)  is  just  received.  I  did  not  "  mistake 
you  very  much,"  for  I  did  not  attribute  to  you  opinions  favorable  to 
the  tariff.  The  causes  of  disparity  between  the  East  and  South,  are 
to  be  found,  among  other  things,  in  the  former  charging  and  being 
paid  for  every  militia  man  in  the  field  during  the  Revolutionary  war, 
and  for  every  bundle  of  hay  and  peck  of  oats  furnished  for  public 
service ;  in  the  buying  up  the  certificates  of  debt  for  a  song,  and 
funding  them  in  the  banks ;  in  the  bounty  upon  their  navigation, 
and  the  monopoly  of  trade  which  the  European  wars  gave  them.  If 
the  militia  services,  losses,  and  supplies  of  the  Carolinas  had  been 
brought  into  account,  all  New  England  would  not  have  sold  for  as 
much  as  would  have  paid  them.  In  regard  to  the  West  Indies,  the 
great  law  of  culture  prevails — that  the  worst  soils  hardly  reproduce 
the  expense  of  cultivation.  If  even  in  Georgia,  where  the  cane  does 
not  yield  one-half  the  strength  of  syrup,  sugar  can  be  made  to  profit, 
what  must  be  the  yield  of  the  rich,  fresh  lands  of  Jamaica,  St.  Kitts, 
or  Juvinau  ?  The  syrup  of  New  Orleans  is,  by  the  proof,  8 — of  the 
West  Indies,  16. 


ELECTED  TO  THE  CONVENTION.          321 

I  have  not  seen  the  picture.  No  steamboat  can,  I  am  peisuaded^ 
approach  within  fifty  miles  of  this  place. 

From  what  I  hear,  public  expectation  will  be  much  disappointed 
in  regard  to  the  composition  and  character  of  the  new  cabinet.  This 
is  for  you  alone.  ';  As  you  have  done  with  political  economies,"  so 
am  I  with  politics,  and  politicians  too.  I  went  yesterday  to  vote,  in- 
effectually, against  "the  Gate  Bill."  I  shall  be  agreeably  disap- 
pointed if  it  does  not  pass  the  Senate. 

Monday  morning-,  February  23,  1829. 

MY  GOOD  FRIEND — I  don't  know  why  I  write  to  you,  unless  it 
be  to  assuage  or  divert  the  chagrin  by  which  I  am  devoured.  I  have 
never  witnessed  so  complete  a  discomfiture  as  is  expressed  in  the 
faces  of  such  of  my  friends  as  I  see,  and  they  tell  me  that  there  is 
not  one  exception  among  the  eminent  men  who  lately  acted  together. 
The  countenances  of  the  adverse  party  beam  with  triumph,  as  might 
be  expected. 

I  am  making  my  arrangements  to  get  away,  and  yet,  I  am  better 
off  here  than  I  shall  probably  ever  be  again.  I  have  a  comfortable 
apartment  and  receive  the  most  kind  attentions  from  all  the  gentle- 
men under  this  roof,  particularly  Major  Hamilton,  Col.  Benton  and 
D.  Hall.  I  shall  never  again  know  the  comforts  of  society.  The 
Ch.  Justice  was  good  enough  to  sit  an  hour  with  me  yesterday ;  and 
I  had  afterwards  a  visit  from  Mr.  Quincy,  my  old  fellow-laborer. 
He  said  that  if  Gen.  J.  had  called  to  his  councils  high  men,  the  East 
would  be  satisfied.  He  then  asked  who  the  present  men  were  ?  add- 
ing, "  They  say  that  this  is  C 's  arrangement."  It  continues  to 

be  intensely  cold.  Have  I  lost  ground  in  Madame's  good  graces  ? 
I  shall  be  sorely  mortified  if  it  be  so. 

Thursday  morning,  Feb.  26,  1829. 

My  dear  friend,  I've  been  thinking  of  you  all  night,  awake  or 
asleep,  a^d  to-morrow,  I  hope  to  hear  from  you.  You  will  see  a  most 
extraordinary  announcement  in  this  day's  Telegraph.  I  am  credibly 
informed  by  my  friend  H.,  that  the  V.  P.  is  as  much  astounded  by 
these  results  as  any  body,  and  is  as  indignant.  This  is  most  private 
and  particular.  Every  body  shocked,  except  Clay  and  Co.  Stran- 
gers partake  of  these  feelings. — My  highest  regards  to  Madame. 


CHAPTEK    XXXIX. 

ELECTED  TO  THE  CONVENTION. 

ON  his  retirement  from  Congress,  Mr.  Kandolph  hoped  to  disconnect 
himself  from  public  affairs,  and  to  spend  the  remainder  of  his  days 


322  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

in  travelling  abroad.  But  liis  old  constituents  were  not  so  willing  tc 
give  up  bis  services.  They  had  lost  him  for  ever  on  the  floor  of  Con- 
gress, but  they  now  wished  him  to  represent  them  on  another  theatre. 
The  people  of  Virginia  had  determined  on  a  convention  to  amend  the 
Constitution  of  the  State.  Mr.  Randolph  was  called  to  serve  them 
in  that  body. 

The  reader  will  perceive,  from  the  following  letters,  addressed  to 
Dr.  Brockenbrough,  that  he  was  nominated  as  a  candidate  without  his 
knowledge,  and  greatly  against  his  wishes.  He  was  much  embarrassed 
by  this  procedure,  but  at  length  consented  to  the  sacrifice,  that  he 
might  save  the  feelings  of  one  friend  and  aid  in  the  election  of  another 
who  was  a  candidate  also  for  the  convention. 

The  letters  were  written  before  the  election.  He  was  returned 
of  course  as  a  member  of  the  convention,  and  took  his  seat  in  that 
body  when  it  assembled,  on  the  first  Monday  of  October,  in  the  Hall 
of  Representatives,  in  the  capitol  at  Richmond. 

ROANOKE,  Tuesday,  April  21,  1829. 

To  my  friend  Win.  Leigh,  who  called  at  the  P.  0.  yesterday  after 
the  stage  had  left  it,  I  am  indebted  for  your  kind  letter  of  the  15th. 
He  was  riding  post  haste  from  P.  Edward  election  to  Halifax  Superior 
Court,  for  which  place  he  set  out  this  morning  by  day-light.  Such  is 
the  life  of  those  who  are  at  the  head  of  the  liberal  professions  in 
this  country. 

Whilst  I  was  expressing  to  him  my  surprise  at  that  passage  of 
your  letter  which  referred  to  my  having  consented  to  serve  in  the 
convention,  if  elected ;  he  told  me,  to  my  utter  astonishment,  that  a 
proclamation  to  that  effect  had  been  made  at  the  last  Charlotte  Court, 
and  by  a  staunch  friend  of  mine  too,  and  a  man  of  honor  and  truth. 
Now,  I  have  held  but  one  language  on  this  subject  from  first  to  last, 
and  you  know  what  that  is.  To  you,  to  B.,  W.,  L.,  and  others,  in  wri- 
ting and  orally,  I  have  explicitly  avowed  my  determination  to  have 
nothing  to  do  with  this  matter.  The  more  I  have  reflected  on  my 
retirement  from  public  life,  the  better  satisfied  I  am  of  the  propriety 
and  wisdom  of  the  step.  Before  I  take  any  in  reference  to  this  last 
matter,  I  shall  see  the  gentleman  who  made  the  declaration  in  my 
behalf.  He  will  be  here  about  the  last  of  this  week. 

My  dear  friend,  we  shall  not  "  meet  in  October."  I  am  anchored 
for  life.  My  disease  every  day  assumes  a  more  aggravated  character, 
I  have  been  obliged  to  renounce  wine  altogether.  Coffee  is  my  only 
cheerer.  A  high  fever  every  night,  which  goes  off  about  day  break 
with  a  eolliquative  sweat ;  violent  pain  in  the  side  and  breast;  inces- 
sant cough, — with  all  my  tenacity  of  life  this  can't  hold  long.  I  havo 


ELECTED  TO  THE  CONVENTION.  323 

rode  once  or  twice  a  mile  or  two,  but  it  exhausts  me.  The  last  three 
days  have  been  warm,  but  last  night  we  had  a  storm,  and  it  was  cold 
again.  Luckily  I  have  no  appetite,  for  I  have  hardly  any  thing  to  eat 
except  asparagus,  which  is  very  fine  and  nice.  I  tried  spinach  a  la 
Franqaise,  but  it  disagrees  with  me.  You  see  that,  like  Dogberry,  "  I 
bestow  all  my  tediousness  upon  you."  You  know  my  maxim,  "  that 
every  man  is  of  great  consequence  to  himself."  The  trees  are  bud- 
ding and  the  forest  begins  to  look  gay,  but  when  I  cast  my  eyes  upon 
the  blossoms,  the  sad  lines  of  poor  Michael  Bruce  recur  to  my  mem- 
ory:— 

"  Now  Spring  returns,  but  not  to  me  returns 
The  vernal  joy  my  better  years  have  known  ; 
Dim  in  my  breast,  life's  dying  taper  burns, 
And  all  the  joys  of  life  with  health  are  flown." 

.Remove  Mr.  Manvy !  You  amaze  me.  What,  the  iriend  and 
school-fellow  and  class-mate  of  Jefferson,  the  first  appointment  to  that 
consulate  by  Washington  !  Pray,  what  is  the  matter  ?  And  who  is 
to  be  the  successor  ? 

ROANOKE,  Tuesday,  April  28,  1829. 

MY  DEAR  FRIEXD — You  and  I,  if  I  mistake  not,  have  long  ago 
agreed  that  there  is  no  such  thing  as  free  agency.  I  am  at  this  mo- 
ment a  striking  example  of  the  fact.  In  short,  to  save  the  feelings 
of  a  man  of  as  much  truth  and  honor  as  breathes,  who  believed  him- 
self to  be  doing  right,  and  to  avoid  injuring  certain  friends  and 
interests,  which  the  withdrawal  of  my  name  would,  it  seems,  occasion, 
I  am  fain  even  to  let  it  stand,  at  the  risk  of  incurring  the  imputation 
of  fickleness  (for  the  world  will  never  know  the  true  version),  and  at 
what  I  shrink  from  with  unutterable  disgust,  the  prospect  of  again 
becoming  a  member  of  a  deliberative,  i.  e.  spouting  assembly. 

ROANOKE,  Friday,  May  22,  1829. 

MY  DEAR  FRIEND — It  is  a  long  while  since  I  heard  from  you,  and 
I  am  in  a  condition  that  requires  all  the  aid  my  friends  can  give.  If  I 
could  have  been  permitted  to  remain  in  the  privacy  I  thought  I  had 
found,  my  life  might  have  been  prolonged  some  months — possibly 
years :  but  the  kindness  of  my  friends  has  destroyed  me.  I  have 
been  in  a  manner,  forced  upon  exertions  to  which  my  strength  was 
utterly  unequal,  and  at  an  expense  of  suffering,  both  body  and  mind, 
of  which  none  but  the  unhappy  victim  can  have  a  conception.  I 
have  not  been  so  ill  since  this  month  last  year. 

As  I  have  not  the  least  prospect  of  attending  Halifax  election,  I 
count  upon  being  left  out,  a  result  which  I  by  no  means  deprecate  ; 
having  already  attained  the  only  two  objects  that  I  had  at  heart,  and 
which  prevented  my  withdrawing  my  name  in  the  out  set — the  saving 
the  feelings  of  one  friend,  who  had  "  declared  me."  and  promoting  the 


324:  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

election  of  another  (W.  L.).  I  am  an  entire  stranger  in  Halifax,  and 
personal  courtship  is  as  necessary  to  success  in  Politics  as  in-  Love. 
They  have  four  candidates  of  their  own. 

To  be  killed  by  kindness  is,  to  be  sure,  better  than  to  be  murdered, 
and  it  is  some  consolation  to  know  that  you  have  done  service  to  one 
friend,  and  gratified  many :  but  I  have  been  most  keenly  sensible  of 
the  cruelty  of  which  I  could  not  complain. 

My  kindest  regards  to  Mrs.  B.  and  to  Mr.  TVickham  when  you  see 
him.  Your  much  afflicted  but  sincere  friend. 


CHAPTEE    XL. 

THE  VIRGINIA  CONVENTION — EVERY  CHANGE   IS  NOT  R£FORM. 

No  body  of  men  that  ever  assembled  in  Virginia,  created  more  interest 
than  this  convention.  The  State  had  been  agitated  for  many  years, 
on  the  subject  of  constitutional  reform.  Most  of  the  slave  property, 
and  other  wealth,  were  in  the  eastern  section,  extending  from  the  Alle- 
gany  to  the  sea  shore,  while  a  large  free  population  were  scattered  over 
the  western  section,  among  the  mountains.  These  people  were  almost 
unanimous  in  favor  of  an  amendment  of  the  Constitution,  fixing  the 
basis  of  representation  on  free  white  population.  The  result  of  such 
a  measure,  would  be  to  change  the  balance  of  power,  by  giving  the 
right  of  taxation  to  one  portion,  while  the  property  to  be  taxed,  for 
the  most  part,  belonged  to  another  portion  of  the  Commonwealth ; 
thus  divorcing  taxation  and  representation,  which,  according  to  Ameri- 
can doctrine,  should  be  inseparable.  The  eastern  counties,  who  were 
to  be  the  sufferers,  strenuously  opposed  so  radical  a  change  in  the  fun- 
damental law.  It  was  not  a  mere  question  of  reform,  that  might  af- 
fect all  parts  alike,  but  it  was  one  of  power  between  two  sections  of 
the  State,  essentially  different  in  feelings,  habits,  and  interests  ;  it 
was  a  question,  too,  that  deeply  involved  that  most  difficult  and  deli- 
cate of  all  subjects,  the  right  of  slave  representation.  For  these  rea- 
sons, a  deep  and  absorbing  interest  was  felt  in  the  deliberations  of 
the  convention  now  assembled  in  the  capitol,  at  Kichmond.  Each 
section  put  forth  its  strength.  The  ablest  men  were  selected,  without 


THE  VIRGINIA  CONVENTION.  325 

regard  to  locality.  Gentlemen  living  in  the  lower  part  of  the  State, 
were  elected  by  districts  beyond  the  mountains,  because  of  their  coin- 
cidence of  opinion  with  their  distant  constituents. 

Perhaps  no  assembly  of  men  ever  convened  in  Virginia,  display- 
ing a  larger  amount  of  genius  and  talent — certainly  none  that  con- 
tained a  greater  number  of  individuals  whose  reputation  had  extended 
beyond  the  borders  of  the  State,  and  reached  the  farthest  limits  of 
the  Union.  There  were  many  of  less  renown,  who,  in  after  years,  ac- 
quired equal  eminence  in  their  professional  and  political  career.  In- 
deed, of  the  one  hundred  men  that  composed  that  Convention,  much 
the  larger  portion  were  above  the  ordinary  standard  of  talents,  expe- 
rience, and  weight  of  character.  The  Editor  of  the  "  Proceedings  and 
Debates"  of  the  Convention,  says,  "that  an  assembly  of  men  was 
drawn  together,  which  has  scarcely  ever  been  surpassed  in  the  United 
States." 

What  strange  groups,  and  awkward  meetings,  took  place  on  that 
occasion !  Madison  and  Marshall  side  by  side,  in  the  same  delibera- 
tive body !  Giles  and  Monroe !  Randolph,  Tazewell,  Garnett,  Leigh, 
Johnson,  Taylor,  Mercer  !  Old  Federalists,  old  Democrats,  Tertiwn 
Quids,  and  modern  National  Republicans !  What  a  crowd  of  recol- 
lections must  have  pressed  on  the  mind  of  John  Randolph,  as  he  cast 
an  eye  around  that  assembly.  For  thirty  years  he  had  been  on  the 
political  stage  ;  for  full  one-third  of  that  time,  the  whole  of  the  politi- 
cal press,  and  two  administrations — State  and  Federal,  made  war 
upon  him  !  He  was  like  an  Ishmaelite  ;  his  hand  against  every  man, 
and  every  man's  hand  against  him.  Then  a  friend  was  a  friend  indeed  ! 
and  an  enemy  was  one  to  be  remembered  !  Now,  behold  around  him 
so  many  that  were  friends,  so  many  that  were  enemies,  and  so  many 
who.  pretending  to  be  friends,  in  his  hour  of  need  betrayed  him  ! 

Randolph's  manner  and  bearing,  on  this  extraordinary  occasion, 
was  in  some  respects  peculiar,  even  for  him ;  but  before  the  Conven- 
tion adjourned,  his  bland  and  conciliatory  course  exalted  him  in  the 
estimation  of  the  country,  and  gratified  his  devoted  friends,  even  be- 
yond their  most  sanguine  expectations. 

The  first  thing  done  in  the  Convention,  was  to  divide  out  to  com- 
mittees different  parts  of  the  Constitution,  for  revision.  The  most 
important  was  the  Legislative  Committee,  to  whom  was  assigned  the 
duty  of  revising  the  "Right  of  Suffrage,"  the  basis  of  representation 


326  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

Randolph  was  a  member  of  this  committee.  Mr.  Madison  was  chair 
man.  In  the  committee  room  (Senate  chamber)  he  took  his  scat  at 
the  head  of  a  long  table,  and  the  members  arranged  themselves  pro- 
miscuously along  down  -the  sides.  Mr.  Randolph,  on  the  contrary, 
took  his  seat  at  some  distance,  in  a  corner,  where  he  could  observe 
every  thing  and  every  body  that  was  passing.  Erect  in  his  seat,  and 
his  arms  folded  across  his  breast,  he  sat  almost  motionless,  while  his 
keen  eye  might  be  observed  watching  like  a  cat.  Now  and  then  his 
shrill  voice,  as  if  coming  from  some  unseen  being,  would  startle  those 
in  the  room,  and  the  crowd  around  would  press  ^orward  to  see  from 
what  quarter  so  startling  a  sound  had  emanated. 

Of  all  the  men  assembled  there  on  that  great  occasion,  he  was 
certainly  the  observed  of  all  observers.  The  multitude  were  socn  sa- 
tisfied with  seeing  Madison,  Marshall,  Monroe,  and  other  distinguish- 
ed men,  but  no  gratification  could  abate  their  desire  to  watch  every 
movement,  and  to  catch  every  word  that  fell  from  .the  lips  of  John 
Randolph.  They  crowded  around  him  whenever  he  emerged  from 
the  capitol ;  through  the  throng  of  eager  admirers  he  passed,  hat  in 
hand,  with  an  ease,  and  grace,  and  dignity  of  manner,  that  struck 
every  beholder  with  admiration. 

Few  men  escaped  with  the  reputation  they  brought  into  that 
assembly.  They  found  that  professional  attainments,  however  ex- 
tensive, or  political  studies  confined  to  the  measures  or  the  politics 
of  the  day,  did  not  qualify  them  to  discuss  those  great  principles 
which  lie  at  the  foundation  of  all  government.  Quite  other  habits 
of  thought  than  the  professional,  and  a  far  different  training  were  ne- 
cessary for  the  discussion  of  those  questions  that  involved  all  the  in- 
terests of  man,  past,  present,  and  to  come.  That,  however,  was  the 
field  for  John  Randolph  to  display,  in  a  pre-eminent  degree,  his  com- 
manding genius.  His  profound  knowledge  of  men,  of  history,  of 
government ;  the  causes  of  the  growth  and  decay  of  nations ;  his 
patient  attention  and  wonderful  faculty  of  winnowing  the  chaff,  and 
collecting  together  the  substantial  grains  of  a  protracted  debate ;  his 
concentrated,  pointed,  and  forcible  expressions,  making  bare  in  a  few 
words  the  whole  of  a  complicated  subject :  and  his  vast  experience  in 
parliamentary  proceedings,  gave  him  an  unexpected  and  controlling 
influence  over  the  proceedings  of  the  Convention. 

He  watched  those  proceedings  with  unremitted  attention,  partook 


THE  VIRGINIA  CONVENTION.  327 

fargely  in  the  debates,  and  before  the  close  of  the  Convention,  was 
the  acknowledged  leader  of  a  powerful  party,  embracing  the  most  dis- 
tinguished men.  who  opposed  all  changes  in  the  old  Constitution, 
and  actually  prevented  many  that  were  contemplated  by  the  reform- 
ers, and  who,  when  they  first  assembled,  supposed  themselves  in  a  de- 
cided majority.  Mr.  Randolph's  speeches,  with  one  exception  (and 
that  did  not  exceed  two  hours),  were  generally  short,  but  to  the  pur- 
pose. They  were  well  reported  by  Mr.  Stansberry,  the  best  steno- 
grapher of  his  time,  and  some  of  them  are  very  fair  specimens  of  his 
peculiar  style. 

The  cardinal  rule  that  governed  his  whole  political  life  may  be 
found  in  the  following  short  speech : 

K  Mr.  Randolph  said,  he  should  vote  against  the  amendment,  and 
that  on  a  principle  which  he  had  learned  before  he  came  into  public 
life ;  and  by  which  he  had  been  governed  during  the  whole  course  of 
that  life — that  it  was  always  unwise,  yes,  highly  unwise,  to  disturb  a 
thing  that  was  at  rest.  This  was  a  great  cardinal  principle,  that 
should  govern  all  statesmen — never,  without  the  strongest  necessity, 
to  disturb  that  which  was  at  rest.  He  should  vote  against  the  amend- 
ment on  another,  and  an  inferior  consideration.  Whatever  opinion 
might  have  been  expressed  as  to  a  multitude  of  counsellors,  there  was 
but  one  among  considerate  men  as  to  a  multiplicity  of  laws.  The 
objection  urged  by  the  gentleman  from  Richmond,  over  the  way  (Mr. 
Nicholas),  to  the  existing  clause,  was  precisely  one  of  the  strongest 
motives  with  him  for  preferring  the  amendment.  I  am  much  opposed, 
said  Mr.  R.,  except  in  a  great  emergency — and  then  the  legislative  ma- 
chine is  always  sure  to  work  with  sufficient  rapidity — the  steam  is 
then  up — I  am  much  opposed  to  this  '  dispatch  of  business.'  The 
principles  of  free  government  in  this  country  (and  if  they  fail,  if 
they  should  be  cast  away,  here,  they  are  lost  for  ever,  I  fear,  to  the 
world),  have  more  to  fear  from  over  legislation  than  from  any  other 
cause.  Yes,  sir,  they  have  more  to  fear  from  armies  of  legislators, 
and  armies  of  judges,  than  from  any  other,  or  from  all  other  causes. 
Besides  the  great  manufactory  at  Washington,  we  have  twenty-four 
laboratories  more  at  work,  all  making  laws.  In  Virginia,  we  have 
now  two  in  operation — one  engaged  in  ordinary  legislation,  and  ano- 
ther Jiammering  at  the  fundamental  law.  Among  all  these  lawyers, 
judges,  and  legislators ;  there  is  a  great  oppression  on  the  people, 
who  are  neither  lawyers,  judges,  nor  legislators,  nor  ever  expect  to  be ; 
an  oppression  barely  more  tolerable  than  any  which  is  felt  under  the 
European  governments.  Sir,  I  never  can  forget,  that  in  the  great 
and  good  B'ook  to  which  I  look  for  all  truth  and  all  wisdom,  the  Book 
of  Kings  succeeds  the  Book  of  Judges/' 


328  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

On  a  proposition  being  made  to  ingraft  in  the  new  Constitution 
a  mode  in  which  future  amendments  shall  be  made  therein,  Mr.  Ran- 
dolph addressed  the  Convention : 

"  Mr.  President,  I  shall  vote  against  this  resolution :  and  I  wiL 
state  as  succinctly  as  I  can,  my  reasons  for  doing  so.  I  believe  that 
they  will,  in  substance,  be  found  in  a  very  old  book,  and  conveyed  ir 
these  words  : '  Sufficient  unto  the  day  is  the  evil  thereof.'  Sir,  I  have 
remarked  since  the  commencement  of  our  deliberations,  and  with 
no  small  surprise,  a  very  great  anxiety  to  provide  for  futurity.  Gen- 
tlemen, for  example,  are  not  content  with  any  present  discussion  of 
the  Constitution,  unless  we  will  consent  to  prescribe  for  all  time  here- 
after. I  had  always  thought  him  the  mo-st  skilful  physieian,  who, 
when  called  to  a  patient,  relieved  him  of  the  existing  malady,  with- 
out undertaking  to  prescribe  for  such  as  he  might  by  possibility  en- 
dure thereafter. 

Sir,  what  is  the  amount  of  this  provision  ?  It  is  either  mischiev- 
ous, or  it  is  nugatory.  I  do  not  know  a  greater  calamity  that  can 
happen  to  any  nation  than  having  the  foundations  of  its  government 
unsettled. 

Doctor  Franklin,  who,  in  shrewdness,  especially  in  all  that 
related  to  domestic  life,  was  never  excelled,  used  to  say  that  two 
movings  were  equal  to  one  fire.  And  gentlemen,  as  if  they  were 
afraid  that  this  besetting  sin  of  republican  governments,  this  reruni 
novarum  lubido  (to  us  a  very  homely  phrase,  but  one  that  comes  pat 
to  the  purpose),  this  maggot  of  innovation,  would  cease  to  bite,  are 
here  gravely  making  provision  that  this  Constitution,  which  we  should 
consider  as  a  remedy  for  all  the  ills  of  the  body  politic,  may  itself  be 
amended  or  modified  at  any  future  time.  Sir,  I  am  against  any  such 
provision.  I  should  as  soon. think  of  introducing  into  a  marriage  con- 
tract a  provision  for  divorce,  and  thus  poisoning  the  greatest  blessing 
of  mankind  at  its  very  source — at  its  fountain  head.  He  has  seen 
little,  and  has  reflected  less,  who  does  not  know  that  "  necessity"  is 
the  great,  powerful,  governing  principle  of  affairs  here.  Sir,  I  am 
not  going  into  that  question,  which  puzzled  Pandemonium — the  ques- 
tion of  liberty  and  necessity : 

"  Free  will,  fixed  fate,  foreknowledge  absolute ;;) 

but  I  do  contend  that  necessity  is  one  principal  instrument  of  all  the 
good  that  man  enjoys.  The  happiness  of  the  connubial  union  itself 
depends  greatly  on  necessity ;  and  when  you  touch  this,  you  touch 
the  arch,  the  key-stone  of  the  arch,  on  which  the  happiness  and  well- 
being  of  society  is  founded.  Look  at  the  relation  of  master  and 
slave  (that  opprobrium,  in  the  opinion  of  some  gentlemen,  to  all 
civilized  society  and  all  free  government).  Sir,  there  are  few  situa- 
tions in  life  where  friendships  so  strong  and  so  lasting  are  formed, 


THE  VIRGINIA  CONVENTION.  329 

as  in  that  very  relation.  The  slave  knows  that  he  is  bound  indisso- 
lubly  to  his  master,  and  must,  from  necessity,  remain  always  under 
his  control.  The  master  knows  that  he  is  bound  to  maintain  and 
provide  for  his  slave  so  long  as  he  retains  him  in  his  possession.  And 
each  party  accommodates  himself  to  his  situation.  I  have  seen  the 
dissolution  of  many  friendships — such,  at  least,  as  were  so  called ; 
but  I  have  seen  that  of  master  and  slave  endure  so  long  as  there  re- 
mained a  drop  of  the  blood  of  the  master  to  which  the  slave  could 
cleave.  Where  is  the  necessity  of  this  provision  in  the  Constitution  ? 
Where  is  the  use  of  it?  Sir,  what  are  we  about  1  Have  we  not  been 
undoing  what  the  wiser  heads — I  must  be  permitted  to  say  so — yes, 
sir.  what  the  wiser  heads  of  our  ancestors  did  more  than  half  a  cen- 
tury ago  ?  Can  any  one  believe  that  we,  by  any  amendments  of  ours, 
by  any  of  our  scribbling  on  that  parchment,  by  any  amulet,  any  legerde- 
main— charm — Abrecadabra — of  ours  can  prevent  our  sons  from  doing 
the  same  thing — that  is,  from  doing  as  they  please,  just  as  we  are 
doing  as  we  please  ?  It  is  impossible.  Who  can  bind  posterity  ? 
When  I  hear  of  gentlemen  talk  of  making  a  Constitution  for  "  all 
time,"  and  introducing  provisions  into  it  for  "  all  time,"  and  yet  see 
men  here  that  are  older  than  the  Constitution  we  are  about  to  destroy — 
(I  am  older  myself  than  the  present  Constitution — it  was  established 
when  I  was  boy) — it  reminds  me  of  the  truces  and  the  peaces  of 
Europe.  They  always  begin  :  "  In  the  name  of  the  most  holy  and 
undivided  Trinity,"  and  go  on  to  declare,  "  there  shall  be  perfect  and 
perpetual  peace  and  unity  between  the  subjects  of  such  and  such  po- 
tentates for  all  time  to  come ;"  and  in  less  than  seven  years  they  are 
at  war  again. 

Sir,  I  am  not  a  prophet  nor  a  seer  ;  but  I  will  venture  to  predict 
that  your  new  Constitution,  if  it  shall  be  adopted,  does  not  last  twenty 
years.  And  so  confident  am  I  in  this  opinion,  that  if  it  were  a  pro- 
per subject  for  betting,  and  I  was  a  sporting  character,  I  believe  I 
would  take  ten  against  it.  It  would  seem  as  if  we  were  endeavoring 
(God  forbid  that  I  should  insinuate  that  such  was  the  intention  of 
any  here) — as  if  we  were  endeavoring  to  corrupt  the  people  at  the 
fountain  head.  Sir,  the  great  opprobrium  of  popular  government  is 
its  instability.  It  was  this  which  made  the  people  of  our  Anglo- 
Saxon  stock  cling  with  such  pertinacity  to  an  independent  judiciary, 
as  the  only  means  they  could  find  to  resist  this  vice  of  popular  govern- 
ments. By  such  a  provision  as  this,  we  are  now  inviting,  and  in  a 
manner  prompting,  the  people  to  be  dissatisfied  with  their  govern- 
ment. Sir,  there  is  no  need  of  this.  Dissatisfaction  will  come  soon 
enough.  I  foretell  now,  and  with  a  confidence  surpassed  by  none  I  ever 
felt  on  any  occasion,  that  those  who  have  been  the  most  anxious  to 
destroy  the  Constitution  of  Virginia,  and  to  substitute  in  its  place 
this  tkinz,  will  not  be  more  dissatisfied  now  with  the  result  of  our 


330  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

labors,  than  this  new  Constitution  will  very  shortly  be  opposed  by  all 
the  people  of  the  State.  I  speak  not  at  random.  I  have  high  autho- 
rity for  what  I  say  now  in  my  eye.  Though  it  was  said  £hat  the 
people  called  for  a  new  state  of  things,  yet  the  gentleman  from  Brooke 
himself  (Mr.  Doddridge),  who  came  into  the  Legislative  Committee 
armed  with  an  axe  to  lay  at  the  root  of  the  tree,  told  the  Convention 
that  he  would  sooner  go  home  and  live  under  the  old  Constitution 
than  adopt  some  of  the  provisions  which  have  received  the  sanction 
of  this  body.  But  I  am  wandering  from  the  point. 

Sir,  I  see  no  wisdom  in  making  this  provision  for  future  changes. 
You  must  give  governments  time  to  operate  on  the  people,  and  give 
the  people  time  to  become  gradually  assimilated  to  their  institutions. 
Almost  any  thing  is  better  than  this  state  of  perpetual  uncertainty. 
A  people  may  have  the  best  form  of  government  that  the  wit  of  man 
ever  devised  j  and  yet,  from  its  uncertainty  alone,  may,  in  effect,  live 
under  the  worst  government  in  the  world.  Sir,  how  often  must 
I  repeat,  that  change  is  not  reform.  I  am  willing  that  this  new  Con- 
stitution shall  stand  as  long  as  it  is  possible  for  it  to  stand,  and  that, 
believe  me,  is  a  very  short  time.  Sir,  it  is  vain  to  deny  it.  They 
may  say  what  they  please  about  the  old  Constitution.  The  defect  is 
not  there.  It  is  not  in  the  form  of  the  old  edifice,  neither  in  the  de- 
sign nor  the  elevation — it  is  in  the  material — it  is  in  the  people  of 
Virginia.  To  my  knowledge  that  people  are  changed  from  what  they 
have  been.  The  four  hundred  men  who  went  out  to  David,  were  in 
debt.  The  partisans  of  Caesar  were  in  debt.  The  fellow-laborers  of 
Cataline  were  in  debt.  And  I  defy  you  to  show  me  a  desperately  in- 
debted people  any  where,  who  can  bear  a  regular  sober  government, 
I  throw  the  challenge  to  all  who  hear  me.  I  say  that  the  character 
of  the  good  old  Virginia  planter — the  man  who  owned  from  five  to 
twenty  slaves,  or  less,  who  lived  by  hard  work,  and  who  paid  his  debts, 
is  passed  away.  A  new  order  of  things  is  corne.  The  period  lias 
arrived  of  living  by  one's  wits — of  living  by  contracting  debts  that 
one  cannot  pay — and  above  all,  of  living  by  office-hunting.  Sir,  what 
do  we  see  ?  Bankrupts — branded  bankrupts,  giving  great  dinners — 
sending  their  children  to  the  most  expensive  schools — giving  grand 
parties — and  just  as  well  received  as  any  body  in  society.  I  say,  that 
in  such  a  state  of  things,  the  old  Constitution  was  too  good  for  them; 
they  could  not  bear  it.  No,  sir,  they  could  not  bear  a  freehold  suf- 
frage and  a  property  representation.  I  have  always  endeavored  to 
do  the  people  justice,  but  I  will  not  flatter  them  ;  I  will  not  pander 
to  their  appetite  for  change.  I  will  do  nothing  to  provide  for  change, 
I  will  not  agree  to  any  rule  of  future  apportionment,  or  to  any  pro- 
vision for  future  changes,  called  amendments  of  the  Constitution. 
They  who  love  change — who  delight  in  public  confusion — who  wish 
to  feed  the  caldron  and  make  it  bubble,  may  vote,  if  they  please,  for 


THE  VIRGINIA  CONVENTION.  331 

future  changes.  But  by  what  spell — by  what  formula  are  you  going 
to  bind  the  people  to  all  future  time  ?  Quis  custodiet  custodes  ?  The 
days  of  Lycurgus  are  gone  by,  when  we  could  swear  the  people  not 
to  alter  the  Constitution  until  he  should  return — animo  no?i  reverten- 
di.  You  may  make  what  entries  on  parchment  you  please.  Give 
me  a  Constitution  that  will  last  for  half  a  century — that  is  all  I  wish 
for.  No  Constitution  that  you  can  make  will  last  the  one-half  of  half 
a  century.  Sir,  I  will  stake  any  thing  short  of  my  salvation,  that 
those  who  are  malcontent  now,  will  be  more  malcontent  three  years 
hence,  than  they  are  at  this  day.  I  have  no  favor  for  this  Constitution. 
I  shall  vote  against  its  adoption,  and  I  shall  advise  all  the  people  of 
my  district,  to  set  their  faces — aye,  and  their  shoulders  against  it. 
But  if  we  are  to  have  it,  let  us  not  have  it  with  its  death  warrant  in 
its  very  face:  with  the  fades  liypocratica — the  sardonic  grin  of  death 
upon  its  countenance." 

The  resolution  was  rejected  by  a  large  majority,  and  the  Jonven- 
tion  determined  that  the  new  Constitution  should  contain  in  itself 
no  provision  for  future  amendments. 

As  the  most  distinguished  member  on  the  floor,  Mr.  Randolph 
was  assigned  the  duty  of  closing  the  business  of  the  Convention. 

"  Mr.  Chairman,"  said  he,  "  for  the  last  time,  I  throw  myself  up- 
on the  indulgence  and  courtesy  of  this  body.  I  have  a  proposition 
to  submit,  which,  I  flatter  myself — which  I  trust — I  believe,  will  be 
received  with  greater  unanimity  than  any  other  which  has  been  offer- 
ed in  the  course  of  our  past  discussions,  with  perfect  unanimity. 
You  will  perceive,  sir,  that  I  allude  to  your  eminent  colleague,  who 
has  presided  over  our  deliberations.  When  I  shall  have  heard  him 
pronounce  from  that  chair,  the  words — '  This  Convention  stands  ad- 
journed sine  die]  I  shall  be  ready  to  sing  my  political  nunc  dimittis , 
for,  it  will  have  put  a  period  to  three  months,  the  most  anxious  and 
painful  of  a  political  life,  neither  short  nor  uneventful.  Having  said 
thus  much,  I  hope  I  may  be  permitted  to  add,  that,  notwithstanding 
any  heat  excited  by  the  collision  of  debate,  I  part  from  every  member 
here,  with  the  most  hearty  good-will  to  all.  But  I  cannot  consent 
that  we  shall  separate,  without  offering  the  tribute  of  my  approbation, 
and  inviting  the  House  to  add  theirs — infinitely  more  valuable — to 
the  conduct  of  the  presiding  officer  of  this  Assembly.  If  it  were  a 
suitable  occasion,  I  might  embrace  within  the  scope  of  my  motion, 
and  of  my  remarks,  his  public  conduct  and  character  elsewhere,  with 
which  I  have  been  long  and  intimately  acquainted ;  but  this,  as  it 
would  be  misplaced,  so  would  it  be  fulsome.  I  shall,  therefore,  restrict 
myself  to  the  following  motion : 

"'-Resolved.  That  the  impartiality  and  dignity  with  which  Philip  P, 
Barbour.  Esq..  hath  presided  over  the  deliberations  of  this  House. 
42 


332  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

und  the  distinguished  ability  whereby  he  hath  facilitated  the  dispatcb 
of  business,  receive  the  best  thanks  of  this  Convention.'  " 

At  the  time  of  this  adjournment,  no  man  stood  higher  than  John 
Randolph  in  the  estimation  of  the  members  or  of  the  people.  He 
had  won  greatly  on  their  affections.  A  more  familiar  contact,  and 
closer  observation  of  the  man,  had  served  to  remove  many  prejudices. 
They  began  to  comprehend  and  appreciate  one  who  had  been  so  long 
the  victim  of  wilful  misrepresentation,  and  of  calumny.  Notwith- 
standing the  boldness  with  which  he  spoke  unpleasant  truths  in  the 
Convention,  his  manner,  on  the  whole,  was  so  mild  and  conciliatory, 
his  wisdom  and  his  genius  so  conspicuous,  that  they  won  for  bim  the 
esteem  and  the  veneration  of  every  body.  His  friends,  delighted  with 
this  state  of  things,  wrote  to  him  from  all  quarters,  congratulating 
him  on  this  agreeable  termination  of  his  labors  in  the  Convention. 
Here  is  one  of  his  letters  in  answer  to  a  friend  who  had  written  him 
on  this  subject : 

"  How  I  have  succeeded  in  gaining  upon  the  good  opinion  of  the 
public — as  you  and  others  of  my  friends  tell  me  I  have  done — I  can- 
not tell.  I  made  no  effort  for  it,  nor  did  it  enter  into  my  imagina- 
tion to  court  any  man,  or  party,  in  or  out  of  the  Convention.  It  i? 
most  gratifying,  nevertheless,  to  be  told  by  yourself  and  others,  in 
whose  sincerity  and  truth  I  place  the  most  unbounded  reliance,  that 
I  have,  by  the  part  I  took  in  the  Convention,  advanced  myself  in  the 
estimation  of  my  country.  With  politics  I  am  now  done  ;  and  it  is 
well  to  be  able  to  quit  ivinner." 


CHAPTEE     XLI. 

MISSION  TO   KUSSIA. 

BEFORE  Mr.  Randolph  took  his  seat  in  the  Convention  he  had  been 
offered  the  mission  to  the  Court  of  St.  Petersburg!!.  The  President's 
letter,  making  the  offer,  was  highly  flattering  to  him.  It  was  in  the 
following  words : 

WASHINGTON,  Sept.  16, 1829. 

DEAR  SIR  :  The  office  of  Envoy  Extraordinary  and  Minister  Plen- 
ipotentiary to  Russia  will  soon  become  vacant,  and  I  am  anxious  that 
the  place  should  be  filled  by  one  of  the  most  capable  and  distin- 
guished of  our  fellow-citizens. 


MISSION  TO  RUSSIA.  333 

The  great  and  rapidly  increasing  influence  if  Russia  in  tho  af- 
fairs of  the  world,  renders  it  very  important  that  our  representative 
at  that  Court  should  be  of  the  highest  respectability ;  and  the  expe- 
diency of  such  a  course  at  the  present  moment  is  greatly  increased 
by  circumstances  of  a  special  character.  Among  the  number  of  our 
statesmen  from  whom  the  selection  might  with  propriety  be  made,  I 
do  not  know  one  better  fitted  for  the  station,  on  the  score  of  talents 
and  experience  in  publio  affairs,  or  possessing  stronger  claims  upon 
the  favorable  consideration  of  his  country,  than  yourself.  Thus  im- 
pressed, and  entertaining  a  deep  and  grateful  sense  of  your  long  and 
unceasing  devotion  to  sound  principles,  and  the  interest  oi  the  peo- 
ple, I  feel  it  a  duty  to  offer  the  appointment  to  you. 

In  discharging  this  office  I  have  the  double  satisfaction  of  seek- 
ing to  promote  the  public  interest,  whilst  performing  an  act  most 
gratifying  to  myself,  on  account  of  the  personal  respect  and  esteem 
which  I  have  always  felt  and  cherished  towards  you. 

It  is  not  foreseen  that  any  indulgence  as  to  the  period  of  your 
departure,  which  will  be  required  by  a  due  regard  to  your  private  af- 
fairs, will  conflict  with  the  interests  of  the  mission  :  and  I  sincerely 
hope  that  no  adverse  circumstances  may  exist,  sufficient  to  deprive 
the  country  of  your  services. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be,  with  great  respect, 

Your  most  ob't  serv't, 

ANDREW  JACKSON. 
The  Hon.  JOHN  RANDOLPH  OF  ROANOKE. 

This  letter,  as  it  must  necessarily  have  been,  was  general,  and 
diplomatic  in  its  terms ;  but  it  was  sufficiently  explicit  to  show  that 
Mr.  Randolph  was  needed  for  a  special  service ;  that  his  great  talents 
and  experience  rendered  him.  in  the  judgment  of  the  President,  pe- 
culiarly fitted  for  the  service,  and  that  no  delay  which  might  be  re- 
quired for  his  private  affairs,  would  affect  the  interests  of  the  mission. 

The  Secretary  of  State,  Mr.  Van  Buren,  who  inclosed  the  above 
communication,  stated  in  his  letter  that  "  the  vacancy  spoken  of  by 
the  President  will  be  effected  by  a  recall  which  he  feels  it  to  be  his 
duty  to  make,  and  the  notice  of  which  will  be  sent  the  moment  your 
answer  is  received." 

To  the  President's  invitation  Mr.  Randolph  replied  : 

ROANOKE,  Sept.  24,  1829. 

SIR  :  By  the  last  mail  I  received,  under  Mr.  Yan  Buren's  cover, 
your  letter,  submitting  to  my  acceptance  the  mission  to  Russia. 

This  honor,  as  unexpected  as  it  was  unsought  for,  is  very  much 
enhanced  in  my  estimation,  by  the  very  kind  and  flattering  terms  in 


334  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

which  you  have  been  pleased  to  couch  the  offer  of  the  appointment, 
May  I  be  pardoned  for  saying,  that  the  manner  in  which  it  has  been 
conveyed  could  alone  have  overcome  the  reluctance  that  I  feel  at  the 
thoughts  of  leaving  private  life,  and  again  embarking  on  the  stormy 
sea  of  federal  politics.  This  I  hope  I  may  do  without  any  impeach- 
ment of  my  patriotism,  since  it  shall  in  no  wise  diminish  my  exer- 
tions to  serve  our  country  in  the  station  to  which  I  have  been  called 
by  her  chief  magistrate,  and  under  those  "  circumstances  of  a  special 
character"  indicated  by  your  letter.  The  personal  good  opinion  and 
regard,  which  you  kindly  express  towards  me,  merit  and  receive  my 
warmest  acknowledgments/ 

I  have  the  honor  to  be,  with  the  highest  respect,  sir.  your  most 
obedient  and  faithful  servant, 

JOHN  RANDOLPH  CF  ROANOKE. 
To  ANDREW  JACKSON,  Esq.,  President  of  the  U.  S. 

Mr.  Randolph  was  not  called  upon  to  assume  the  dinics  of  his 
mission  till  the  month  of  May,  1830,  when  the  appointment  was  first 
made  known  to  the  public.  This  was  not  occasioned  by  any  expressed 
wish  on  his  part  for  a  delay.  It  was  caused  by  circumstances  over 
which  the  President  himself  had  no  control ;  and  which  were  to  him 
the  source  of  much  vexation. 

Every  thing  was  done  by  the  President  and  Mr.  Yan  Buren  to 
render  the  appointment  agreeable.  General  Hamilton,  and  others, 
had  solicited  the  post  of  Secretary  of  Legation  for  Mr.  Cruger,  of 
South  Carolina.  The  reply  was  that  the  President  had  decided  to 
leave  that  matter  altogether  to  Mr.  Randolph.  In  a  letter  to  him, 
February  25,  1880,  Mr.  Van  Buren  says:  "If  he  (Cruger)  will  ac- 
cept, and  you  approve,  no  objections  will  be  made  from  any  quarter." 

About  a  month  afterwards  he  was  informed  that  the  friends  of 
Mr.  Cruger  had  declined  for  him,  he  not  being  yet  returned  from 
Europe ;  and  was  requested  to  look  about  him  to  suit  himself. 

What  followed  is  thus  explained  by  him  in  a  letter  to  Dr.  Brock- 
enbrough,  dated  Friday,  June  4,  1830: 

"  Thanks  for  your  caution  ;  but  I  was  forearmed.  This  matter 
was  left  entirely  to  me.  I  had  a  full  account  of  the  late  incumbent 
long  ago.  I  waited  as  long  as  was  practicable  for  Mr.  Cruger,  and 
this  day  sevennight  I  sent  off  Clay,  who  received  the  appointment 
the  morning  of  his  arrival.  He  says:  'He  (the  P.)  told  me  he 
wished  you  to  sail  by  the  15th  of  June,  as  the  vessel  would  be  ready 
at  Norfolk  by  that  time.  As  I  could  not  get  an  audience  before 
eleven  o'clock,  I  have  no  time  to  add  more.  The  P.  will  write  to 


MISSION  TO  RUSSIA.  325 

you  to-day.'  (I  shall  not  receive  this  until  Monday.)  '  The  commis- 
sion for  me  will  be  made  out  to-morrow  or  next  day,  and  your  in- 
structions as  soon  as  possible.  He  told  me,  that  although  he  would 
have  liked  very  much  to  have  shaken  you  by  the  hand,  yet  he  would 
not  put  you  to  the  inconvenience  of  coming  to  this  place.' 

"  This  is  vigorous  proceeding.  Last  Friday  I  broached  the  sub- 
ject of  my  appointment  to  this  youth.  After  talking  of  my  disap- 
pointment in  regard  to  Mr.  Cruger,  I  most  unexpectedly  offered  it 
to  him.  It  was  an  electric  shock.  That  evening  (in  two  hours  after 
the  mail  arrived)  he  left  me ;  and  about  the  same  time  at  the  termi- 
nation of  the  week  I  have  his  letter,  which  must  have  been  mailed  at 
twelve  on  the  noon  of  his  arrival  in  Washington." 

About  the  latter  part  of  the  month  of  June  Mr.  Randolph  sailed 
from  Hampton  Roads.  His  acceptance  of  this  mission  has  been 
much  condemned  :  many  of  his  best  friends  disapproved  of  it ;  they 
thought  it  was  inconsistent  with  his  former  professions.  They  seemed 
to  wish  that  it  might  be  always  said  of  him — he  never  accepted  office- 
lived  and  died  in  the  service  of  the  people — the  great  commoner. 
But  this  was  taking  a  limited  view  of  the  subject.  It  must  be  re- 
membered that  Mr.  Randolph  had  retired  from  public  life  ;  the  ses- 
sion that  closed  the  4th  of  March,  1829,  put  an  end  to  his  legislative 
career ;  his  health  was  feeble ;  and  his  only  hope  of  a  prolonged 
existence  was  in  travelling  and  sojourning  in  a  better  climate  than 
that  of  his  native  land.  All  his  plans  had  a  reference  to  that  object; 
he  looked  for  nothing,  expected  nothing,  from  the  Government.  In 
this  state  of  things  a  distinguished  and  important  appointment  was 
offered  him. 

On  whom  could  the  President  have  more  appropriately  bestowed 
the  most  signal  evidence  of  his  approbation  and  confidence  ?  He  was 
by  far  the  most  illustrious  man  in  the  ranks  of  the  administration, 
and  had  done  more  than  any  other  individual  to  pull  down  the  for- 
mer, and  to  build  up  the  present  dynasty.  As  the  President  most 
happily  expressed  himself,  he  was  moved  to  make  the  appointment 
from  "  a  deep  and  grateful  sense  of  Mr.  Randolph's  long  and  unceas- 
ing devotion  to  sound  principles  and  the  interest  of  the  people."  To 
have  neglected  bestowing  some  mark  of  distinguished  honor  on  such 
a  man,  would  have  betrayed  such  a  spirit  of  injustice  and  ingratitude 
as  to  arouse  the  indignation  of  the  country. 

What  more  appropriate  office  could  have  been  assigned  him  1 
The  departments  at  Washington,  the  missions  to  London  and  to 


336  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

Paris,  were  too  confining,  laborious,  and  vexatious  in  their  details  fo? 
his  feeble  health.  At  the  distant  court  of  St.  Petersburgh  he  could 
not  be  much  perplexed  with  business  :  while,  at  the  same  time,  to 
give  dignity  and  importance  to  his  mission,  he  had  assigned  him  a 
special  duty,  the  results  of  which  might  greatly  redound  to  the  good 
of  the  country,  while  it  required  only  occasional  attention,  and  could 
not  suffer  by  delay. 

In  accepting  this  appointment,  he  only  carried  out  his  original 
design  of  going  abroad  in  search  of  health ;  while,  at  the  same  time, 
he  served  his  country  in  a  station  she  had  pressed  upon  him  as  an 
evidence  to  foreigners  of  her  distinguished  regard.  But  he  had  said, 
office  had  no  charms  for  him ;  in  his  condition,  a  cup  of  cold  water 
would  be  more  acceptable.  All  this  was  true.  Had  he  sought  a 
change  of  administration  for  the  sake  of  office — had  he  retired  from 
the  service  of  the  people  "  to  drudge  in  the  laboratories  of  the  depart- 
ments, or  to  be  at  the  tail  of  the  corps  diplomatique  in  Europe,"  ho 
might  have  been  charged  with  inconsistency.  But  no  one  could 
justly  accuse  him  of  seeking  to  overthrow  the  administration  of  Mr. 
Adams  from  personal  considerations.  "  Sir,"  said  he,  "  my  '  church- 
yard cough'  gives  me  the  solemn  warning,  that,  whatever  part  I  shall 
take  in  the  chase,  I  may  fail  of  being  in  at  the  death.  I  should  think 
myself  the  basest  and  the  meanest  of  men— I  care  not  what  the 
opinion  of  the  world  might  be — I  should  know  myself  to  be  a  scoun- 
drel, and  should  not  care  who  else  knew  it,  if  I  could  permit  any  mo- 
tive connected  with  division  of  the  spoil,  to  mingle  in  this  matter 
with  my  poor,  but  best  exertions  for  the  welfare  of  my  country." 

None  but  the  most  uncharitable,  could  doubt  the  truth  and  the  sin- 
cerity of  this  declaration.  But  it  so  happened  that.  Mr.  Randolph 
did  survive,  and  that  the  new  administration  called  on  him  to  leave 
his  retirement,  and  to  perform  an  important  service  for  the  country, 
in  the  diplomatic  department.  What  answer  could  he  give  1  I  have 
no  desire  for  office;  its  drudgery  would  be  intolerable  to  me,  in  my 
feeble  health.  I  am  aware  of  that,  says  the  President,  but  there  is  a 
special  object  to  be  accomplished  at  one  of  the  most  important  courts 
in  Europe.  I  can  think  of  no  one  more  able  than  yoursei*,  or  that 
will  bring  more  weight  of  character  into  the  service.  I  beg  of  you, 
for  the  sake  of  the  country,  to  accept  the  office.  What  answer  could 
he  give,  to  this  appeal  to  his  patriotism  1  Sir,  I  am  the  champion  of 


MISSION  TO  RUSSIA.  337 

the  people,  and  will  only  serve  them.  I  will  not  accept  your  bribe, 
to  close  my  eyes  and  silence  my  tongue.  Such  an  answer  would  have 
been  worthy  of  Diogenes  (whose  part  he  was  expected  to  piay  on  this 
occasion),  but  not  of  a  patriot  and  a  statesman,  who  is  willing  to  servo 
his  country  in  any  capacity ;  and  who  knows  that  a  faithful  discharge 
of  his  duties,  in  whatever  station,  is  a  good  service  performed  for  the 
benefit  of  the  people.  Mr.  Randolph  gave  the  only  answer  that  was 
becoming  in  him  to  give — "  May  I  be  pardoned  for  saying  that  the 
manner  in  which  it  has  been  couched  (the  appointment)  could  alone 
have  overcome  the  reluctance  that  I  feel  at  the  thoughts  of  leaving 
private  life,  and  again  embarking  on  the  stormy  sea  of  federal  poli- 
tics. This  I  hope  I  may  do,  without  any  impeachment  of  my  patri- 
otism, since  it  shall  in  no  wise  diminish  my  exertions  to  serve  our 
country  in  the  station  to  which  I  have  been  called  by  her  Chief  Magis- 
trate." Had  Mr.  Randolph  declined  the  office  so  warmly  pressed 
upon  him,  it  would  have  been  a  condemnation  of  the  administration 
in  the  beginning.  It  would  have  been  a  declaration  to  the  world  that 
he  had  no  faith,  no  confidence  in  the  man  he  had  been  so  instrumen- 
tal in  elevating  to  the  presidency.  As  he  did  not  thus  feel,  it  would 
have  been  unpatriotic  and  unwise,  to  take  a  course  that  would  mani- 
fest such  distrust.  Indeed,  Mr.  Randolph  had  no  other  alternative, 
without  doing  great  violence  to  his  true  sentiments,  but  to  accept  the 
appointment,  at  whatever  cost  to  his  private  interests ;  and  it  was  a 
great  sacrifice ;  "  it  has  been  my  ruin,"  says  he,  "  body  and  estate,  this 
Baltic  business." 

Ml  Randolph  arrived  in  St.  Petersburgh  about  the  last  of  August. 
He  writes  to  Dr.  Brockenbrough.  4th  September : 

"  My  reception  has  been  all  that  the  most  fastidious  could  wish. 
You  know  I  always  dreaded  the  summer  climate,  when  my  friends 
were  killing  me  with  the  climate  of  Russia  before  my  time.  Nothing 
can  be  more  detestable.  It  is  a  comet ;  and  when  I  arrived  it  was  in 
perihelion.  I  shall  not  stay  out  the  aphelion.  Heat,  dust  impal- 
pable, pervading  every  part  and  pore,  and  actually  sealing  these  last 
up,  annoying  the  eyes  especially,  which  are  farther  distressed  by  the 
glare  of  the  white  houses.  Insects  of  all  nauseous  descriptions,  bugs, 
fleas,  mosquitos,  flies  innumerable,  gigantic  as  the  empire  they  in- 
habit ;  who  will  take  no  denial.  Under  cover  of  the  spectacles,  they 
do  not  suffer  you  to  write  two  words,  without  a  conflict  with  them. 
This  is  the  land  of  Pharaoh  and  his  plagues — Egypt,  and  its  ophthal- 
mia and  vermin,  without  its  fertility — Holland,  without  its  wealth. 


338      '  -LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

improvements,  or  cleanliness.  Nevertheless,  it  is  beyond  all  compar 
ison,  the  most  magnificent  city  I  ever  beheld.  But  you  must  not 
reckon  upon  being  laid  in  earth ;  there  is,  properly  speaking,  no  such 
thing  here.  It  is  rotten  rubbish  on  a  swamp ;  and  at  two  feet  you 
come  to  water.  This  last  is  detestable.  The  very  ground  has  a  bad 
odor,  and  the  air  is  not  vital.  Two  days  before  my  presentation  to 
the  Emperor  and  Empress,  I  was  taken  with  an  ague.  But  my  poor 
Juba  lay  at  the  point  of  death.  His  was  a  clear  case  of  black  vomit ; 
and  I  feel  assured  that  in  the  month  of  August,  Havana  or  New 
Orleans  would  be  as  safe  for  a  stranger  as  St.  Petersburgh.  It  is  a 
Dutch  town,  with  fresh-water-river  canals,  &c.  To  drink  the  water 
is  to  insure  a  dysentery  of  the  worst  type. 

':In  consequence  of  Juba's  situation,  I  walked  down  one  morning 
to  the  English  boarding-house,  where  Clay  had  lodged,  kept  by  a 
Mrs.  Wilson,  of  whom  I  had  heard  a  very  high  character  as  a  nurse, 
and  especially  of  servants.  I  prevailed  upon  her  to  take  charge  of 
the  poor  boy,  which  she  readily  agreed  to  do.  I  put  Juba,  on  whom 
I  had  practised  with  more  than  Russian  energy,  into  my  carriage,  got 
into  it,  brought  him  into  the  bedroom  taken  for  myself,  had  a  blazing 
fire  kindled,  so  as  to  keep  the  thermometer  at  65°  morning,  70°  af- 
ternoon ;  ventilated  well  the  apartment ;  poured  in  the  quinine,  opium, 
and  port  wine  ;  snake-root  tea  for  drink,  with  a  heavy  hand  (he  had 
been  previously  purged  with  mercurials),  and  to  that  energy,  under 
Grod,  I  owe  the  life  of  my  dear  faithful  Juba." 

Mr.  Randolph  very  soon  learnt,  on  his  arrival,  that  the  special 
object  of  his  mission  could  not  at  that  time  be  accomplished.  "  There 
has  been,"  says  he,  "  a  game  playing  between  my  predecessor  and  a 
certain  great  man,  in  which  M.  has  fairly  beaten  him,  at  his  own  wea- 
pons ;  most  disgracefully  'tis  true  for  M.,  but  not  less  so  for  the  other 
party.  This  is  the  secret  of  that  delay  so  vexatious  to  General 
Jackson,  so  injurious  to  me,  and  so  destructive  to  the  success  of  my 
mission.  The  day  before  I  left  Hampton  Roads,  Count  Nesselrode's 
star  sunk  temperately  to  the  West,  and  Prince  Lieven  became  the 
Lord  of  the  ascendent.  The  waters  of  Carlsbad  are  only  like  young 
unmarried  ladies'  dropsical  affections,  for  which  they  are  sent  down  to 
their  friends  in  the  country,  a  decent  cover  for  what  all  consider  a 
virtual  superseding  of  the  minister." 

Add  to  this  change  in  the  Ministry,  the  revolution  in  France, 
and  jn  Belgium,  the  rebellion  in  Poland,  and  the  cholera  then  raging 
through  Europe,  and  it  may  readily  be  imagined  that  Russia  was  not 
in  a  condition  to  deliberate  on  such  matters,  as  might  without  preju- 
dice be  postponed. 


MISSION  TO  RUSSIA.  339 

The  Emperor  had  as  much  as  he  could  do  to  attend  to  affairs  at 
home.  The  special  sitljcct  of  Mr.  Randolph's  mission  was  delayed, 
and  as  he  had  no  particular  object  connected  with  his  public  duties  to 
detain  him,  he  sought  refuge  in  a  more  genial  climate. 

He  writes  from  London,  Wednesday,  Sept.  29,  1830:  "I  write 
merely  to  tell  you  that  after  having  been  lifted  on  board  the  coach 
and  steamboat  at  St.  Petersburgh  on  the  7th — 19th  instant,  I  landed 
this  morning  at  8  on  the  Custom-House  Wharf,  able  to  walk  a  few 
steps." 

October  28,  he  writes  :  "  I  have  letters  from  St.  Petersburgh,  one 
a  '  note'  from  Count  Nesselrode,  as  late  as  the  6th  of  this  month,  and 
I  am  daily  in  expectation  of  others  from  the  same  quarter.  On  Sun- 
day, if  I  have  strength,  we  go  to  New  Market,  to  attend  the  3rd 
October  or  Houghton  meeting.  This  will  be  a  fine  theme  for  the 
coalition  presses.  No  matter.  Let  the  curs  bark  since  they  cannot 
bite.  I  have  been  so  often  left  for  dead  and  rose  again,  that  they  may 
despair  of  victory  over  my  feline  political  lives." 

Many  ridiculous  stories  were  told  in  the  United  States  about  Mr. 
Randolph's  conduct  and  reception  in  Russia.  In  allusion  to  this  sub- 
ject, he  writes  to  his  friend  : 

"  The  yearnings  of  my  heart  after  home,  have  been  stifled  by  the 
monstrous  and  malignant  calumnies  which  have  been  heaped  upon  my 
unoffending  head.  To  them  I  have  but  to  oppose  the  honor  of  a 
gentleman,  upon  which  I  declare  them  to  be  utterly  false  and  ground- 
less. 

u  My  official  correspondence  will  flatly  contradict  the  most  mischie- 
vous of  them,  as  regards  the  public  interest. 

•;  Nothing  could  be  more  cordial  than  my  reception  in  Russia.  It 
was  but  yesterday  (Dec.  19,  1830)  that  I  had  my  first  interview  with 
Prince  Lieven  since  his  return  to  this  court,  and  my  reception  was 
like  that  of  a  brother. 

"  On  my  arrival  at  St.  Petersburgh  I  took  up  my  abode  at  the 
principal  Hotel,  Demouth's.  where  I  staid  one  week. 

"  Furnishing  myself  with  a  handsome  equipage  and  four  or  five 
horses,  I  called  promptly  on  every  diplomatic  character,  whether  Am- 
bassador, Envoy,  or  Charge,  or  even  Secretary  of  Legation,  from  the 
highest  to  the  lowest.  Not  "content  with  sending  round  my  carriage 
and  servants,  I  called  in  person  and  left  my  cards. 

"  Count  Athalin,  the  new  representative  of  France,  promptly  called 
on  me  (being  a  later  comer),  and  the  next  day,  being  ill  a-bed,  I  sent 
my  coach  and  Secretary  of  Legation  to  return  his  visit.  I  had  pre- 
viously called  on  the  Charge  6V Affaires  of  France  under  Charles  X 


340  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

"  I  had  not.  during  my  sojourn  in  St.  Petersburgh,  the  slightest 
difference  with  any  one,  except  a  British  subject,  and  that  was  on  the 
construction  of  a  contract.  This  man  (my  landlord)  and  his  niece 
were  my  fellow-passengers  from  Cronstadt,  and  we  parted  on  the  most 
civil  and  friendly  terms. 

"  He  is  not  the  author  of  these  slanders. 

;:  Before  I  thought  of  cancelling  the  bargain  with  Smith,  I  had  ap- 
plied to  Mrs.  Wilson  to  receive  and  nurse  my  poor  Juba.  I  removed 
to  her  house  myself,  not  as  a  boarder,  but  a  lodger,  and  took  a  room 
on  the  ground  floor.  Except  Clay  and  Capt.  Turner,  of  the  ship 
Fania  of  Boston,  to  whom  I  intrusted  my  faithful  Juba,  I  did  not 
set  eyes  upon  one  of  the  inmates  of  the  house.  Capt.  T.  at  my  re- 
quest was  often  in  my  apartment,  and  to  him  I  fearlessly  appeal  for 
the  falsehood  of  these  calumnies,  so  far  as  I  came  under  his  observa 
tion.  They  are  utterly  false. 

';  •  The  Court  Tailor.'  A  day  or  two  after  I  got  to  Demouth's 
Hotel,  a  person  very  unceremoniously  opened  my  parlor  door  and  ad- 
vanced to  my  bed-room,  where  I  was  lying  on  a  sofa.  He  was  the 
American  Consul's  Tailor,  and  said,  '  he  had  been  sent  for,'  but 
seemed  abashed  at  finding  the  Consul  with  me.  I.  seeing  through  the 
trick  (it  is  universally  practised  there),  told  him  he  had  been  misin- 
formed, and  the  man  apologized  and  withdrew.  He  was  sent  for 
about  ten  days  afterwards,  and  made  some  clothes  for  Mr.  Clay. 

"  I  did  not  refuse  to  land  at  Cronstadt.  The  authorities  came  on 
board  to  visit  me,  and  when  they  returned,  I  entered  the  steamboat 
and  proceeded  up  to  St.  Petersburgh. 

"  My  dress,  on  presentation  to  their  Imperial  Majesties,  was  a  full 
suit  of  the  finest  black  cloth  that  London  could  afford  ;  and,  with  the 
exception  of  a  steel-cap  sword,  was  the  dress  of  Mr.  Madison  during 
the  late  Convention.  (I  had  indeed  no  diamond  buckles.)  In  the 
same  dress,  never  worn  except  upon  those  two  occasions  (with  the 
exception  of  gold  shoe  and  knee  buckles,  adopted  out  of  pity  to  Mr. 
McLane,  and  laying  aside,  at  his  instance,  the  sword),  I  was  presented 
at  court  here  On  neither  occasion  did  I  think  of  my  costume  after 
I  had  put  it  on  ;  nor  did  it  attract  observation  ;  and  I  am  well  satis- 
fied that  the  love  of  display  on  the  part  of  some  of  our  own  foreign 
agents,  and  the  pruriency  of  female  frontlets  for  coronets  and  tiaras, 
have  been  at  the  bottom  of  our  court-dress  abroad.  It  is  not  expected 
or  desired,  that  a  foreign  minister  shall  have  exacted  from  him  what 
is  the  duty  of  a  subject.  I  saw  Prince  Talleyrand  at  the  King's 
levee  as  plainly  dressed  as  I  was.  But  what  satisfies  me  on  the 
subject  is,  that  Prince  Lieven,  on  whose  goodness  I  threw  myself  for 
instruction  at  St.  Petersburgh,  and  who  saw  me  in  the  dress  (chosen 
by  Polonius's  advice),  never  hinted  any  thing  on  the  subject ;  but 
truly  said  that  '  his  Majesty  the  Emperor  would  receive  me  as  one 
gentleman  receives  another ;'  and  such  was  the  fact." 


MISSION  TO  RUSSIA.  341 

Mr.  Randolph  afterwards  described  this  interview  to  some  of  his 
friends.  He  said  he  went  to  the  Palace,  passed  through  a  number  of 
guards  and  officers  splendidly  dressed,  and  was  introduced  to  the  Em- 
peror alone.  He  was  a  handsome  young  man,  dressed  in  uniform. 
But  a  difficulty  arose  from  Mr.  Randolph's  speaking  French  imper- 
fectly, and  the  Emperor  not  speaking  English.  The  Emperor  sent 
for  some  one  that  could  interpret  for  them ;  but  after  a  little  time 
they-  managed  to  understand  each  other — Mr.  Randolph  speaking 
French  very  slowly,  and  the  Emperor  answering  in  the  same  manner. 
At  length,  the  Emperor  asked  him  if  he  wished  to  see  the  Empress? 
Mr.  R.  replied  that  he  did.  The  Emperor  then  bowed,  and  Mr. 
Ptandolph  bowed  himself  out  of  the  presence  backwards,  according  to 
the  etiquette  of  the  court.  He  was  then  conducted  to  another  part 
of  the  Palace,  and  introduced,  among  a  large  assemblage  of  ladies, 
where  he  was  presented  to  the  Empress,  she  being  in  advance  of  the 
rest.  He  described  her  as  being  very  handsome.  She  questioned 
him  whether  he  had  ever  been  at  court  before.  He  said  he  had  not ; 
that  it  was  the  first  time  he  had  ever  been  in  the  presence  of  royalty. 
She  asked  him  if  he  knew  Mr.  Monroe,  who  had  been  aide-de-camp  to 
Prince  Constantine,  and  afterwards  to  the  Emperor?  He  said  he 
did  not.  She  said  he  was  a  very  fine  young  man,  and  a  great  favo- 
rite with  the  Emperor ;  and  asked  if  he  was  not  the  son  of  the  Post- 
master-General ?  He  replied  that  he  was  not ;  but  was  the  son  of 
the  postmaster  at  "Washington.  She  asked  him  if  he  was  not  a  rela- 
tion of  President  Monroe  ?  He  told  her  he  was  not.  After  some 
further  conversation,  Mr.  Randolph  said  something  which  made  the 
Empress  laugh  "  most  vociferously."  The  audience  soon  ended,  and 
Mr.  Randolph  had  again  to  bow  himself  out  backwards ;  '•  and  it  was 
lucky,"  said  he,  "  that  I  happened  to  be  near  the  door." 

On  the  22d  of  January,  1831,  Mr.  Randolph  wrote  to  his  friend, 
Mark  Alexander,  Esq.,  a  late  colleague  from  the  Mecklenburgh  Dis- 
trict, then  in  Washington  : 

';  I  am  daily,  and  hourly  in  the  hope  of  hearing  from  Russia.  My 
absence  from  that  country  has  not  been  of  the  slightest  detriment  to 
our  affairs  in  that  quarter.  Before  my  departure,  I  had  put  the  im- 
perial ministry  in  full  possession  of  our  propositions  and  views,  and 
have  since  been  awaiting  their  answer,  which  the  revolutions  in  France 
and  Belgium  and  the  insurrection  of  Poland  (to  say  nothing  of  the 
cholera  morbus)  have  retarded.  The  Russian  government  have  been 


342  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

too  much  engrossed  by  these  events,  and  by  the  feverish  state  of 
Europe,  to  attend  to  subjects  which  may  as  well  be  settled  next  year 
as  now,  not  being  of  pressing  necessity,  and  Russia  having  but  a 
secondary  interest  in  them.  If  my  health  shall  permit,  and  there 
be  the  most  remote  prospect  of  success  in  the  objects  we  have  in 
view  (or  any  of  them),  I  shall  return  as  soon  as  the  Baltic  is  open." 

On  the  19th  of  February  he  writes  to  Dr.  Brockenbrough : 

"  Count  Nesselrode,  who  says  that '  Mr.  Randolph  has  justly  an- 
ticipated the  cause  of  delay  on  the  part  of  the  Imperial  Ministry,' 
promises  me  as  speedy  an  answer  as  the  present  disturbed  state  of 
Europe  will  permit  them  to  give.  It  commenced  in  July  last,  and 
the  political  atmosphere  seems  to  thicken.  I  shall  probably  return 
to  Russia  in  April  or  May,  and  I  fear  that  I  shall  have  to  pass  an- 
other winter  in  Europe — south  of  the  Alps,  of  course.  The  barking 
of  the  curs  against  me  in  Congress  I  utterly  despise.  I  think  I  can 
see  how  some  of  them,  if  I  were  present,  would  tuck  their  tails  be- 
tween their  hind  legs,  and  slink — aye,  and  stink  too.  Perhaps  the  time 
may  come  when  I  may  see  some  of  them,  not  face  to  face,  for  their 
eyes  could  not  meet  mine,  I  know  fry  experience. 

"  I  could  give  you  a  great  deal  of  speculation  upon  the  present 
state  of  Europe  ;  for  when  I  please,  I  can  be  as  dull  as  another ;  but 
perhaps  the  next  advices  might  overthrow  all  my  conjectural  esti- 
mates, and  leave  me,  like  other  builders  of  theories,  a  laughing-stock, 
until  some  new  folly  took  off  attention  from  my  case.  It  remains  to 
be  seen  whether  Philip  Louis,  who  is  no  Philip  Augustus,  can  arrest 
the  march  of  the  revolution  of  July,  and  chain  France  to  the  car  of 
the  Holy  Alliance.  Here  I  am  in  the  focus  of  European  intrigue, 
and  watching  like  a  cat.  I  think,  however,  it  requires  not  the  eyes 
of  a  lynx,  or  any  other  of  the  feline  tribe,  to  see  that  this  present 
'  government,'  as  'tis  the  fashion  to  call  it,  have  no  stomach  to  reform 
or  to  liberalism^  or  to  any  thing  but  the  emoluments  and  patronage 
of  office.  There  are  illustrious  exceptions — Lord  Althorp  and  Sir 
James  Graham,  for  example — but  my  Lord  Grey  &  Co.  are  of  a  very 
different  temper." 

May  2d,  he  writes:  "The  heroic  resistance  of  the  Poles  has 
found  ample  occupation  for  the  councils  as  well  as  the  arms  of  Rus- 
sia ;  but  I  fear  that  the  contest  cannot  be  prolonged  beyond  the 
present  season.  It  makes  one's  heart  sick  to  think  of  the  catas- 
trophe. My  thoughts  are  shared  between  the  Poles  and  my  friends 
at  home ;  a  sinking  of  the  heart  comes  over  me  when  I  think  of 
either;  a  sensation  inexplicable,  but  most  painful." 

June  4th,  he  speaks  of  the  late  political  changes  at  home  :  "  Yes- 
terday, with  your  letter,  I  received  the  intelligence  of  the  resignation 
of  our  cabinet.  The  course  of  events  during  the  past  year  is  enough 
to  perplex  and  puzzle  abler  judgments  than  mine.  I  have  read  tha 


OPIUM  EATER.  343 

letters  of  V.  B.  and  the  P.  more  than  once,  and  with  intense  interest. 
At  this  distance,  and  with  my  imperfect  knowledge  of  the  state  of 
affairs,  it  may  be  presumptuous  in  me  to  give  an  opinion ;  but  by 
such  ligh'ts  as  1  have,  the  step  taken  by  V.  B.  seems  manly  and  ju- 
dicious— worthy  of  his  character,  and  of  his  attachment  to  Gen'l 
Jackson,  whose  reply  is  worthy  of  all  praise.  I  cannot  help  feeling 
the  deepest  concern  for  the  old  hero,  thus,  as  it  were,  left  to  struggle 
alone  against  his  foes ;  and  I  sincerely  and  devoutly  pray,  that  he 
may  form  an  administration  that  will  contribute  to  his  repose  and 
glory,  as  well  as  the  welfare  of  his  country 

"  Lord  Palmerston  entertained  the  corps  diplomatique,  in  honor 
of  the  king's  birth-day,  and  did  me  the  honor  to  include  me  in  his  in- 
vitation. I  went,  because  I  did  not  feel  at  liberty  to  decline.  It 
was.  as  you  may  suppose,  very  grand,  but  very  dull.  I  was  flattered 
by  his  lordship's  polite  attentions,  and  gratified  by  the  cordial  recep- 
tion of  P.  Lieveh,  with  whom  I  had  a  good  deal  of  conversation." 

"If  I  abstain,"  says  he,  June  16,  "from  saying  any  thing  on  poli- 
tics, it  is  not  because  I  feel  indifferent  to  the  state  of  public  opinion 
at  home.  Far  from  it ;  and  I  hope,  when  you  get  to  New-York,  that 
your  promised  letter  will  enlighten  me  on  that  head.  The  events 
which  have  taken  place  during  my  absence,  seem  to  have  unhinged 
and  unsettled  every  thing.  It  is  a  matter  of  self-gratulation  to  all 
who  are  unconnected  with  them." 

In  the  autumn,  Mr.  Randolph  returned  to  the  United  States, 
much  reduced  in  health.  When  he  landed  in  New- York,  his  old 
friend.  Mr.  Harvey,  hastened  to  see  him,  and  was  greatly  shocked 
at  his  emaciated  appearance.  "  His  eagle-eye,"  says  he,  "  detected, 
by  my  countenance,  what  was  passing  in  my  mind,  and  he  said,  in  a 
mournful  tone  of  voice  :  l  Ah,  Sir,  I  am  going  at  last ;  the  machine  is 
worn  out ;  nature  is  exhausted,  and  I  have  tried  in  vain  to  restore 
her.'  '•  Why,'  replied  I,  forcing  a  smile,  'you  told  me  the  same  thing 
some  years  ago,  and  yet  here  you  are  still.'  '  True,'  rejoined  he, 
{ but  I  am  seven  years  nearer  the  grave.' " 


CHAPTEK    XLII. 

OPIUM   EATER. 

Ox  his  way  home,  October,  1831,  Mr.  Randolph  spent  a  few  days  in 
Richmond.     He  was  entirely  prostrate — never  left  his  bed-room — 


344  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

rarely  his  bed;  but  his  friends  visited  him  frequently,  and  tliej 
speak  in  raptures  of  his  brilliant  and  instructive  conversation.  None 
of  them  detected  in  his  discourse  any  thing  more  than  an  occasional 
'•  flightiness,"  produced  by  fever — aggravated,  perhaps,  by  the  use  o^ 
opium,  to  whose  soothing  qualities  he  had  been  compelled  to  resort, 
to  quiet  the  pangs  of  that  inexorable  disease,  which,  like  the  vulture 
in  the  heart  of  Prometheus,  had  plunged  its  talons  in  his  vitals, 
and  consumed  them  with  remorseless  fangs,  from  the  cradle  to  the 
grave. 

Mr.  Randolph  made  no  secret  of  his  use  of  opuim  at  this  time. 
"  I  live  by,  if  not  upon  opium/'  said  he  to  a  friend.  He  had  been 
driven  to  it  as  an  alleviation  of  a  pain  to  which  few  mortals  were 
doomed.  He  could  not  now  dispense  with  its  use.  "  I  am  fast  sink- 
ing," said  he;  "  into  an  opium-eating  sot,  but,  please  God  !  I  will  shake 
off  the  incubus  yet  before  I  die ;  for  whatever  difference  of  opinion 
may  exist  on  the  subject  of  suicide,  there  can  be  none  as  to  '  rush- 
ing into  the  presence  of  our  Creator'  in  a  state  of  drunkenness,  whe- 
ther produced  by  opium  or  brandy."  To  the  deleterious  influence  of 
that  poisonous  drug,  may  be  traced  many  of  the  aberrations  of  mind 
and  of  conduct,  so  much  regretted  by  his  friends,  during  the  ensu- 
ing winter  and  spring.  But  he  was,  by  no  means,  under  its  constant 
influence.  During  this  period,  hj  wrote  almost  daily  to  his  friend, 
Dr.  Brockenbrough.  Those  letters  furnish  incontestable  evidence 
that,  when  they  were  written  at  least,  his  feelings  were  calm,  and  his 
judgment  as  unclouded  as  it  ever  had  been. 

He  hastened  up  from  Richmond  to  Charlotte  Court-house,  to  ad- 
dress the  people  on  court  day.  the  first  Monday  in  November.  The 
subject  of  his  speech,  among  other  things,  was  his  conduct  while  min- 
ister to  the  Court  of  St.  Petersburgh.  His  anxiety  to  explain  this 
matter,  so  unusual  with  him,  and  his  coldness  of  manner  towards  his 
friends,  caused  many  of  them  to  suspect  that  he  was  not  altogether 
himself  at*  that  time.  The  next  Monday,  he  addressed  the  people  of 
Buckingham.  On  his  return  next  day,  Nov.  15,  he  wrote  from  Char- 
lotte Court-house  to  Dr.  Brockenbrough: 

"  On  my  road  to  Buckingham,  I  passed  a  night  in  Farmville,  in 
an  apartment  which  in  England  they  would  not  have  thought  fit 
for  my  servant ;  nor  on  the  continent  did  he  ever  occupy  so  mean  a 
one.  Wherever  I  stop,  it  is  the  same — walls  black  and  filthy— tod 


OPIUM  EATER.  345 

and  furniture  sordid — furniture  scanty  and  mean,  generally  broken — 
no  mirror — no  fire-irons — in  short,  dirt  and  discomfort,  universally 
prevail,  and  in  most  private  houses  the  matter  is  not  mended.  The 
cows  milked  half  a  mile  off — or  not  got  up,  and  no  milk  to  be  had  at 
any  distance — no  Jordan — in  fact,  the  old  gentry  are  gone  and  tho 
nouveaiix  riches^  where  they  have  the  inclination,  do  not  know  how  to 
live.  Biscuit  not,  half  cuit,  every  thing  animal  and  vegetable,  smear- 
ed with  melted  butter  or  lard.  Poverty  stalking  through  the  land, 
while  we  are  engaged  in  political  metaphysics,  and,  amidst  our  filth 
and  vermin,  like  the  Spaniard  and  Portuguese,  look  down  with  con- 
tempt on  other  nations,  England  and  France  especially.  We  hug 
our  lousy  cloaks  around  us,  take  another  chaw  of  tybbacJcer^  float  the 
room  with  nastiness,  or  ruin  the  grate  and  fire-irons,  where  they 
happen  not  to  be  rusty,  and  try  conclusions  upon  constitutional 
points." 

The  great  degeneracy  of  the  times,  was  the  constant  theme  of  his 
discourse.  He  could  not  shake  the  sad  reflection  from  his  mind. 
When  he  thought  of  what  Virginia  had  been  and  what  she  was,  he 
was  stung  to  the  quick.  His  late  experience  of  the  high  cultivation, 
the  comforts,  and  the  refinements  of  English  society,  brought  the 
contrast  of 'the  past  and  the  present  more  vividly  to  his  recollection. 
Many  thought  him  mad  on  this  subject.  But  little  could  they  com- 
prehend the  depth  of  his  feelings,  or  the  anguish  of  his  soul,  when 
he  so  often  exclaimed,  "  Poor  old  Virginia  i  poor  old  Virginia  ! "  What 
they  conceived  to  be  the  ebullitions  of  a  diseased  fancy,  were  the  la- 
mentations of  a  statesman  and  patriot  over  the  ruins  of  his  country, 
which  his  prophetic  eye  had  long  foreseen,  and  his  warning  voice  had 
in  vain  foretold  !  The  old  gentry  are  gone ;  none  knew  better  than 
he,  the  force  of  this  truth.  He  saw  what  others  could  not  see ;  he 
saw,  from  the  sea-board  to  the  mountains,  nothing  but  desolation  and 
poverty,  where  the  fires  of  a  noble  and  generous  hospitality  had  burn- 
ed on  a  thousand  hearths.  He  remembered  sires  and  grandsires, 
whose  degenerate  sons,  like  the  Roman  youth,  pointed  to  the  statues 
and  the  monuments  of  their  noble  ancestors,  instead  of  achieving  a 
monument  for  themselves  by  their  own  great  deeds. 

This  was  the  theme  of  Mr.  Randolph's  discourse  at  Prince  Ed 
wards  Court-house,  where,  on  the  third  Monday  in  November,  he 
addressed  the  people.  He  passed  in  review  all  the  old  families  of  Vir- 
ginia, alluded  to  the  fathers  and  grandfathers  of  many  then  standing 
around  him  ;  spoke  of  their  energy,  sagacity,  and  efficient  usefulness 


346  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

of  character.  Then,  addressing  himself  to  one  individual  in  parti- 
cular, as  was  his  custom,  he  said  :  You,  sir,  "  will  be  the  first  to  admit 
the  higher  claims  of  your  father  on  the  country,  for  general  utility 
and  energy  of  character.  I  am  too  old  (he  sportively  added)  to  know 
much  of  his  sons  personally,  but  I  will  venture  to  affirm,  that  placed 
in  your  father's  shoes,  and  having  to  keep  off  the  calfivhilst  the  wife 
milked  the  cow,  you  never  would  have  achieved  what  he  has  done  in 
point  of  character  and  fortune.  The  young  people,  now-a-days, 
have  too  much  done  for  them,  for  them  to  exert  themselves  as  their 
fathers  and  grandfathers  have  done."  He  then  spoke  of  many  illus- 
trious men,  whose  names  adorn  many  pages  of  our  earliest  and  bright- 
est history.  Henry,  Mason,  and  others ;  not  one  has  left  a  son  equal 
to  their  father.  "  In  short,"  said  he,  "  look  at  the  Lees,  Washingtons, 
Randolphs — what  woful  degeneracy  !" 

What  had  all  this  to  do  with  the  politics  of  the  day  ?  on  which 
he  was  expected  to  talk  to  the  people.  Was  there  ever  such  a  scat- 
ter-brain speech  ?  Some  turned  away,  shook  their  heads,  and  said, 
-the  man  is  mad;"  others  maliciously  misrepresented  what  he  said, 
and  went  about  telling  people  that  he  had  slandered  his  old  friends 
and  neighbors.  He  struck  at  the  root  of  the  disease,  however — probed 
the  wound  to  its  core ;  the  men  of  seventy-six  we-re  gone ;  their  sons, 
if  not  degenerate,  were  not  equal  to  their  fathers  ! 

It  cannot  be  denied,  that  Mr.  Randolph  attributed  this  great 
change  in  the  condition  of  Virginia,  mainly  to  the  policy  of  Mr.  Jef- 
ferson. The  destruction  of  the  law  of  inheritance,  followed  by  the 
embargo  and  the  non-intercourse  system,  he  conceived,  gave  the  fin- 
ishing stroke  to  her  prosperity.  "  The  embargo,"  he  said,  "  was  the 
Iliad  of  all  our  woes."  The  blind  fidelity  with  which  the  people  of 
Virginia  followed  Mr.  Jefferson  in  all  his  schemes,  is  thus  humor- 
ously described:  "I  cannot  live  (says  :ie,  March,  1832,)  in  this  mis- 
erable, undone  country,  where,  as  the  Turks  follow  their  sacred 
standard,  which  is  a  pair  of  Mahomet's  green  breeches,  we  are  gov- 
erned by  the  old  red  breeches  of  that  prince  of  projectors,  St.  Thom- 
as, of  Can^/^bury ;  and  surely,  Becket  himself  never  had  more  pil- 
grims at  his  shrine,  than  the  saint  of  Monticello." 

Another  source  of  great  annoyance  and  excitement  to  Mr.  Ran- 
dolph, was  the  conduct  of  his  negroes  and  overseers  during  his  ab- 
sence. He  suspected  that  they  had  taken  up  a  notion  he  would  nevei 


QPIUM  EATER.  347 

be  able  to  return  Lome  again,  and  that  they  might  do  as  they  pleased, 
without  the  fear  of  his  displeasure.  His  sudden  appearance  among 
them  took  them  by  surprise,  and  they  were  not  prepared  to  give  an 
account  of  their  stewardship.  Whether  he  had  just  cause  of  com- 
plaint, is  not  for  us  to  determine.  One  thing  is  certain,  he  had  to 
spend  near  two  thousand  dollars  to  buy  provisions  for  their  support. 
One  would  suppose  that  three  hundred  negroes,  on  the  best  lands  in 
Virginia,  might  support  themselves. 

"  I  have  been  in  a  perpetual  broil  (says  he,  November  15th,  1831,) 
with  overseers  and  niggers.  My  head  man  I  detected  stealing  the 
wool  that  was  to  have  clad  his  own  and  the  other  children  ;  the  re- 
ceiver the  very  rascal  (one  of  Mr.  Mercer's  'housekeepers,')  who 
flogged  poor  Juba,  who  had  no  wool  except  upon  his  head.  I  have 
punished  the  scoundrel  exemplarily,  and  shall  send  him  to  Georgia 
or  Louisiana,  at  Christmas.  He  has  a  wife  and  three  fine  children. 
Here  is  a  description  of  his  establishment :  a  log  house,  of  the  finest 
class,  with  two  good  rooms  below,  and  lofts  above  ;  a  barrel  half-full 
of  meal  (but  two  days  to  a  fresh  supply) ;  steel  shovel  and  tongs,  bet- 
ter than  I  have  seen  in  any  other  house,  my  own  excepted ;  a  good 
bed,  filled  with  hay ;  another,  not  so  good,  for  his  children ;  eight 
blankets  ;  a  large  iron  pot,  and  Dutch-oven  ;  frying-pan  ;  a  large  fat 
hog,  finer  than  any  in  my  pen ;  a  stock  of  large  pumpkins,  cabbages, 
&c.,  secured  for  the  winter.  His  house  had  a  porch,  or  shed,  to  it, 
like  my  own." 

Mr.  Randolph  had  an  old  servant  by  the  name  of  Essex,  the 
father  of  John.  "  He  was  the  most  gooteel  servant  I  ever  saw,"  says 
Mr.  Marshall.  Mr.  Randolph  called  him  familiarly,  "  Daddy  Essex. 
Although  the  relation  of  master  and  servant  was  kept  up  between 
them,  it  was  done  with  more  cordiality  and  kindness  in  the  manner 
of  each,  than  had  ever  been  witnessed  between  master  and  slave.  It 
was  the  custom  of  Essex,  when  leaving  his  master's  service  at  night, 
to  give  him  the  usual  salutations,  and  this  civility  was  returned  by 
Mr.  Randolph.  But  on  the  present  occasion,  whenever  Essex  came 
into  his  presence,  he  immediately  flew  into  a  passion, 'accused  him  of 
keeping  a  tavern  in  his  absence,  entertaining  a  pedler,  and  once  or 
twice,  even  went  so  far  as  to  strike  him  with  a  stick.  Every  body 
knows  the  inestimable  value  he  set  on  John  and  Juba,  but  they  now 
shared  his  wrath.  « When  I  arrived  in  New-York,"  said  he,  "  I 
would  not  have  taken  for  John  or  Juba,  or  the  smallest  child  either 
of  them  had,  two  thousand  guineas  :  but  now,  T  would  as  soon  sell 
43 


348  LIFE  °*'  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

them  to  a  negro-trader  as  not."  They  were  actually  driven  out  of  the 
house,  into  the  corn-field,  and  other  awkward  fellows  taken  into  their 
places.  "  Moses  goes  rooting  about  the  house  like  a  hog."  Mr.  Ran 
clolph's  friends  witnessed,  during  the  winter,  many  ludicrous  scenes 
between  him  and  his  servants.  But  his  fits  of  excitement  did  not 
last  long.  His  extreme  irritability,  occasioned  by  disease,  and  the 
stimulants  he  was  compelled  to  use  to  alleviate  pain,  may  have  caused 
him  to  magnify  the  offences  of  his  slaves.  But  he  was  prompt  in 
making  reparation.  His  favorite  body-servants  were  soon  restored  to 
their  proper  station.  About  the  first  of  February,  he  called  on  the 
overseer,  and  asked  him  to  ride  out  with  him ;  said  he  was  going  to 
make  friends  with  his  head  man,  Billy,  whom  he  had  put  to  work  in 
the  ditch.  They  rode  to  the  ditch,  and  Mr.  Randolph  said,  "  Your 
servant,  Billy."  "  Your  servant,  master,"  replied  Billy.  'Well. 
Billy,"  said  he,  "  I  have  come  to  make  friends  with  you."  "  Thank 
you,  master,"  said  Billy.  "  Billy,"  said  Mr.  Randolph,  a  you  stole 
my  wool,  and  sold  it  for  fifty  cents."  "  Yes,  master."  "  But  I  think 
I  am  in  debt  to  you,  Billy,  for  I  took  your  pumpkins  and  your  house, 
and  hog,  turned  you  out  of  a  comfortable  house,  and  gave  you  three 
damned  whippings.  And  now,  I  think  I  owe  you  something,  and  I 
have  come  up  to  settle  with  you."  As  the  result  of  the  settlement 
Billy  was  restored  to  his  place  and  to  his  property. 

Mr.  Randolph's  mind  continued  to  be  disordered,  and  his  health 
to  grow  more  and  more  feeble,  till  the  month  of  April,  when  many  of 
his  friends  expected  he  would  die.  About  the  twenty-fifth  of  that 
month,  he  was  moved  to  the  house  of  his  friend,  Mr.  John  Marshall, 
at  Charlotte  Court-house.  He  frequently  sent  for  Mr.  Marshall  into 
his  room  ;  when  that  gentleman  entered,  he  would  say.  "  You  are  too 
late — it  is  all  over."  Sometimes  he  had  a  small  bell  in  his  hand, 
which  he  would  ring  slowly,  saying,  "  It  is  all  over."  Sometimes  he 
would  make  John  ring  the  bell.  He  would  sometimes  ask  Mr.  Mar- 
shall, "  Will  you  stand  by  me  ?"  as  if  he  was  apprehensive  of  some 
personal  conflict.  He  continued  much  in  this  condition  till  the  mid- 
dle of  May,  with  this  difference,  that  his  memory  gave  way  almost 
entirely,  and  he  had  sunk  into  a  kind  of  stupor. 

About  the  middle  of  May,  after  being  reduced  almost  to  a  skele- 
ton, his  mind  began  to  clear  away,  his  memory  returned,  and  his  feel- 
ings were  calm  and  kind  towards  every  person  of  whom  he  spoke.  In 


9  OPIUM  EATER  349 

a  very  short  time  lie  seemed  to  be  perfectly  himself.  The  first  time 
Mr.  Marshall  saw  him,  when  a  change  in  his  mind  was  distinctly 
marked,  they  were  in  the  room  alone.  Mr.  Randolph  burst  into 
tears,  and  said,  "  Bear  with  me,  my  friend  ;  this  is  unmanly,  but  I  am 
Hard  pressed."  He  seemed  to  be  in  great  pain,  and  said,  "  It  is  im- 
possible— I  speak  it  reverently — that  the  Almighty  himself,  consist- 
ent with  his  holy  counsel,  can  withhold  this  bitter  cup.  It  is  neces 
sary  to  afflict  me  thus,  to  subdue  my  stubborn  will."  He  then 
prayed  a  few  words  audibly,  shut  his  eyes,  and  seemed  to  be  praying 
in  alow  whisper.  From  this  time  his  spirits  were  good;  he  uni' 
forraly  appeared  cheerful  and  in  good  temper,  conversed  handsomely, 
and  spoke  of  men.  whether  his  political  enemies  or  others,  in  good 
humor ;  his  appetite  seemed  to  have  improved,  and  he  gradually 
gained  flesh.  From  this  time  forth,  with  rare  exceptions,  his  mind 
continued  unclouded  to  the  day  of  his  death.  But  it  is  astonishing 
how  one  in  his  condition,  could  prolong  for  a  twelve-month,  an  exist- 
ence so  attenuated,  so  feeble. 

In  August  he  writes — "  My  lungs  made  a  noble  resistance,  but, 
like  the  Poles,  they  were  over-powered.  The  disease  is  now  phthisis, 
and  the  tubercles  are  softening  for  breaking  out  into,  open  ulcers : 
liver,  spleen,  heart  (I  hope  the  pericardium),  but  above  all,  the  stom- 
ach, diseased,  and  this  last,  I  fear,  incurable.  My  diet  is  water-gruel,  for 
breakfast ;  tomatoes  and  crackers  for  dinner,  and  no  supper.  Yet. 
these  taken  in  the  very  smallest  quantities  that  can  sustain  life,  throw 
me  into  all  the  horrors  of  an  indigestion ;  so  that  I  put  off  eating  as 
long  as  possible,  and  thereby  make  a  dinner  of  my  breakfast,  and  a 
sort  of  supper  at  five  or  six  o'clock,  of  my  dinner.  Sleep  I  am  nearly  a 
stranger  to.  Many  nights  I  pass  bolt  upright  in  my  easy  chair ;  for 
when  propped  up  by  pillows  in  bed,  so  as  to  be  nearly  erect  from  the 
hips  upwards.  I  cough  incessantly  and  am  racked  to  death." 

Some  weeks  after  this,  he  says  to  Dr.  Brockenbrough — "  After  I 
wrote  to  you  on  Sunday  night,  the  next  day  I  had  a  most  violent 
fit  of  hysteria.  I  was  so  moved  by  the  ingratitude  of  my  servants, 
and  my  destitute  and  forlorn  condition,  that  I  '  lifted  up  my  voice  and 
wept ;'  wept  most  bitterly.  Yet  I  am  now  inclined  to  think  that  I 
did  the  poor  creatures  some  injustice,  by  ascribing  to  ingratitude, 
what  was  the  insensibility  of  their  condition  in  life.  But  every  body 
you  only  excepted.  abandons  me  in  my  misery." 


350  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH.  § 

CHAPTER    XLIII. 

THE    CONSUMMATION. 

• 

ANDREW  JACKSON  was  elected  by  State -rights  men.  There  wers 
many  others  united  under  his  banner,  who  agreed  cnly  in  their  sen- 
timents of  opposition  to  the  ruling  powers ;  but  the  political  princi- 
ples that  transformed  and  harmonized  the  discordant  elements  into  a 
consistent  whole,  were  the  doctrines  of  tho  old  Republican  party. 
The  centripetal  tendency  of  the  administration  of  Adams  and  Clay, 
had  awakened  and  alarmed  the  country.  Mr.  Clay,  with  a  boldness 
and  an  energy  peculiar  to  himself,  had  pressed  forward  his  American 
sytem  to  its  final  and  full  consummation.  The  Bank  was  omnipotent ; 
the  principle  of  Protection  for  protection's  sake,  was  distinctly  recog- 
nized, and  nothing  remained  to  complete  and  to  fasten  the  system  on 
the  country,  but  to  carry  out  those  magnificent  plans  of  Improvement 
which  had  been  projected. 

Randolph,  Van  Buren,  Tazewell,  and  other  distinguished  leaders 
of  the  old  Republican  par-ty,  sounded  the  alarm,  and  raised  the  stand- 
ard of  opposition.  Andrew  Jackson  was  the  man  selected  as  their 
leader.  Whether  he  fully  concurred  with  them  in  principles  and  in 
purposes,  could  not  be  known — his  past  life  had  not  been  in  the  line 
of  politics — he  was  pledged  to  no  system — the  great  object  was  to  de- 
feat the  present  dynasty,  and  to  take  the  chances  of  directing  his 
course  by  wise  counsel,  hereafter.  Their  object  is  explained  by  the 
familiar  and  honnly  illustration  used  by  Mr.  Randolph,  to  satisfy  his 
own  constituents.  "  When  you  have  a  faithless,  worthless  overseer." 
said  he,  "  in  whom  you  could  place  no  confidence,  and  have  resolved 
to  dismiss  him,  did  you  ever  change  jour  mind,  because,  for  no  mat- 
ter what  reason,  you  could  not  get  the  man  that  you  preferred,  to 
every  other  ?  or  have  you  been  satisfied  to  turn  him  off,  and  employ 
the  best  man  that  you  could  get  ?" 

Jackson  well  fulfilled  the  expectations  of  those  who  elevated  him  to 
the  Presidency.  The  first  great  measure  of  his  administration,  was 
to  put  an  end  to  a  system  of  Internal  Improvement,  which  had  beer? 
commenced  by  the  Federal  Government,  and  was  rapidly  growing  up 
into  a  magnificent  scheme  of  fraud,  speculation  and  expenditure,  far 


THE  CONSUMMATION.  351 

surpassing  the  South  Sea  or  Mississippi  scheme,  that  ingulfed  all 
Europe  in  bankruptcy  and  ruin.  The  veto  to  the  Maysville  Road 
bill,  arrested  this  great  evil,  and  did  much  to  bring  back  the  people  to 
a  just  and  sound  interpretation  of  the  Constitution. 

All  reflecting  men,  who  have  any  regard  to  the  words  and  the 
spirit  of  a  written,  limited,  and  well-defined  grant  of  power  to  a  Fed- 
erative Union  of  States,  are  now  satisfied  that  the  construction  of 
roads  and  canals,  and  other  means  of  intercommunication,  properly 
belongs  to  the  States.  To  take  it  from  them  and  to  exercise  jurisdic- 
tion within  their  borders,  in  the  construction  of  highways,  was  so 
gross  a  violation  of  the  Constitution,  and  so  bold  an  assumption  of 
the  reserved  rights  of  the  States,  as  to  render  all  other  usurpations  of 
minor  consideration.  Like  Aaron's  rod,  it  swallowed  up  every  thing 
else.  Besides,  the  States  are  better  acquainted  with  their  own  re- 
sources, and  can  conduct  the  means  of  their  development  more  eco- 
nomically, more  judiciously,  and  more  extensively.  If  they,  in  the  pros- 
ecution of  their  plans,  have  involved  themselves  in  so  large  a  debt, 
suffered  so  much  from  fraudulent  legislation,  as  to  be  driven,  some  to 
the  necessity  of  repudiation,  others  to  the  verge  of  bankruptcy,  what 
would  have  been  the  condition  of  the  whole  Union,  had  they  contin- 
ued those  plans  so  zealously  commenced,  and  entered  on  the  prosecu- 
tion of  those  magnificent  surveys  which  their  engineers  had  reported 
as  practicable,  necessary  and  proper?  The  States  ceasing  to  be 
sovereign  and  independent — ceasing  to  act  as  a  counterweight  to  the 
centralizing  influence  of  the  Federal  Government,  would  have  been 
clamorous  suppliants  for  its  bounty ;  fraudulent  combinations  would 
have  carried  every  thing  in  the  national  legislature — some  of  the 
States  would  have  had  large  improvements  conducted  through  their 
borders,  while  others  would  have  none  ;  and  all  would  have  been  load- 
ed with  a  debt,  only  surpassed  by  the  crushing  burthen  of  England. 
Resorting  to  that  tribunal  power,  intrusted  to  the  Executive,  not 
only  for  the  preservation  of  its  own  independence  and  dignity  but 
for  the  protection  of  the  rights  reserved  to  the  States  and  the  people, 
Andrew  Jackson,  by  the  simple  exercise  of  its  authority,  arrested  the 
centralizing  tendency  of  the  Republic,  restored  the  States  to  their 
proper  equilibrium,  rebuked  the  spirit  of  Federal  usurpation,  and 
saved  his  country  from  ruin. 

When  Jackson  took  in  his  hand  the  helm  of  State,  the  Bank  of 


352  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

the  United  States  was  in  the  plenitude  of  its  power  ;  its  numerous 
branches,  in  close  affiliation  and  absolute  dependence  on  a  central 
power,  occupied  the  most  important  and  commanding  positions.  Its 
influence  over  the  currency  and  the  commercial  operations  of  the 
country,  was  unbounded.  It  could  make  or  unmake,  build  up  or  de- 
stroy, at  pleasure.  Its  directory,  seated  in  their  marble  palace  at 
Philadelphia,  like  the  gods  on  Olympus,  could  make  rain  or  sunshine, 
as  it  pleased  their  sovereign  will.  Even  the  Representatives  of  the 
people,  sent  to  examine  into  the  abominations  and  sorceries  of  this  red 
harlot,  were  dazzled  with  her  brightness.  They  bowed  obsequiously 
before  her  golden  altars,  and  returned  rejoicing,  and  told  the  people 
that  she  was  not  only  pure,  but  worthy  of  all  trust  and  confidence. 
No  greater  combination  of  power  ever  existed  under  any  government. 
The  East  India  Company,  that  held  an  Empire  under  its  sway,  and 
burthened  the  seas  with  its  treasures,  could  not  boast  of  greater  autho- 
rity. To  possess  the  money  influence  in  a  commercial  country,  is  to 
control  its  movements,  not  only  in  the  affairs  of  government,  but  in 
the  remotest  ramifications  of  society.  It  is  holding  Leviathan  with 
a  hook.  This  power,  all  pervading  and  absolute,  was  unquestionably 
held  by  the  Bank  of  the  United  States.  The  time  had  come,  not  to 
supplicate,  but  to  demand  a  renewal  of  her  charter,  and  a  continua- 
tion of  her  enormous  power  for  another  generation.  Shall  the  de- 
mand be  granted  ?  was  the  question  now  submitted  to  the  Representa- 
tives of  the  people,  and  to  the  President. 

January  10th,  1832,  Randolph  says,  "I  know  Jackson  to  be  firm 
on  the  Bank  of  the  United  States ;  and  I  believe  the  tariff  too.  In 
United  States  Bank  stock  there  will  be  a  fall,  for  every  thing  is  set- 
tled by  the  London  prices ;  and  there  will  be  a  panic.  But  the  Bank 
will  bribe  through.  I  detest  it,  and  shall  do  all  I  can  to  defeat  it, 
even  by  coming  into  Congress  next  election  si  le  Roy  (Peuple)  h 
veut.  When  the  Union  shall  crumble  to  pieces,  the  Bank  will  stand. 
The  courts  and  its  debtors  will  sustain  it,  in  each  grain  of  our  rope  of 
sand."  In  one  particular,  this  prediction  has  happily  not  been  veri- 
fied. The  Bank  is  an  "  obsolete  idea,"  while  the  Union  still  survives, 
we  trust,  to  live  for  ever.  But  the  other  part  of  the  prophecy  was  lit- 
erally fulfilled ;  the  Bank  did  create  a  panic,  and  did  bribe  through, 
While  the  bill  was  under  discussion,  Mr.  Randolph  wrote  to  his 
•friends,  urging  them  to  resistance.  Some  of  them  from  the  So-jith 


THE  CONSUMMATION.  358 

were  offended  with  Jackson,  and  he  was  afraid  they  would  ouffei  their 
feelings  to  influence  them  on  this  occasion.  To  Mark  Alexander,  Esq.. 
his  old  colleague,  he  says,  "  I  have  just  received  (June  26,  1832)  your 
blank  envelope,  covering  the  Telegraph  of  the  21st.  I  write  to  en- 
treat you  to  tell  Warren  R.  Davis  and  his  colleagues  (alas  !  for  poor 
Johnston),  that  if,  by  their  votes,  the  United  States  Bank  bill  shall 
pass  the  House  of  Representatives,  they  will  receive  the  curses,  loud 
and  deep,  of  every  old  school  Republican  of  the  South.  To  embar- 
rass Jackson  is  a  small  game,  compared  with  saddling  the  country 
with  that  worst  and  most  flagrant  of  the  usurpations  of  the  Federal 
Government,  and  the  most  dangerous  engine  against  the  rights,  and 
very  existence  of  the  States.  I  am  warm  and  abrupt,  but  I  am  dy- 
ing, and  have  not  time  to  be  more  courtly  and  circumlocutory.  The 
Tariff,  the  Internal  Improvement  jobs,  and  the  Supreme  Court,  com- 
bined, are  not  to  be  put  into  the  scale  against  this  accursed  thing. 
The  man  who  supports  the  Bank  and  denounces  the  Tariff  as  uncon- 
stitutional, may  take  his  choice  between  knave  or  fool,  unless  he  ad- 
mits that  he  is  both. 

';  In  one  case,  the  power  to  lay  duties,  excises,  &c.,  is  granted ;  in 
the  other,  no  such  power  is  given.  The  true  key  is,  that  the  abuse 
under  pretence  of  exercise  of  any  power  (midnight  judiciary,  &c.)  is 
unconstitutional.  This  unlocks  every  difficulty.  Killing  a  man  may 
be  justifiable  homicide,  chance-medley,  manslaughter  or  murder,  ac- 
cording to  the  motives  and  circumstances  of  the  case.  An  unwise, 
but  honest,  exercise  of  a  power,  may  be  blamed,  but  it  is  not  unconsti- 
tutional. But  every  usurped  power  (as  the  Bank)  is  so." 

The  Bank  bill,  however,  passed  both  Houses  of  Congress,  and 
was  submitted  to  the  President,  for  his  approval.  Randolph  was  not 
mistaken  in  his  man.  "  I  know  Jackson  to  be  firm  on  the  Bank  of 
the  United  States."  Against  that  formidable  institution,  he  stood 
up  and  battled  alone.  In  his  reading  of  the  Constitution,  there  was 
no  authority  for  it ;  to  his  observation  and  experience,  the  existence 
of  such  a  power  was  dangerous  to  a  free  republic.  Satisfied  in  his 
mind  that  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  was  both  unconstitutional 
and  inexpedient,  it  was  vain  to  remonstrate.  It  was  idle  to  tell  him 
that  Washington  had  sanctioned  it ;  he  had  as  clear  a  judgment,  as 
pure  a  patriotism,  as  Washington.  It  was  useless  to  tell  him,  that 
good  and  wise  men,  yielding  to  the  cry  of  distress,  had.  for  the  second 


354:  -^FE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

time,  established  a  Bank  ;  and  that  Madison,  surrendering  his  OWE 
judgment  to  precedence  and  authority,  had  approved  it.  No  such 
distress  existed  now;  no  such  plea  of  necessity  could  be  urged. 
Now  was  the  time,  in  profound  peace,  to  apply  the  knife  and  the 
cautery,  to  cut  out  and  destroy  the  cancer  that  was  threatening  to 
consume  the  Constitution  of  the  country.  Deserted  by  all  his  friend^ 
as  he  had  been  on  many  trying  occasions  before,  while  a  military 
chieftain,  he  was  left  alone  to  rely  on  his  own  clear  judgment  and  un- 
shaken fortitude.  When  he  vetoed  the  Bank  bill,  and  caused  the 
public  money  to  be  removed  from  the  custody  of  that  institution,  his 
friends  earnestly  entreated  him  not  to  do  it.  But  there  was  one  that 
stood  by  him — a  kindred  spirit,  that  would  perish  with  him  in  the 
ruins  rather  than  have  yielded. 

Had  Randolph  been  on  the  floor  of  Congress,  the  Bank  bill  would 
never  have  passed.  He  would  have  scourged  the  money-changers 
from  the  temple.  But  the  veto  saved  the  Republic,  and  he  was  re- 
joiced at  it.  "  Tell  Leigh  (says  he,  August  2,)  that  the  veto  mes- 
sage, and  some  other  things,  have  made  a  Jackson  man  of  me,  and 
that  I  shall  be  delivered  of  my  vote  without  forceps,  or  the  Caesarean 
operation." 

But  another  deed,  still  greater,  if  possible,  had  yet  to  be  per- 
formed, before  the  Government  could  be  rescued  from  its  centripetal 
tendency,  and  those  features  of  a  federative  republic  that,  in  the 
vicissitudes  of  forty  years,  had  well  nigh  been  effaced,  could  be  re- 
stored to  their  original  distinctness  and  beauty.  A  tariff  of  duties, 
onerous  to  the  agricultural  interests,  and  laid  solely  for  the  protection 
of  other  interests,  and  as  a  bounty,  had  been  imposed.  The  protect- 
ive policy  was  distinctly  recognized  as  a  principle  of  legislation ;  its 
friends  regarded  it  as  firmly  established,  and  proclaimed  it  to  be  as 
fixed  as  fate.  But  this  principle  of  protection,  according  to  States- 
right  doctrine^  which  was  the  basis  and  the  essential  element  of  the  old 
Republican  party,  could  only  be  looked  upon  as  a  violent  interpola- 
tion. The  most  eminent  statesmen  of  the  strict-construction  school 
denounced  it  as  an  unwarrantable  abuse  of  power,  if  indeed  it  was 
not  a  plain  infraction  of  the  letter  of  the  Constitution,  which  gave 
power  to  lay  and  collect  duties,  imports,  and  taxes,  merely  for  the 
purposes  of  revenue.  But  one  of  the  States  of  the  Confederacy,  be- 
lieving that  the  right  to  impose  a  tax  on  one  class  of  industry,  as  a 


THE  CONSUMMATION.  355 

bounty  to  another,  had  not  been  granted,  and  hearing  a  stern  ma- 
jority assert  the  doctrine,  and  pronounce  it  as  fixed  as  fate,  pro- 
claimed that  the  only  safety  of  the  Republic  lay  in  State  inter- 
position. 

Our  fathers  did  not  complain  of  the  burthen  of  their  taxes,  but 
contended  against  the  right  of  taxation  without  representation.  But 
South  Carolina  contended  that  her  grievances  were  even  greater  than 
those  of  our  ancestors ;  she  protested  against  the  tariff  system,  as 
founded  in  usurpation  and  injustice,  and  at  the  same  time  complained 
of  the  onerous  nature  of  the  taxes  imposed  She  was  heavily  taxed 
for  the  benefit  of  others,  and  yet  had  no  voice  in  the  imposition. 
Feeling  herself  aggrieved,  and  having  appealed,  as  she  thought,  in 
vain  for  redress,  she  took  the  remedy  of  her  wrongs  in  her  own  hands. 
The  only  conservative  power  of  this  Confederative  Republic  is  in  the 
States.  What  matters  it  how  nicely  adjusted  may  be  the  balance  of 
power  between  the  executive,  legislative,  and  judicial  departments  at 
Washington,  when  they  have  swallowed  up  all  the  powers  that  were 
reserved  to  the  States  and  to  the  people.  Take  away  the  rights  that 
belong  to  Virginia  and  the  other  States  as  bodies  politic,  and  those 
that  belong  to  their  people,  as  citizens  of  each  State  respectively 
(strictly  speaking,  there  is  no  such  thing  as  an  American  citizen) ; 
take  away  these  domestic  guards,  destroy  these  home  securities  that 
we  hold  in  our  own  hands,  and  where  is  the  guaranty  for  our  liber- 
ties ?  We  should  no  longer  be  a  federative  republic  of  equal  and 
sovereign  States,  but  the  miserable,  degraded  provinces  of  a  consoli- 
dated empire,  where  a  sectional  and  selfish  majority  will  rule  the  nation 
with  a  rod  of  iion.  The  States  would  be  recreant  to  their  trust,  and 
unworthy  the  veneration  of  their  sons,  did  they  not  stand  by  those  rights 
so  essential  to  their  own  existence,  and  so  invaluable  as  the  means  of 
protecting  and  preserving  the  liberties  of  their  people.  This  is  what 
Massachusetts  did  in  the  days  of  the  embargo;  it  is  what  South  Carolina 
did  on  the  present  occasion.  She  asserted  (and  surely  she  was  the 
best  judge)  that  the  tariff  which  had  been  forced  upon  her,  was  not 
only  ruinous,  but  as  unjust  and  as  unwarrantable  as  the  right  claimed 
by  the  British  parliament  to  tax  the  Colonies  without  their  consent. 
She  protested  that  the  tax  was  forced  upon  her  by  those  who  had  no 
common  interest,  and  declared  her  resolution  to  refuse  obedience  to 
the  law.  Whether  she  acted  wisely — whether  she  threw  herself 


356  LIFE  °F  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

upon  those  constitutional  rights  reserved  to  her  as  a  State — or  whethei 
she  resorted  to  the  ultimate  right  of  the  oppressed  under  every  form 
of  government,  is  for  the  general  historian  and  the  political  philoso- 
pher to  determine.  The  biographer  of  John  Randolph  has  only  te 
say  iiat  he  sympathized  with  the  State,  and  went  with  her,  heart 
and  soul,  in  the  fearful  struggle  that  ensued.  He  had  battled  with 
tbis  tariff  system  from  the  beginning,  and  foresaw  the  dangerous  con- 
sequences to  which  it  would  lead.  When  the  subject  was  under 
discussion  in  1824,  he  said,  on  the  floor  of  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives : 

"  And  what,  sir,  are  we  now  about  to  do  ?  For  what  was  the 
Constitution  formed?  To  drive  the  people  of  any  part  of  this 
Union  from  the  plough  to  the  distaff?  Sir,  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States  never  would  have  been  formed,  and  if  formed,  would 
have  been  scouted  una  voce  by  the  people,  if  viewed  as  a  means  of 
effecting  purposes  like  this.  The  Constitution  was  formed  for  exter- 
nal purposes,  to  raise  armies  and  navies,  and  to  lay  uniform  duties  on 
imports,  to  raise  a  revenue  to  defray  the  expenditure  of  such  objects. 
What  are  you  going  to  do  now?  To  turn  the  Constitution  wrong- 
side  out ;  to  abandon  foreign  commerce  and  exterior  relations — I  am 
sorry  to  use  this  Frenchified  word — the  foreign  affairs  which  it  was 
established  to  regulate,  and  convert  it  into  a  municipal  agent ;  to  carry 
a  system  of  espionage  and  excise  into  every  log-house  in  the  United 
States.  *  *  *  *  But  no  force — no,  sir,  no  force  short  of  Russian  des- 
potism— shall  induce  me  to  purchase,  or,  knowing  it,  to  use  any  arti- 
cle from  the  region  of  country  which  attempts  to  cram  this  bill  down 
our  throats.  On  this  we  of  the  South  are  as  resolved,  as  were  our 
fathers  about  the  tea,  which  they  refused  to  drink ;  for  this  is  the 
same  old  question  of  the  stamp  act  in  a  new  shape,  viz. :  whether  they 
who  have  no  common  feeling  with  us  shall  impose  on  us  not  merely 
a  burdensome  but  a  ruinous  tax.  and  that  by  way  of  experiment  and 
sport.  And,  I  say  again,  if  we  are  to  submit  to  such  usurpations, 
give  me  George  Grenville,  give  me  Lord  North,  for  a  master.  It 
is  in  this  point  of  view  that  I  most  deprecate  the  bill.  If  from  the 
language  I  have  used,  and  gentlemen  shall  believe  I  am  not  as  much 
attached  to  this  Union  as  any  one  on  this  floor,  he  will  labor  under 
a  great  mistake.  But  there  is  no  magic  in  this  word  Union ;  I  value 
it  as  the  means  of  preserving  the  liberty  and  happiness  of  the  people. 
Marriage  itself  is  a  good  thing ;  but  the  marriages  of  Mezentius  were 
not  so  esteemed.  The  marriage  of  Sinbad,  the  Sailor,  with  the  corse 
of  his  deceased  wife,  was  an  union  5  and  just  such  an  union  will  this 
be,  if,  by  a  bare  majority  in  both  Houses,  this  bill  shall  become  ^a 
law.  And  I  ask,  sir,  whether  it  will  redound  to  the  honor  of  this 


THE  CONSUMMATION.  357 

House,  if  this  bill  should  pass,  that  the  people  should  owe  their  escape" 
to  the  act  of  any  others,  rather  than  to  us  ?  How  will  it  answer  for 
the  people  to  have  to  look  up  for  their  escape  from  oppression,  not  to 
their  immediate  representatives,  but  to  the  representatives  of  the 
States,  or,  possibly,  to  the  Executive?  *  *  *  *  In  case  this  bill 
should  be,  unhappily,  presented  to  him  (the  President)  for  his  signa- 
ture, I  hope,  sir,  he  will  scout  it  as  contrary  to  the  genius  of  our 
government,  to  the  whole  spirit  and  letter  of  our  Confederation.  I  say 
of  our  Confederation.  Blessed  be  God,  it  is  a  Confederation,  and  that 
it  contains  within  itself  the  redeeming  power,  which  has  more  than 
once  been  exercised,  and  that  it  contains  within  itself  the  seeds  of  pre- 
servation, if  not  of  this  Union,  at  least  of  the  individual  commonwealths 
of  which  it  is  composed." 

In  another  part  of  the  same  speech  (1824),  Mr.  Randolph  de- 
clared : 

"  This  is  not  the  last  tariff  measure ;  for,  in  less  than  five  years, 
I  would,  if  I  were  a  betting  man,  wager  any  odds  that  we  have  ano- 
ther tariff  proposition,  worse  by  far  than  that,  amendments  to  which 
gentlemen  had  strangled  yesterday  by  the  bowstring  of  the  previous 
question.  *****  When  I  recollect  that  the  tariff  of  1816  was 
followed  by  that  of  1819-20,  and  that  by  this  measure  of  1823-4, 
I  cannot  believe  that  we  are  at  any  time  hereafter  long  to  be  exempt 
from  the  demands  of  those  sturdy  beggars,  who  will  take  no  denial. 
Every  concession  does  but  render  every  fresh  demand  and  new  con- 
cession more  easy.  It  is  like  those  dastard  nations  who  vainly  think 
to  buy  peace." 

They  did  follow  in  rapid  succession;  the  tariff  of  1828  and  of 
1832.  each  based  on  the  principle  of  protection,  each  more  burthen- 
some  than  those  that  had  gone  before,  and  proclaimed  as  fixed  as 
fate.  Mr.  Randolph  watched  the  crisis  brought  on  by  this  unwise 
and  oppressive  legislation  with  intensest  interest.  South  Carolina 
had  taken  her  position,  and  he  knew  well  she  would  maintain  it. 
Though  in  retirement,  he  was  in  daily  correspondence  with  the  chief 
actors  on  the  scene  ;  he  knew  they  were  in  earnest,  that  they  had 
counted  the  costs,  and  would  not  lightly  hazard  the  dangers  of  a 
rupture  and  a  civil  war.  In  March,  1832,  before  any  decisive  steps 
bad  been  taken,  he  spoke  freely  to  his  friends  on  the  subject  of  South 
Carolina  nullification.  He  said  that  dreadful  times  were  coming, 
the  United  States  Bank  would  be  broken,  and  troops  would  be  march- 
ing through  the  country ;  he  said  that  South  Carolina  would  not 
yield — that  she  would  fight  •;  that  General  Jackson  would  be  glad  to 


358  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

get  Hamilton,  Calhoun,  McDuffie,  and  Hayne  into  his  power ;  tliat 
he  had  no  doubt  if  a  war  came,  as  come  he  feared  it  must,  General 
Jackson  would  hang  those  gentlemen,  if  he  could  get  hold  of  them  ; 
but  that  the  whole  South  would  unite,  for  it  was  their  interest  to  do 
so.  and  there  would  be  a  bloody  war  of  it.  He  read  letters  from  gen- 
tlemen in  South  Carolina,  and  became  highly  excited  on  the  subject. 
He  said  that  if  the  war  took  place,  he  would  have  himself  buckled  on 
his  horse,  Kadical,  and  would  fight  for  the  South  to  the  last  breath. 
These  expressions,  the  reader  is  aware,  were  used  by  Mr.  Randolph 
under  peculiar  circumstances,  when  he  was  not  altogether  himself. 
Tn  his  cooler  moments  no  man  looked  more  calmly  or  more  judi- 
ciously on  this  momentous  subject.  On  the  6th  of  December,  before 
he  knew  of  the  ordinances  of  South  Carolina,  or  the  proclamation  of 
tl  e  President,  he  writes : 

"  A  letter  from  my  friend  Hamilton  indicates  the  most  morbid 
state  of  excitement  in  South  Carolina.  The  truth  is,  I  have  no  doubt, 
that  imprudent  and  rash  declarations  have  been  made  on  both  sides, 
and  have  been  carried  from  one  to  the  other  by  the  earwigs  that, 
more  or  less,  infest  all  political  parties.  This  has  put  the  leaders  of 
the  two  hostile  divisions  into  the  worst  state  of  mind  imaginable  for 
cordial  and  dignified  reconciliation.  But  I  have  great  faith  in  Jack- 
son's magnanimity,  and  I  trust  that,  as  soon  as  he  finds  himself  in  a 
situation  to  recede  without  dishonor,  he  will  make  the  preliminary 
advances  with  graceful  cordiality." 

Had  Randolph  himself  been  on  the  floor  of  Congress,  events 
might  have  been  different.  No  man  had  more  the  confidence  of  both 
parties  than  he  had ;  but  unfortunately  there  was  no  one  of  sufficient 
weight  and  influence,  to  give  affairs  this  pacific  direction,  and  they  were 
consequently  hurried  on  to  their  catastrophe. 

South  Carolina,  by  her  ordinance,  proclaimed  that  she  would  not 
obey  a  law  of  the  United  States.  It  was  the  duty  of  the  President 
to  see  that  the  laws  were  faithfully  executed.  G-eneral  Jackson,  by  his 
proclamation,  pronounced  his  determination  to  see  that  the  Tariff  law 
was  properly  enforced  in  South  Carolina.  The  Proclamation  contains 
an  elaborate  argument  in  justification  of  his  conduct.  It  cannot  be  de- 
nied that  his  duty  required  him  to  take  some  such  course,  but  he  sustain- 
ed and  justified  it,  by  a  resort  to  the  exploded  doctrines  and  reasonings 
of  the  old  federal  school ;  if  his  arguments  were  true,  then  the  principles 
of  the  Republican  party,  on  which  he  had  "hitherto  acted,  were  ftil.se. 


THE  CONSUMMATION.  359 

It  may  have  been  a  right  action,  but  a  wrong  reason.  All  power  ema- 
nates from  the  people,  they  are  sovereign ;  but  the  general  undefined 
mass  of  individuals,  told  by  the  head  within  the  borders  of  the  Uni- 
ted States,  are  not  the  people  known  to  our  Institutions:  the  citizens 
of  each  State  acting  through  the  body  politic,  or  a  convention,  or  in 
their  primary  assemblies,  are  the  people.  Whatever  they  shall  do  in 
their  sovereign  capacity,  as  the  people  of  a  State,  may  be  a  revolution, 
but  it  can  never  be  a  rebellion  ;  a  sovereign  cannot  rebel  against  him- 
self, nor  against  his  coequal  sovereigns;  he  may  violate  a  compact 
with  them,  or  they  may  commit  a  breach  of  faith  towards  him,  so  as  to 
justify  resistance  and  even  war,  a  revolution  if  you  please  of  all  the 
relations  existing  between  them,  but  no  act  of  omission  or  aggression 
between  coequal  and  independent  parties  can  be  construed  into  a 
rebellion. 

Here  was  Jackson's  great  mistake ;  he  did  not  have  a  clear  per- 
ception of  a  federative  union  between  coequal  and  independent  States  : 
he  regarded  the  ordinance  of  the  people  of  South  Carolina,  issuing 
from  the  highest  authority  known  to  a  State — their  sovereign  will  ex- 
pressed in  Convention — as  an  act  of  rebellion,  and  the  men  and  officers 
appointed  to  execute  their  will  as  rebels  that  ought  to  be  hung  when- 
ever taken. 

So  soon  as  Randolph  heard  of  this  fatal  proclamation,  so  preg- 
nant with  pestilent  heresies,  his  indignation  knew  no  bounds.  The 
Editor  of  the  Richmond  Enquirer  endeavored  to  discriminate  between 
the  act  itself  and  the  reasoning  in  defence  of  it ;  but  Randolph  in- 
volved both  perpetrator  and  defender  in  one  common  denunciation. 
The  16th  of  December  he  says: 

-  Your  letter  of  the  12th  was  received  late  last  night  whilst  I  was 
under  the  influence  of  morphine  and  blue-pill,  but  such  was  the  inter- 
est I  took  in  it,  and  in  the  Jesuitical  comments  of  Mr.  Enquirer 
Ritchie  on  the  ferocious  and  blood-thirsty  proclamation  of  our  Djezzar 
Pacha,  that  I  did  not  close  an  eya  until  daybreak.     I  am  now  just 
out  of  bed  (1  o'clock,  P.  M.),  and  not  more  than  half  alive,  indeed  not 
so  much. 

-  The  apathy  of  our  people  is  most  alarming.     If  they  do  not 
rouse  themselves  to  a  sense  of  our  condition  and  put  down  this  wretch 
ed  old  man,  the  country  is  irretrievably  ruined.     The  mercenary 
troops  who  have  embarked  for  Charleston,  have  not  disappointed  me 
they  are  working  in  their  vocation,  poor  devils  !    I  trust  that  no  quar 
tor  will  be  given  to  them. 


360  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

"  Pray  tell  William  Leigh  to  write  to  me  forthwith,  and  to  give  me 
his  full,  unreserved  opinion  upon  the  state  of  affairs.  I  sometimes 
distrust  my  own  judgment  in  my  present  diseased  condition. 

"  I  am  heartily  glad  that  my  brother  refuses  to  go  to  the  Senate 
of  the  U.  S.  I  should  not  be  sorry  to  see  him  in  our  Legislature, 
where,  as  1798-9,  the  resistance  must  be  made."  January  4,  1833, 
he  writes  to  Mr.  Harvey :  "  My  life  is  ebbing  fast.  What  will  tht> 
New-York  Evening  Post  say  to  Ritchie's  apology  for  the  Proclama- 
tion, in  his  '  Enquirer'  of  the  first  instant  ?  Never  was  there  so  im- 
pudent a  thing.  It  seems,  then,  that  the  President  did  not  know, 
good,  easy  man,  what  his  Proclamation  contained.  Verily,  I  believe 
it.  He  is  now  all  for  law  and  the  civil  power,  and  shudders  at  blood. 
'  Save  ine  from  my  friends'  is  a  good  old  Spanish  proverb.  But  his 
soi-disant  friends  are  his  bitterest  enemies,  and  use  him  as  a  tool  for 
their  own  unhallowed  purposes  of  guilty  ambition.  They  have  first 
brought  him  into  odium,  and  then  sunk  him  into  contempt.  Alas  ! 
alas  !"  January  31st  he  says :  "I  am  now  much  worse  than  when  I 
wrote  you  last,  and  see  no  probability  of  my  ever  recovering  suffi- 
ciently to  leave  this  place.  The  springs  of  life  are  worn  out.  Indeed, 
in  the  abject  state  of  the  public  mind,  there  is  nothing  worth  living 
for.  It  is  a  merciful  dispensation  of  Providence,  that  death  can 
release  the  captive  from  the  clutches  of  the  tyrant.  I  was  not  born 
to  endure  a  master.  I  could  not  brook  military  despotism  in  Europe, 
but  at  home  it  is  not  to  be  endured.  I  could  not  have  believed  that 
the  people  would  so  soon  have  shown  themselves  unfit  for  free  govern 
ment.  I  leave  to  General  Jackson,  and  the  Hartford  men,  and  the 
ultra-federalists  and  tories.  and  the  office-holders  and  office-seekers, 
their  triumph  over  tJie  liberties  of  the  country.  They  ivill  stand 
damned  to  everlasting  fame" 

But  the  dying  statesman  resolved  to  make  another  effort  to  rouse 
the  people,  and  to  pluck  the  fallen  liberties  of  the  country  from  the 
grasp  of  military  despotism.  The  veteran  of  a  hundred  fields  har- 
nessed himself  for  his  last  battle.  The  same  cause  that  nerved  his 
youthful  arm,  now  shook  the  palsy  from  his  aged  limbs,  and  kindled 
in  his  bosom  once  more  its  slumbering  fires.  The  sight  of  mercenary 
troops  levied  to  uphold  the  usurpations  of  Government  first  called  forth 
that  bold  and  manly  eloquence,  that  revealed  to  the  people  the  future 
champion  of  their  cause,  and  made  John  Thompson  exclaim — he  ivill 
become  an  object  of  admiration  and  terror  to  t/ie  enemies  of  liberty. 
True  to  the  destiny  thus  foretold,  for  more  than  thirty  years  he  had 
successfully  contended  against  the  minions  of  power.  But  now,  be- 
hold the  same  appalling  scenes  re-enacted  before  him — the  hirelings 


THE    CONSUMMATION.  361 

of  Government  marching  through  the  land  to  trample  down  the  rights 
of  the  States  and  of  the  people — the  same  doctrines  avowed — the 
same  excuses  offered  for  the  interposition  of  military  authority — 
while  the  people^  sunk  into  a  deep  lethargy  like  that  of  sleep,  are 
unconscious  of  the  "  leprous  distilment"  that  has  poisoned  the  fount- 
ains of  truth,  and  are  forgetful  of  the  threatening  dangers  that  sur- 
round them.  "  The  apathy  of  our  people  is  alarming  !" 

But  there  was  no  apathy  in  him  :  he  saw,  he  felt,  he  acted.  Lifted 
into  his  carriage  like  an  infant,  he  went  from  county  to  county,  and 
spoke  with  a  power  that  effectually  aroused  the  slumbering  multi- 
tudes. Too  weak  to  stand,  he  addressed  them  from  his  seat :  but 
like '  Jupiter  seated  on  Olympus,  he  shot  forth  his  thunderbolts  on 
every  hand,  blasting  and  withering  whatever  stood  in  the  way.  The 
sublime  energies  of  a  patriot  soul  were  his ;  they  could  not  be  re- 
pressed, and  all  the  faculties  of  a  dying  frame  were  summoned  to  this 
last  effort.  It  was  like  a  voice  coming  from  beyond  the  tomb :  there 
was  the  skeleton  of  a  man  before  them,  but  the  people  saw  the  fires  of 
an  immortal  spirit  beaming  forth  from  its  blazing  sockets  ;  they  heard 
the  trembling  accents  of  an  expiring  tongue,  but  felt  the  living  words 
of  an  inspired  prophet  fall  upon  their  tingling  ears.  Their  fathers 
had  heard  that  clear  ringing  voice  in  the  days  of  his  youth  echo 
sweet  music  through  their  hearts,  and  had  clasped  him  to  their  bo- 
soms as  their  most  cherished  son :  they  now  listened  to  his  solemn 
tones,  like  the  knell  of  a  death-bell,  with  silence  and  awe ;  and  re 
ceived  his  warning  admonitions  with  the  duty  and  reverence  of  affec 
tionate  children. 

He  did  not  speak  in  vain.  Throughout  his  old  district,  with 
scarcely  a  dissenting  voice,  they  adopted  his  resolutions  condemning 
the  tone,  the  temper,  and  the  doctrines  of  the  Proclamation.  In  the 
course  of  his  speech  at  Buckingham,  Mr.  Randolph  is  reported,  on 
what  seems  to  be  good  authority,  to  have  said :  "  Gentlemen,  I  am 
filled  with  the  most  gloomy  apprehensions  for  the  fate  of  the  Union. 
I  cannot  express  to  you.  how  deeply  I  am  penetrated  with  a  sense  of 
the  danger  which  at  this  moment  threatens  its  existence.  If  Madison 
filled  the  Executive  chair,  he  might  be  bullied  into  some  compro- 
mise. If  Monroe  was  in  power,  he  might  be  coaxed  into  some  adjust- 
ment of  this  difficulty.  But  Jackson  is  obstinate,  headstrong,  and 
fond  of  fight.  I  fear  matters  must  come  to  an  open  rupture.  If  so. 


362  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

this  Union  is  gone  !"  Then  pausing  for  near  a  minute,  raising  his  fin 
ger  in  that  emphatic  manner  so  peculiar  to  his  action  as  a  speaker 
and  seeming,  as  it  were,  to  breathe  more  freely,  he  continued — "  Ther4 
is  one  man,  and  one  man  only,  who  can  save  this  Union — that  man 
is  HENRY  CLAY.  I  know  he  has  the  power,  I  believe  he  will  be 
found  to  have  the  patriotism  and  firmness  equal  to  the  occasion." 

Mr.  Clay  did  not  disappoint  his  expectations.  Whatever  may  bo 
said  of  him  as  a  statesman,  none  can  deny  that  he  is  a  true-hearted 
patriot.  With  parental  fondness  he  cherished  his  American  system 
— with  unyielding  pertinacity  contended  for  it  to  the  last  extremity — 
but  when  it  became  a  question  between  that  and  the  integrity  of  the 
Union,  he  did  not  hesitate ;  like  Abraham,  he  was  ready  to  sacrifice 
his  own  offspring  on  the  altar  of  his  country,  and  to  see  the  fond  idols 
he  had  cherished  perish  one  by  one  before  his  lingering  eyes.  Mainly 
through  his  efforts  the  Compromise  bill  of  1833  was  passed,  the 
principle  of  protection  abandoned,  the  duties  reduced,  South  Carolina 
satisfied,  her  honor  preserved,  and  the  Union  saved.  But  let  not 
Jackson  be  too  lightly  condemned.  He  had  a  difficult  task  to  per- 
form ;  aside  from  the  heresies  of  his  Proclamation  we  have  not  con- 
demned him.  There  were  the  laws  on  the  statute  book;  he  had 
labored  to  get  them  modified :  but  however  much  he  might  disap- 
prove of  their  character,  or  sympathize  with  those  on  whose  shoulders 
they  fell  as  a  grievous  burthen,  so  long  as  they  were  laws,  he  was 
bound  to  see  them  enforced.  He  was  not  the  man  to  shrink  from 
his  duty,  and  promptly  declared  that  they  should  be  enforced.  This 
was  an  awful  moment  for  the  Republic. 

The  most  important  experiment  in  the  history  of  government  had 
to  be  tried.  The  trial  had  to  be  made,  whether  State  sovereignty 
was  of  any  avail,  or  the  Federal  Government  absolute  and  omnipotent. 
Had  Carolina  failed,  we  should  have  gone  down  like  the  Roman  Re- 
public, into  a  consolidated  empire,  with  all  power  concentrated  in  the 
capitol,  and  governed  by  venality  and  corruption.  Had  Jackson  fail- 
ed in  his  duty,  and  suffered  the  laws  to  be  put  at  defiance  with  impu- 
nity, the  fraternal  bonds  of  this  Union  would  have  been  dissolved, 
and  we  should  have  existed  for  a  time  as  petty  States,  in  perpetual 
warfare,  until  some  master  should  arise  to  govern  them,  or  they  should 
fall,  as  exhausted  provinces,  into  the  hands  of  European  power.  In 
this  awful  moment,  when  disrupture  and  civil  war  seemed  inevitable, 


THE  CONSUMMATION. 

that  magnanimous  spirit  of  compromise,  in  which  the  Constitution 
was  framed,  again  rescued  it  from  destruction.  And  so  will  it  ever 
be  while  the  States  have  independence  and  courage  to  assert  theii 
rights,  and  patriot  souls  shall  guide  the  helm  of  affairs. 

This  was  the  auspicious  moment  for  John  Randolph  to  depart. 
He  died  in  the  midst  of  the  battle,  but  the  victory  had  been  won. 
The  doctrine  of  State  rights,  ingrafted  on  the  Constitution  by 
George  Mason,  developed  by  Jefferson,  expounded  by  Madison,  and 
practised  by  himself,  had  once  more  triumphed — a  strict  construction 
of  the  Constitution,  a  total  abstinence  from  the  exercise  of  all  powers 
not  specifically  granted,  an  abandonment  to  the  States  of  the  right  to 
control  all  things  affecting  their  internal  and  domestic  affairs,  was 
once  again  to  become  the  rule  of  action  to  the  Federal  Government, 
and  to  be  the  means  of  developing  a  prosperity  in  the  several  States, 
unparalleled  in  the  annals  of  history,  and  of  exciting  among  them  a 
generous  spirit  of  emulation,  causing  each  to  strive  with  all  the 
means  of  this  inventive  age,  to  excel  the  other  in  the  various  walks 
of  industry,  in  the  arts  of  peace,  in  the  deeds  of  arms,  and  in  noble 
acts  of  chivalry,  that  will  cast  a  lustre  over  this  great  Republic, 
uneclipsed  by  the  most  brilliant  achievements  of  ancient  or  modern 
times. 

For  this  glorious  consummation,  we  are  indebted  to  John  Kan- 
dolph, more  than  to  any  other  man.  His  bold  and  masterly  efforts 
arrested  that  centripetal  tendency  which  was  rapidly  destroying  the 
counterbalance  of  the  States,  and  making  them,  instead  of  what  they 
are,  proud  independent  sovereignties,  jealous  of  their  peculiar  rights, 
and  prompt  to  defend  them,  mere  abject  provinces,  bowing  patiently 
to  encroachment  so  long  as  largesses  were  bestowed  by  the  bountiful 
hand  of  an  all-powerful  and  concentrated  empire. 

Let  not  the  absurd  notion  then  be  repeated,  that  he  was  powerful 
to  pull  down,  but  feeble  to  build  up.  There  it  was,  already  built  up, 
that  beautiful  system,  unknown  to  the  world  before,  an  imperium  in 
imperio  ;  he  had  nothing  to  add  to  the  design  of  those  who  projected 
it — leave  it  to  its  own  beautiful  and  simple  operations,  and  like  the 
solar  system,  we  should  scarcely  know  of  its  existence  save  by  the 
genial  influence  shed  on  the  various  planets  that  composed  it ;  he 
taught  a  wise  and  masterly  inactivity — add  nothing  to  clog  its  mo- 
tion— nothing  to  hurry  it  to  rack  and  ruin,  like  an  unbalanced  ho- 
44 


LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

rologue,  and  the  States  and  the  Union  in  perpetual  harmony,  will 
move, 

"  Like  a  star  that  maketh  not  haste, 
That  taketh  not  rest ; 

each  one  fulfilling 

His  God-given  hest." 


CHAPTEE     XLIV. 

"  I  HAVE  BEEN  SICK  ALL  MY  LIFE." — DEATH. 

MR.  RANDOLPH  attempted  to  go  to  the  different  counties  of  his  old 
district,  in  the  month  of  April,  and  to  address  the  people  on  the  days 
of  election,  but  he  did  not  succeed.     On  the  14th  of  April,  he  writes 
to  Dr.  Brockenbrough.      "  Your  letter  of  the  4th  was  received  here 
(Charlotte  Court-house)  last  night,  on  my  return  from  Buckingham. 
I  made  an  effort  to  attend  that  election,  but  was  obliged  to  return 
re  infecta,  and  reached  this  place  so  done  up  by  fatigue,  that  I  have 
not  been  able  to  get  on  to  Roanoke.     Exercise  by  gestation  is  in- 
dispensable to  my  existence ;  from  ten  to  twenty  miles  are  requisite 
to  enable  me  to  support  life.     I  am  now  scuffling  to  get  to  England 
in  the  May  packet.     Whether  I  shall  succeed  or  not.  I  propose  being 
in   Richmond  immediately   after   the  Cumberland   election,  if  not 
sooner."     He  was  at  Cumberland  on  the  day  of  election,  and  started 
that  evening  for  Richmond ;  but  was  compelled  to  turn  in  at  Clay  Hill, 
the  residence  of  his  friend  Barksdale  in  Amelia.     On  the  23d,  he 
says :  "  Although  more  than  half  dead  when  taken  out  of  my  car- 
riage, and  enduring  excessive  pain,  I  passed  a  better  night  than  I 
have  had  for  two  months,  and  was  in  every  respect  far  better  this 
morning,  tha-n  I  had  been  within  that  period ;  and  I  feel  satisfied 
that  exercise  by  gestation,  if  I  take  enough  of  it,  will  greatly  remit  my 
exhausted  system.     However,  while  I  was  chuckling  over  my  success, 
I  suffered  a  fatal  relapse,  and  the  day  has  been  spent  in  stupor  and 
pain,  which  did  not  allow  me  to  dispense  with  Johnny's  presence  and 
services.    Deo  volente,  he  will  set  out  to-morrow  by  day  with  this 
letter."      From  George  W.    Johnson's,   near  Moody's,  Chesterfield, 
Thursday,  May  2d,  he  writes :  "  I  am  here  very  ill.     I  have  little 
expectation  of  ever  leaving  this  apartment,  except  on  men's  shoul 


"I  HAVE  BEEN  SICK  ALL  MY  LIFE."— DEATH.  365 

ders  ;  an  act  of  imprudence  on  the  night  of  my  arrival  has  nearly 
sealed  my  doom.  Yet  with  my  characteristic  reaction,  I  may  go  to 
Petersburg  to-morrow,  and  on  Monday,  to  Richmond.  Pray,  secure 
me,  if  practicable,  a  parlor  and  bedroom  adjoining,  on  a  lower  floor, 
and  speak  to  Ball  to  reserve  stalls  for  five  horses  and  three  servants. 

"  If  my  dear  orother  Harry  be  not  gone,  entreat  him  to  come  to 
me  on  the  receipt  of  this.  If  I  can,  I  will  take  the  packet  from  the 
Delaware  for  London,  avoiding  the  Irish  Channel,  which  is  the  worst 
as  the  English  S.  Coast  is  the  best  of  climates." 

He  did  go  on  to  Petersburg,  attended  the  races,  made  a  speech, 
passed  through  Richmond,  and  from  the  Merry  Oaks,  Friday,  May 
1 7,  he  writes : 

'•Arrived  here  last  night,  through  torrents  of  rain  that  deluged 
the  roads,  and  made  them  run  like  rivers,  John  and  Juba,  as  wet  as 
drowned  rats,  but  it  was  an  admirable  sedative  (you  are  an  '  Embro ' 
man,  and  possibly  a  disciple  of  Cullen)  for  John's  over  stimulant. 
Quant  d  moi,  I  came  every  foot  of  the  way  in  torture,  having  been 
so  lumbered  by  John,  that  I  might  as  well  have  been  in  the  pillory, 
and  each  jolt  over  stone,  stump,  or  pole,  or  old  fence  rails  left  in  the 
road,  when  the  new  one  was  made,  or  the  old  one  '  upset '  for  the  be- 
nefit of  travelling  carriages,  those  of  gentlemen  in  especial,  as  the 
Waverly  man  has  it. 

"  At  Botts's  gate,  Half  Sink,  I  was  fain  to  call  and  ask  the  price 
of  his  land,  and  sponge  upon  him  for  the  night,  for  I  was  in  agony, 
but  he  was  gone  to  the  Baltimore  races.  So,  after  making  some  bet- 
ter arrangements,  and  watering  the  tits  which  were  half  choked  with 
thirst,  I  proceeded  on  over  the  slashes  and  '  cross  ways '  with  peine 
forte  et  dure,  to  the  old  oaks,  ignorant  until  then  that  the  stage  road 
had  been  changed,  or  I  would  have  taken  the  other,  except  on  account 
of  the  house.  If  Botts's  land  lay  in  any  other  county,  except  Hen- 
rico,  and  especially  if  it  were  on  the  south  side,  I  would  buy  it  and 
take  my  chance  for  selling  Spring  Hill,  which  except  in  point  of  soil, 
has  every  advantage  over  Half  Sink." 

This  was  the  last  letter  ever  written  by  Mr.  Randolph,  to  his  most 
cherished  and  confidential  friend.  He  had,  in  his  last  journey,  pass- 
ed rapidly  by  most  of  the  scenes  rendered  dear  to  him  by  the  recol- 
lections of  youth,  and  by  the  fond  associations  of  love  and  friendship ; 
and  it  so  happened  that  he  saw  most  of  the  few  friends  that  were  left 
him  this  side  of  the  grave.  What  recollections  were  called  up,  as  he 
passed  for  the  last  time  through  Amelia — love  !  love  !  blighted  love ! 
deeply  buried  in  his  heart's  inmost  core  !  as  he  passed  through  Ches- 


366  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

terfieldj  and  looked  for  the  last  time  on  the  tombs  of  his  beloved  fa- 
ther and  mother,  at  old  Matoax,  where  he  had  so  long  wished  to  lie 
down  and  be  at  rest — Petersburgh — Richmond — there  were  a  few 
left  that  still  cared  for  him,  that  loved  him,  and  warmly  pressed  his 
fevered  hand  as  he  passed  rapidly  by,  on  his  last  journey.  They  were 
now  all  behind  him,  and  he  might  exclaim,  as  he  did  on  a  former  oc- 
casion, when  he  heard  of  the  death  of  one  endeared  by  early,  though 
mournful  recollections : 

"  Days  of  my  cherished  youti. 
When  all  unfelt  Time's  footsteps  fell, 

And  all  unheeded  flew, 
Dreams  of  the  morn  of  life,  farewell !  a  long,  a  last  farewell  ? 

Mr.  Randolph  reached  the  landing  at  Potomac  creek,  before  the 
arrival  of  the  steamboat,  and  considerably  in  advance  of  the  Fred- 
ericksburg  stage-coaches,  which  could  not  keep  pace  with  his  fleet 
horses.  . 

When  the  approach  of  the  boat  was  announced,  he  was  brought 
out  of  the  room  by  his  servants,  on  a  chair,  and  seated  in  the  porch, 
where  most  of  the  stage  passengers  were  assembled.  His  presence 
seemed  to  produce  considerable  restraint  on  the  company ;  and  though 
he  appeared  to  solicit  it,  none  were  willing  to  enter  into  conversation  ; 
one  gentleman  only,  who  was  a  former  acquaintance,  passed  a  few 
words  with  him ;  and  so  soon  as  the  boat  reached  the  landing,  all  hur- 
ried off,  and  left  him  nearly  alone,  with  his  awkward  servants  as  his 
only  attendants.  An  Irish  porter,  who  seemed  to  be  very  careless 
and  awkward  in  his  movements,  slung  a  trunk  round  and  struck  Mr. 
Randolph  with  considerable  force  against  the  knee.  He  uttered  an 
exclamation  of  great  suffering.  The  poor  Irishman  was  much  terri- 
fied,  and  made  the  most  humble  apology,  but  Mr.  Randolph  stormed 
at  him — would  listen  to  no  excuse,  and  drove  him  from  his  presence. 
This  incident  increased  the  speed  of  the  by-standers,  and  in  a  few 
minutes  not  one  was  left  to  assist  the  dying  man. 

Dr.  Dunbar,  an  eminent  physician,  of  Baltimore,  witnessing  what 
happened,  and  feeling  his  sympathies  awakened  towards  a  man  so 
feeble,  and  apparently  so  near  his  end,  walked  up  to  the  chair,  as  the 
servants  were  about  to  remove  their  master,  and  said,  "Mr.  Ran- 
dolph, I  have  not  the  pleasure  of  your  acquaintance,  but  I  have  known 
your  brother  from  my  childhood ;  and  as  I  see  you  have  no  one  with 


"I  HAVE  BEEN  SICK  ALL  MY  LIFE."— DEATH.  357 

you  but  your  servants — you  appear  to  require  a  friend.  I  will  be  liappy 
to  render  you  any  assistance  in  my  power,  while  we  are  together  on 
the  boat."  He  looked  up,  and  fixed  such  a  searching  gaze  on  the 
doctor  as  he  never  encountered  before.  But  having  no  other  motive 
but  kindness  for  a  suffering  fellow  man,  he  returned  the  scrutinizing 
look  with  steadiness.  As  Mr.  Randolph  read  the  countenance  of  the 
stranger,  who  had  thus  unexpectedly  proffered  his  friendship,  his  face 
suddenly  cleared  up ;  and  with  a  most  winning  smile,  and  real  polite- 
ness, and  with  a  touching  tone  of  voice,  grasping  the  Doctor's  hand, 
he  said,  "  I  am  most  thankful  to  you,  sir,  for  your  kindness,  for  I  do, 
indeed,  want  a  friend." 

He  was  now,  with  the  Doctor's  assistance,  carefully  carried  on 
board,  and  set  down  in  the  most  eligible  part  of  the  cabin.  He  seem- 
ed to  be  gasping  for  breath,  as  he  sat  up  in  the  chair ;  having  recov- 
ered a  little,  he  turned  to  the  Doctor,  and  said,  "  Be  so  good,  sir,  if 
you  please,  as  to  give  me  your  name."  The  Doctor  gave  him  his 
name,  his  profession,  and  place  of  residence. 

"  Ah  !  Doctor,"  said  he,  "  I  am  passed  surgery — passed  surgery !" 
"  I  hope  not,  sir,"  the  Doctor  replied.  With  a  deeper  and  more  pa- 
thetic tone,  he  repeated,  "  I  am  passed  surgery." 

He  was  removed  to  a  side  berth,  and  laid  in  a  position  where  he 
could  get  air ;  the  Doctor  also  commenced  fanning  him.  His  face  was 
wrinkled,  and  of  a  parched  yellow,  like  a  female  of  advanced  age. 
He  seemed  to  repose  for  a  moment,  but  presently  he  roused  up, 
throwing  round  an  intense  and  searching  gaze.  The  Doctor  was 
reading  a  newspaper. 

"What  paper  is  that,  Doctor?"^ 

"  The Gazette,  sir." 

"  A  very  scurrilous  paper,  sir — a.  very  scurrilous  paper." 

After  a  short  pause,  he  continued,  "  Be  so  good,  sir,  as  to  read 
the  foreign  news  for  me— the  debates  in  Parliament,  if  you  please." 

"  As  the  names  of  the  speakers  were  mentioned,  he  commented  on 
each  ;  "  Yes,"  said  he,  "  I  knew  him  when  I  was  in  England  ;"  then 
went  on  to  make  characteristic  remarks  on  each  person. 

In  reading,  the  Doctor  fell  upon  the  word  budget ;  he  pronounced 
the  letter  u  short,  as  in  bud — budget.  Mr.  Randolph  said  quickly, 
but  with  great  mildness  and  courtesy,  "  Permit  me  to  interrupt  you 
for  a  moment,  Doctor ;  I  would  pronounce  that  word  budget ;  like  oo  in 


368  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

"book."  "  Very  well,  sir,"  said  the  Doctor,  pleasantly,  and  continued 
the  reading,  to  which  Mr.  Randolph  listened  with  great  attention. 
Mr.  Randolph  now  commenced  a  conversation  about  his  horses,  which 
he  seemed  to  enjoy  very  much ;  Gracchus  particularly,  he  spoke  of 
with  evident  delight.  As  he  lay  in  his  berth,  he  showed  his  extremi- 
ties to  the  Doctor,  which  were  much  emaciated.  He  looked  at  them 
mournfully,  and  expressed  his  opinion  of  the  hopelessness  of  his  con- 
dition. The  Doctor  endeavored  to  cheer  him  with  more  hopeful  views. 
He  listened  politely,  but  evidently  derived  no  consolation  from  the  re- 
marks. Supper  was  now  announced ;  the  captain  and  the  steward  were 
very  attentive,  in  carrying  such  dishes  to  Mr.  Randolph  as  they 
thought  would  be  pleasing  to  him.  He  was  plentifully  supplied  with 
fried  clams,  which  he  ate  with  a  good  deal  of  relish.  The  steward 
asked  him  if  he  would  have  some  more  clams.  "  I  do  not  know,"  he 
replied ;  "  Doctor,  do  you  think  I  could  take  some  more  clams  ?" 
"  No,  Mr.  Randolph ;  had  you  asked  me  earlier,  I  would  have  advised 
you  against  taking  any,  for  they  are  very  injurious ;  but  I  did  not 
conceive  it  my  right  to  advise  you."  "  Yes  you  had,  Doctor ;  and  I 
would  have  been  much  obliged  to  you  for  doing  so.  Steward,  I  can't 
take  any  more ;  the  Doctor  thinks  they  are  not  good  for  me." 

After  the  table  was  cleared  off,  one  of  the  gentlemen — the  one 
referred  to  as  a  former  acquaintance  of  Mr.  Randolph's,  observed  that 
he  should  like  to  get  some  information  about  the  boats  north  of  Bal- 
timore. "  I  can  get  it  for  you,  sir,"  replied  Mr.  Randolph.  "  Doctor, 
do  me  the  favor  to  hand  me  a  little  wicker-basket,  among  my  things 
in  the  berth  below."  The  basket  was  handed  to  him  ;  it  was  full  of 
clippings  from  newspapers.  He  could  not  find  the  advertisement  he 
sought  for.  The  gentleman,  with  great  politeness,  said,  "  Don't  trou- 
ble yourself,  Mr.  Randolph."  Several  times  he  repeated,  "Don't 
trouble  yourself,  sir."  At  length  Randolph  became  impatient,  and 
looking  up  at  him  with  an  angry  expression  of  countenance,  said,  "  I 
do  hate  to  be  interrupted  !"  The  gentleman,  thus  rebuked,  immedi- 
ately left  him. 

Mr.  Randolph  then  showed  another  basket  of  the  same  kind,  filled 
with  similar  scraps  from  newspapers,  and  observed  that  he  was  al- 
ways in  the  habit,  when  any  thing  struck  him  in  his  reading,  as  likely 
to  be  useful  for  future  reference,  to  cut  it  out  and  preserve  it  in  books, 
which  he  had  for  that  purpose ;  and  that  he  had  at  home  several  vol- 
umes of  that  kind. 


"1  HAVE  BEEN  SICK  ALL  MY  LIFE."— DEATH.  3(59 

He  showed  his  arrangements  for  travelling  in  Europe ;  and  after 
a  while,  seeing  the  Doctor  writing,  he  said,  "Doctor,  I  see  you 
are  writing ;  will  you  do  me  the  favor  to  write  a  letter  for  me,  to  a 
friend  in  Richmond?"  "  Certainly,  sir."  "  The  gentleman,"  he  con- 
tinued, stands  A.  No.  1,  among  men — Dr.  Brockenbrough,  of  Rich« 
niond."  The  letter  gave  directions  about  business  matters,  princi- 
pally, but  it  contained  some  characteristic  remarks  about  his  horses. 
He  exulted  in  their  having  beaten  the  stage ;  and  concluded,  "  So 
much  for  blood.  Now,"  said  he,  «  sign  it,  Doctor." 

"  How  shall  I  sign  it,  Mr.  Randolph  ?  sign  it  John  Randolph  of 
Roanoke?" 

"  No,  sir,  sign  it  Randolph  of  Roanoke." 

It  was  done  accordingly.  "  Now,  Doctor,"  said  he,  '  do  me  the 
favor  to  add  a  postscript."  The  postscript  was  added,  "  I  have  been 

so  fortunate  as  to  meet  with  Dr.  ,  of ,  on  board  this  boat, 

and  to  form  his  acquaintance,  and  I  can  never  be  sufficiently  grateful 
for  his  kind  attentions  to  me." 

So  soon  as  the  letter  was  concluded,  Mr.  Randolph  drew  together 
the  curtains  of  his  berth ;  the  Doctor  frequently  heard  him  groaning 
heavily,  and  breathing  so  laboriously,  that  several  times  he  approached 
the  side  of  the  berth  to  listen  if  it  were  not  the  beginning  of  the  death- 
struggle.  He  often  heard  him,  also,  exclaiming,  in  agonized  tones, 
"  Oh  God  !  Oh  Christ !"  while  he  was  engaged  in  ejaculatory  prayer. 

He  now  became  very  restless,  was  impatient  and  irascible  with 
his  servants,  but  continued  to  manifest  the  utmost  kindness  and 
courtesy  towards  Dr.  Dunbar. 

When  the  boat  reached  the  wharf  at  Alexandria,  where  the  Doc- 
tor was  to  leave,  he  approached  the  side  of  the  berth,  and  said,  "  Mr. 
Randolph,  I  mus£  now  take  leave  of  you."  He  begged  the  Doctor  to 
come  and  see  him,  at  Gadsby's,  then,  grasping  his  hand,  he  said, 
"  God  bless  you,  Doctor ;  I  never  can  forget  your  kind  attentions  to 
me." 

Next  day  he  went  into  the  Senate  chamber,  and  took  his  seat  in 
rear  of  Mr.  Clay.  That  gentleman  happened  at  the  time  to  be  on  his 
feet,  addressing  the  Senate.  "  Raise  me  up,"  said  Randolph,  "  I 
want  to  hear  that  voice  again."  When  Mr.  Clay  had  concluded  his 
remarks,  which  were  very  few,  he  turned  round  to  see  from  what 
quarter  that  singular  voice  proceeded.  Seeing  Mr.  Randolph,  and 


370  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

that  be  was  in  a  dying  condition,  he  left  his  place  and  went  to  speak 
to  him;  as  he  appi cached,  Mr.  Randolph  said  to  the  gentleman  with 
him,  "  Raise  me  up."  As  Mr.  Clay  offered  his  hand,  he  said,  "  Mr. 
Randolph,  I  hope  you  are  better,  sir."  "  No,  sir,"  replied  Randolph, 
"  I  am  a  dying  man,  and  I  came  here  expressly  to  have  this  interview 
with  you." 

They  grasped  hands  and  parted,  never  to  meet  more. 

Having  accomplished  the  only  thing  that  weighed  on  his  mind, 
having  satisfied  Mr.  Clay,  and  the  world,  that,  notwithstanding  a 
long  life  of  political  hostility,  no  personal  animosity  rankled  in  his 
heart,  he  was  now  ready  to  continue  on  his  journey,  or  to  meet,  with 
a  lighter  conscience,  any  fate  that  might  befall  him. 

He  hurried  on  to  Philadelphia,  to  be  in  time  for  the  packet,  that 
was  about  to  sail  from  the  Delaware.  But  he  was  too  late  ;  he  was 
destined  to  take  passage  in  a  different  boat,  and  to  a  land  far  differ- 
ent from  that  of  his  beloved  England.  It  was  Monday  night  when 
he  reached  the  city,  and  the  storm  was  very  high.  His  friends  found 
him  on  the  deck  of  the  steamboat,  while  Johnny  was  out  hunting  for 
a  carriage.  He  was  put  into  a  wretched  hack,  the  glasses  all  broken, 
and  was  driven  from  hotel  to  hotel  in  search  of  lodgings,  and  exposed 
all  the  time  to  the  peltings  of  the  storm.  He  at  length  drove  to  the 
City  Hotel,  kept  by  Mr.  Edmund  Badger.  When  Mr.  Badger  came 
out  to  meet  him,  he  asked  if  he  could  have  accommodations.  Mr. 
Badger  replied  that  he  was  crowded,  but  would  do  the  best  he  could 
for  him.  On  hearing  this,  he  lifted  up  his  hands,  and  exclaimed, 
"  Great  God !  I  thank  thee  ;  I  shall  be  among  friends,  and  be  taken 
care  of !" 

Mr.  Randolph  was  very  ill.  Dr.  Joseph  Parish,  a  Quaker  phy- 
sician, was  sent  for.  As  he  entered  the  room,  the  patient  said,  "  I 
am  acquainted  with  you,  sir,  by  character.  I  know  you  through 
Giles."  He  then  told  the  Doctor  that  he  had  attended  several 
courses  of  lectures  on  anatomy,  and  described  his  symptoms  with 
xnedical  accuracy,  declaring  he  must  die  if  he  could  not  discharge  the 
puriform  matter. 

"  How  long  have  you  been  sick,  Mr.  Randolph?" 

"  Don't  ask  me  that  question ;  I  have  been  sick  all  my  life.  I 
have  been  affected  with  my  present  disease,  however,  for  three  years. 
It  was  greatly  aggravated  by  my  voyage  to  Russia.  That  killed  me. 


'I  HAVE  BEEN  SICK  ALL  MY  LIFE."— DEATH.  371 

sir.     This  Russian  expedition  lias  been  a  Pultowa.  a  Beresina  to 


me." 


The  Doctor  now  felt  his  pulse.  "  You  can  form  no  judgment  by 
my  pulse  ;  it  is  so  peculiar." 

"  You  have  been  so  long  an  invalid,  Mr.  Randolph,  you  must  have 
acquired  an  accurate  knowledge  of  the  general  course  of  practice 
adapted  to  your  case." 

"Certainly,  sir;  at  forty,  a  fool  or  a  physician,  you  know." 

"  There  are  idiosyncracies,"  said  the  Doctor,  "  in  many  constitu- 
tions. I  wish  to  ascertain  what  is  peculiar  about  you." 

"  I  have  been  an  idiosyncracy  all  my  life.  All  the  preparations 
of  camphor  invariably  injure  me.  As  to  ether,  it  will  blow  me  up. 
Not  so  with  opium  ;  I  can  take  opium  like  a  Turk,  and  have  been  in 
the  habitual  use  of  it,  in  one  shape  or  anothey,  for  some  time." 

Before  the  Doctor  retired,  Mr.  Randolph's  conversation  became 
curiously  diversified.  He  introduced  the  subject  of  the  Quakers  : 
complimented  them  in  his  peculiar  manner  for  neatness,  economy, 
order,  comfort — in  every  thing.  "Right,"  said  he,  "in  every  thing 
except  politics — there  always  twistical."  He  then  repeated  a  portion 
of  the  Litany  of  the  Episcopal  church,  with  apparent  fervor.  The 
following  morning  the  Doctor  was  sent  for  very  early.  He  was 
called  from  bed.  Mr.  Randolph  apologized  very  handsomely  for  dis- 
turbing him.  Something  was  proposed  for  his  relief.  He  petulantly 
and  positively  refused  compliance.  The  Doctor  paused  and  addressed 
a  few  words  to  him.  He  apologized,  and  was  as  submissive  as  an  in- 
fant. One  evening  a  medical  consultation  was  proposed  ;  he  promptly 
objected.  "  In  a  multitude  of  counsel,"  said  he,  "  there  is  confusion ; 
it  leads  to  weakness  and  indecision ;  the  patient  may  die  while  the 
doctors  are  staring  at  each  other."  Whenever  Dr.  Parish  parted 
from  him,  especially  at  night,  he  would  receive  the  kindest  acknow- 
ledgments, in  the  most  affectionate  tones  :  "  God  bless  you ;  he  does 
bless  you.  and  he  will  bless  you." 

The  night  preceding  his  death,  the  Doctor  passed  about  two  hours 
in  his  chamber.  In  a  plaintive  tone  he  said,  "  My  poor  John,  sir,  is 
worn  down  with  fatigue,  and  has  been  compelled  to  go  to  bed.  A 
most  attentive  substitute  supplies  his  place,  but  neither  he  nor  you, 
sir.  are  like  John ;  he  knows  where  to  place  his  hand  on  any  thing, 
in  a  large  quantity  of  baggage  prepared  for  a  European  voyage/' 


372  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

The  patient  was  greatly  distressed  in  breathing,  in  consequence  of 
difficult  expectoration.  He  requested  the  Doctor,  at  his  next  visit, 
to  bring  instruments  for  performing  the  operation  of  broncho tomy, 
for  he  could  not  live  unless  relieved.  He  then  directed  a  certain 
newspaper  to  be  brought  to  him.  He  put  on  his  spectacles,  as  he 
sat  propped  up  in  bed,  turned  over  the  paper  several  times,  and  ex- 
amined it  carefully,  then  placing  his  finger  on  a  part  he  had  selected, 
handed  it  to  the  Doctor,  with  a  request  that  he  would  read  it.  It 
was  headed  "  Cherokee."  In  the  course  of  reading,  the  Doctor  came 
to  the  word  "  omnipotence,"  and  pronounced  it  with  a  full  sound  on 
the  penultimate — omnipotence.  Mr.  Randolph  checked  him,  and 
pronounced  the  word  according  to  Walker.  The  Doctor  attempted 
to  give  a  reason  for  his  pronunciation.  "  Pass  on,"  was  the  quick 
reply.  The  word  impetus  was  then  pronounced  with  the  e  long,  c  im- 
petus." He  was  instantly  corrected.  The  Doctor  hesitated  on  the 
criticism.  "  There  can  be  no  doubt  of  it,  sir."  An  immediate  ac- 
knowledgment of  the  reader  that  he  stood  corrected,  appeared  to  sat- 
isfy the  critic,  and  the  piece  was  concluded.  The  Doctor  observed 
that  there  was  a  great  deal  of  sublimity  in  the  composition.  He  di- 
rectly referred  to  the  Mosaic  account  of  creation,  and  repeated  "  •  Let 
there  be  light,  and  there  was  light.'  There  is  sublimity." 

Next  morning  (the  day  on  which  he  died),  Dr.  Parish  received  an 
early  and  an  urgent  message  to  visit  him.  Several  persons  were  in 
the  room,  but  soon  left  it,  except  his  servant,  John,  who  was  much 
affected  at  the  sight  of  his  dying  master.  The  Doctor  remarked  to 
him,  "  I  have  seen  your  master  very  low  before,  and  he  revived  ;  and 
perhaps  he  will  again."  "  John  knows  better  than  that,  sir."  He 
then  looked  at  the  Doctor  with  great  intensity,  and  said  in  an  earn- 
est and  distinct  manner,  "  I  confirm  every  disposition  in  my  will,  es- 
pecially that  respecting  my  slaves,  whom  I  have  manumitted,  and  for 
whom  I  have  made  provision." 

"  I  am  rejoiced  to  hear  such  a  declaration  from  you,  sir,"  replied 
the  Doctor,  and  soon  after,  proposed  to  leave  him  for  a  short  time,  to 
attend  to  another  patient.  "You  must  not  go"  was  the  reply; 
"  you  cannot,  you  shall  not  leave  me.  John  !  take  care  that  the  Doc- 
tor docs  not  leave  the  room."  John  soon  locked  the  door,  and  re- 
ported, "  Master,  I  have  locked  the  door,  and  got  the  key  in  my 
pocket :  the  Doctor  can't  go  now." 


«  I  HAVE  BEEN  SICK  ALL  MY  LIFE."— DEATH.  373 

He  seemed  excited,  and  said  "  If  you  do  go  you  need  not  return." 
The  Doctor  appealed  to  him  as  to  the  propriety  of  such  an  order,  in- 
asmuch as  he  was  only  desirous  of  discharging  his  duty  to  another 
patient.  His  manner  instantly  changed,  and  he  said,  "I  retract 
that  expression."  Some  time  afterwards,  turning  an  expressive  look, 
he  said  again.  "  I  retract  that  expression." 

The  Doctor  now  said  that  he  understood  the  subject  of  his  com- 
munication, and  presumed  the  "Will  would  explain  itself  fully.  He 
replied  in  his  peculiar  way — "  No,  you  don't  understand  it ;  I  know 
you  don't.  Our  laws  are  extremely  particular  on  the  subject  of 
slaves — a  Will  may  manumit  them,  but  provision  for  their  subsequent 
support,  requires  that  a  declaration  be  made  in  the  presence  of  a 
white  witness  ;  and  it  is  requisite  that  the  witness,  after  hearing  the 
declaration,  should  continue  with  the  party,  and  never  lose  sight  of 
him,  until  he  is  gone  or  dead.  You  are  a  good  witness  for  John. 
You  see  the  propriety  and  importance  of  your  remaining  with  me  ; 
your  patients  must  make  allowance  for  your  situation.  John  told  me 
this  morning — '  master,  you  are  dying.' " 

The  Doctor  spoke  with  entire  candor  and  replied,  that  it  was  rath- 
er a  matter  of  surprise  that  he  had  lasted  so  long.  He  now  made 
his  preparations  to  die.  He  directed  John  to  bring  him  his  father's 
breast  button  ;  he  then  directed  him  to  place  it  in  the  bosom  of  his 
shirt.  It  was  an  old  fashioned,  large-sized  gold  stud.  John  placed 
it  in  the  button  hole  of  the  shirt  bosom — but  to  fix  it  completely,  re- 
quired a  hole  on  the  opposite  side.  "  Get  a  knife,  said  he,  and  cut 
one."  A  napkin  was  called  for,  and  placed  by  John,  over  his  breast. 
For  a  short  time  he  lay  perfectly  quiet,  with  his  eyes  closed.  He 
suddenly  roused  up  and  exclaimed — "  Remorse  !  remorse  !"  It  was 
thrice  repeated — the  last  time,  at  the  top  of  his  voice,  with  great  agi- 
tation. He  cried  out — "  let  me  see  the  word.  Get  a  Dictionary,  let 
me  see  the  word."  "  There  is  none  in  the  room,  sir."  Write  it  down 
then — let  me  see  the  word."  The  Doctor  picked  up  one  of  his  cards, 
<:  Randolph  of  Roanoke"— (-  shall  I  write  it  on  this  card  ?"  "  Yes; 
nothing  more  proper."  The  word  remorse,  was  then  written  in  pen- 
cil. He  took  the  card  in  a  hurried  manner,  and  fastened  his  eyes  on 
it  with  great  intensity.  "  Write  it  on  the  back,"  he  exclaimed — it 
was  so  done  and  handed  him  again.  He  was  extremely  agitat- 
ed— "  Remorse  !  you  have  no  idea  what  it  is  ;  you  can  form  no  idea 


374  LIFE  OF  JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

of  it,  whatever ;  it  has  contributed  to  bring  me  to  my  present  situa- 
tion— but  I  have  looked  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  hope  I  have 
obtained  pardon.  Now  let  John  take  your  pencil  and  draw  a  line 
under  the  word,"  which  was  accordingly  done.  "  What  am  I  to  do  with 
the  card?"  inquired  the  Doctor.  "Put  it  in  your  pocket — take  care 
of  it — when  1  am  dead,  look  at  it." 

The  doctor  now  introduced  the  subject  of  calling  in  some  addi- 
tional witnesses  to  his  declarations,  and  suggested  sending  down  stairs 
for  Edmund  Badger.  He  replied — "  I  have  already  communicated 
that  to  him."  The  doctor  then  said — "  With  your  concurrence,  sir,  I 
will  send  for  two  young  physicians,  who  shall  remain  and  never  lose 
sight  of  you  until  you  are  dead ;  to  whom  you  can  make  your  decla- 
rations— my  son,  Dr.  Isaac  Parish,  and  my  yoang  friend  and  late  pu- 
pil. Dr.  Francis  West,  a  brother  of  Capt.  West." 

'  He  quickly  asked—"  Capt.  West  of  the  Packet  ?"     «  Yes,  sir,  the 
t  same."     "  Send  for  him — he  is  the  man — I'll  have  him." 

Before  the  door  was  unlocked,  he  pointed  towards  a  bureau,  and 
requested  the  Doctor  to  take  from  it  a  remuneration  for  his  services. 
To  this  the  Doctor  promptly  replied,  that  he  would  feel  as  though  he 
were  acting  indelicately,  to  comply.  He  then  waived  the  subject,  by 
saying — "  in  England,  it  is  always  customary." 

The  witnesses  were  now  sent  for,  and  soon  arrived.  The  dying 
man  was  propped  up  in  the  bed,  with  pillows,  nearly  erect.  Being 
extremely  sensitive  to  cold,  he  had  a,  blanket  over  his  head  and  shoul- 
ders ;  and  he  directed  John  to  place  his  hat  on,  over  the  blanket, 
which  aided  in  keeping  it  close  to  his  head.  With  a  countenance  full 
of  sorrow,  John  stood  close  by  the  side  of  his  dying  master.  The 
four  witnesses — Edmund  Badger,  Francis  West,  Isaac  Parish,  and 
Joseph  Parish,  were  placed  in  a  semi-circle,  in  full  view.  He  rallied 
all  the  expiring  energies  of  mind  and  body,  to  this  last  effort.  '•  His 
whole  soul,"  says  Dr.  Parish,  "  seemed  concentrated  in  the  act.  His 
eyes  flashed  feeling  and  intelligence.  Pointing  towards  us,  with  his 
long  index  finger,  he  addressed  us." 

"  I  confirm  all  the  directions  in  my  Will,  respecting  my  slaves, 
and  direct  them  to  be  enforced,  particularly  in  regard  to  a  provision 
for  their  support."  And  then  raising  his  arm  as  high  as  he  could,  he 
brought  it  down  with  his  open  hand,  on  the  shoulder  of  his  favorite 
John,  and  added  these  words — "  especially  for  this  man."  He  then 


"I  HAVE  BEEN  SICK  ALL  MY  LIFE."-DEATH.  375 

asked  each  of  the  witnesses  whether  they  understood  him.  Dr.  Jo- 
seph Parish  explained  to  them,  what  Mr.  Randolph  had  said  in  regard 
to  the  laws  of  Virginia,  on  the  subject  of  manumission — and  then  ap- 
pealed to  the  dying  man  to  know  whether  he  had  stated  it  correctly. 
'•  Yes,"  said  he,  and  gracefully  waving  his  hand  as  a  token  of  dismis- 
sion, he  added — "  the  young  gentlemen  will  remain  with  me." 

The  scene  was  now  soon  changed.  Having  disposed  of  that  sub- 
ject most  deeply  impressed  on  his  heart,  his  keen  penetrating  eye 
lost  its  expression,  his  powerful  mind  gave  way,  and  his  fading  imagi- 
nation began  to  wander  amid  scenes  and  with  friends  that  he  had  left 
behind.  In  two  hours  the  spirit  took  its  flight,  and  all  that  was 
mortal  of  John  Randolph  of  Roanoke  was  hushed  in  death.  At  a 
quarter  before  twelve  o'clock,  on  the  24th  day  of  June,  1833.  aged  sixty 
years,  he  breathed  his  last,  in  a  chamber  of  the  City  Hotel,  No. 
41  North  Third  Street,  Philadelphia. 

His  remains  were  taken  to  Virginia,  and  buried  at  Roanoke,  not 
far  from  the  mansion  in  which  he  lived,  and  in  the  midst  of  that 
"  boundless  contiguity  of  shade,"  where  he  spent  so  many  hours  of 
anguish  and  of  solitude.  He  sleeps  quietly  now ;  the  squirrel  may 
gambol  in  the  boughs  above,  the  partridge  may  whistle  in  the  long 
grass  that  waves  over  that  solitary  grave,  and  none  shall  disturb  or 
make  them  afraid. 

That  innumerable  funeral  bells  were  not  tolled,  and  eulogies  pro- 
nounced, and  a  monument  was  not  erected  to  his  memory  in  the 
capitol  of  his  native  State,  is  because  Virginia  has  not  yet  learned  to 
ki  understand"  and  to  appreciate  her  wisest  statesman,  truest  patriot, 
and  most  devoted  son. 


THE  END. 


APPLETONS' 

AMERICAN   CYCLOPEDIA 

NEW  REVISED  EDITION. 

Entirely  rewritten  by  the  ablest  writers  on  every  subject.     Printed  from  new  type, 
and  illustrated  with  Several  Thousand  Engravings  and  Maps. 


THE  work  originally  published  under  the  title  of  THE  NEW  AMERICAN  CYCLOPEDIA 
was  completed  in  1863,  since  which  time  the  wide  circulation  which  it  has  attained  in  all 
parts  of  the  United  States,  and  the  signal  developments  which  have  taken  place  in  every 
branch  of  science,  literature,  and  art,  have  induced  the  editors  and  publishers  to  submit 
it  to  an  exact  and  thorough  revision,  and  to  issue  a  new  edition  entitled  THE  AMERICAN 
CYCLOPEDIA. 

Within  the  last  ten  years  the  progress  of  discovery  in  every  department  of  knowl- 
edge has  made  a  new  work  of  reference  an  imperative  want. 

The  movement  of  political  affairs  has  kept  pace  with  the  discoveries  of  science,  and 
their  fruitful  application  to  the  industrial  and  useful  arts  and  the  convenience  and  re- 
finement of  social  life.  Great  wars  and  consequent  revolutions  have  occurred,  involving 
national  changes  of  peculiar  moment.  The  civil  war  of  own  country,  which  was  at  its 
height  when  the  last  volume  of  the  old  work  appeared,  has  happily  been  ended,  and  a 
new  course  of  commercial  and  industrial  activity  has  been  commenced. 

Large  accessions  to  our  geographical  knowledge  have  been  made  by  the  indefatigable 
explorers  of  Africa. 

The  great  political  revolutions  of  the  last  decade,  with  the  natural  result  of  the  lapse 
of  time,  have  brought  into  public  view  a  multitude  of  new  men,  whose  names  are  in 
every  one's  mouth,  and  of  whose  lives  every  one  is  curious  to  know  the  particulars. 
Great  battles  have  been  fought  and  important  sieges  maintained,  of  which  the  details 
are  as  yet  preserved  only  in  the  newspapers  or  in  the  transient  publications  of  the  day, 
but  which  ought  now  to  take  their  place  in  permanent  and  authentic  history. 

In  preparing  the  present  edition  for  the  press,  it  has  accordingly  been  the  aim  of  the 
editors  to  bring  down  the  information  to  the  latest  possible  dates,  and  to  furnish  an  ac- 
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and  original  record  of  the  progress  of  political  and  historical  events. 

The  work  has  been  begun  after  long  and  careful  preliminary  labor,  and  with  the 
most  ample  resources  for  carrying  it  on  to  a  successful  termination. 

None  of  the  original  stereotype  plates  have  been  used,  but  every  page  has  been 
printed  on  new  type,  forming  in  fact  a  new  Cyclopaedia,  with  the  same  plan  and  com- 
pass as  its  predecessor,  but  with  a  far  greater  pecuniary  expenditure,  and  with  such  im- 
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find  a  welcome  reception  as  an  admirable  feature  of  the  Cyclopaedia,  and  worthy  of  its 
high  character. 

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THE  POPULAR  SCIENCE  MONTHLY, 

(Established  May,  1872.) 

Conducted  ly  Prof.  E.  L.  YOUMANS. 


THE  POPULAR  SCIENCE  MONTHLY  was  started  to  promote  the  diffusion  of  valuable  sci- 
entific knowledge,  in  a  readable  and  attractive  form,  among  all  classes  of  the  community, 
and  has  thus  far  met  a  want  supplied  by  no  other  periodical  in  the  United  States. 

The  great  feature  of  the  magazine  is,  that  its  contents  are  not  what  science  was  ten 
or  more  years  since,  but  what  it  is  to-day,  fresh  from  the  study,  the  laboratory,  and  the 
experiment :  clothed  in  the  language  of  the  authors,  inventors,  and  scientists  themselves, 
which  comprise  the  leading  minds  of  England,  France,  Germany,  and  the  United  States. 
Among  popular  articles,  covering  the  whole  range  of  NATURAL  SCIENCE,  we  have  the 
latest  thoughts  and  words  of  Herbert  Spencer,  and  Professors  Huxley,  Tyndall,  and  R.  A. 
Proctor.  Since  the  start,  it  has  proved  a  gratifying  success  to  every  friend  of  scientific 
progress  and  universal  education;  and  those  who  believed  that  science  could  not  be 
made  any  thing  but  dry  study,  are  disappointed. 

The  press  all  over  the  land  is  warmly  commending  it.  We  subjoin  a  few  encomiums 
from  those  recently  given : 


f  popular  education  in  this 
Tribune. 


"  That  there  is  a  place  for  THE  POPULAR  SCIENCE 
MONTHLY,  no  one  can  doubt  who  has  watched  the 
steady  increase  of  interest  in  scientific  investigation 
manifested  in  this  country,  not  only  by  a  select 
class,  but  by  the  entire  community."  —  New  York 
Times. 

"A  journal  which  promises  to  be  of  eminent 
value  to  the  cause  of 
country."—  New  York 

It  is,  beyond  comparison,  the  best  attempt  at 
journalism  of  the  kind  ever  made  in  this  country." 
—Home  Journal. 

"The  initial  number  is  admirably  constituted." 
—Evening  Mail. 

"We  think  it  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  this  is 
the  best  first  number  of  any  magazine  ever  pub- 
lished in  America."—  New  York  World. 

"  It  is  just  what  is  wanted  by  the  curious  and 
progressive  miud  of  this  country,  and  ought  to  be 
widely  circulated."—  New  York  Evening  Post. 

"  It  is  the  first  successful  attempt  in  this  coun- 
try to  popularize  science  in  the  pages  of  a  month- 
ly'.''—^. Y.  School  Journal. 

"Not  the  less  entertaining  because  it  is  instruc- 
tive."— Philadelphia  Age. 

"  THE  MONTHLY  has  more  than  fulfilled  all  the 
promises  which  the  publishers  made  in  the  pro- 
spectus of  publication."—  Niagara  Falls  Gazette. 

"It  places  before  American  readers  what  the 
ablest  men  of  science  throughout  the  world  write 
about  their  meditations,  speculations,  and  discover- 
ies." —  Providence  Journal. 


"  This  is  a  highly-auspicious  beginning  of  a  use- 
ful and  much-needed  enterprise  in  the  way  of  pub- 
lication, for  which  the  public  owe  a  special  debt  of 
obligation  to  Messrs.  D.  Appleton  &  Co."  —  Boston 
Gazette. 

"  This  new  enterprise  appeals  to  all  who  are  in- 
terested in  the  laudable  effort  of  diffusing  that  infor- 
mation which  is  best  calculated  to  expand  the  mind 
and  improve  the  conditions,  and  enhance  the  worth 
of  life/—  Golden  Age. 

"  Just  the  publication  needed  at  the  present  day." 
Montreal  Gazette. 

"  This  new  magazine,  in  our  estimation,  has  more 
merit  than  the  whole  brood  which  have  preceded 
iiS'—Oswego  Press. 

In  our  opinion,  the  right  idea  has  been  happily 
this  new  monthly."  —  Buffalo 


hit  in  the  plan  of 
Courier. 


"This  is  one  of  the  very  best  periodicals  of  its 
kind  published  in  the  world.  Its  corps  of  contribu- 
tors comprise  many  of  the  ablest  minds  known  to 
science  and  literature.  It  is  doing  a  great  and 
noble  work  in  popularizing  science,  promoting  the 
growth  of  reason,  and  leveling  the  battlements  of 
old  superstitions  reared  in  the  childhood  of  our  race 
before  it  was  capable  of  reasoning."  —  The,  American 
Medical  Journal,  St.  Louis,  Mo. 

u  This  magazine  is  worth  its  weight  in  gold,  for 
its  service  in  educating  the  people."  —  The  American 
Journal  of  Education,  St.  Louis,  Mo. 

"This  monthly  enables  us  to  utilize  at  least  sev- 
eral years  more  of  life  than  it  would  be  possible  were 
we  obliged  to  wait  its  publication  in  book-form 
at  the  hands  of  some  compiler."  —  The  Writing 
Teacher  and  Business  Advertiser,  New  York. 


THE  POPULAR  SCIENCE  MONTHLY  is  published  in  a  large  octavo,  handsomely  printed 
on  clear  type,  and,  when  the  subjects  admit,  fully  illustrated.  Each  number  contains 
128  pages. 

TERMS:  $5  per  Annum,  or  Fifty  Cents  per  Number. 

Any  person  remitting  $20.00  for  four  yearly  subscriptions,  will  receive  an  extra  copy 
gratis,  or  five  yearly  subscriptions  for  $20.00. 

Noiv  Ready,  Vols.  I.,  II.,  Ill,,  and  IV.,  of  The  Popular  Science  Monthly >  em- 
bracing the  Numbers  from  1  to  24  (May,  1S72,  to  April,  1874).  4  vols.,  8vo.  Cloth,  $3.50  per  vol  Half 
Morocco,  $6.50  per  vol. 

For  Sale,  Binding  Cases  for  Popular  Science  Monthly.  Vols.  I.,  II.,  III.,  and  IV. 
These  covers  are  prepared  expressly  for  binding  the  volumes  of  THE  POPULAR  SCIENCE  MONTHLY  as 
thev  appear,  and  will  be  sent  to  Subscribers  on  receipt  of  price.  Any  binder  can  attach  the  covers  at  a 
trifling  expense.  Price,  50  cents  each. 

Agents  Wanted.  j)m  dPPLJSTON  &  CO.,  Publishers, 

549  &  551  Broadway,  New  York. 


THE  UNIVERSITY  LIBRARY 
UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA,  SANTA  CRUZ 

This  book  is  due  on  the  last  DATE  stamped  below. 


100m-8,'65(F6282s8)2373 


